CARSON, Calif. -- LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena speaks to reporters following the Galaxy's 5-2 defeat to the Portland Timbers.
On the team's second half performance…
“Soundly beaten, if I could tell you exactly it wouldn’t have happened but let’s give Portland credit. They dominated us in the second half and deserved to win the game. If you look at individual battles, their eleven against our eleven; they just thoroughly dominated us in a physical nature I’d say. It wasn’t tactical; it wasn’t anything more than I thought their desire to win that game and fight and work was much greater than ours.”
On if this was a learning experience...
"Whatever. Learning experience. These are adults. They should learn this stuff by now."
On if he's angry about the loss...
"I'm very disappointed about the performance. Angry? I wouldn't say that. I'm certainly not shellshocked either."
On Jose Villarreal…
“He did alright. He was solid and probably played about 15 minutes or so. Good to get him back out there. He certainly wasn’t the problem.”
On if the postgame meeting was more pointed than usual...
"A little bit more not a whole not more. Clearly, I gave them a couple of things to think about."
On corrections going forward…
“I think if our physical effort is like it was tonight, we wouldn’t win too many games. We were purely physically dominated in every position. We had some guys that looked very fatigued in the second half, which is troubling when you think about that team played on Wednesday, and we should have been a little bit fresher you’d think in the second half. We should have a little more energy, but we didn’t. I thought they just clearly dominated us.”
On why Gargan played over AJ...
"A.J. has had a little bit of an injury. We're trying to rest him."
On if they'll rest starters in Guatemala...
"That will likely be the case."
On the Galaxy losing their chance to clinch second in the West and their motivations moving forward…
“We were aware of that. We play Sunday in Kansas City and try to win the game. I mean we would try to win the game regardless. I don’t know all the scenarios and all of that, it is what it is, but we’ll go play.”
