HOUSTON -- LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena spoke to reporters after the Galaxy's 4-1 win over the Houston Dynamo.
Arena's comments are below
On Giovani dos Santos...
"He played well. The first goal was a big goal that got us back in after conceding an early goal which is never good to do on the road. To get that goal back early was important, it settled our team a little bit. Certainly, the rest of the half, we did a good job."
On A.J. DeLaGarza...
"It's good to get him back. We've been patching our lineup all year, and A.J. has been in and out, it's nice to get him back on the field after being out for two or three weeks. He did a solid job, and it's good to have him back. As we've already experienced, we have so many injuries during the season and especially now, to get experienced players back on the field is important."
On Houston's play....
"The way we started the game, it made it look like we didn't know anything about the Dynamo. Certainly, a couple of our goals came off counterattacks; we got at them quickly, and I thought that our pressure in the midfield was good today. To their credit, they were dangerous throughout, we certainly had many at the end of the (first half) to get the fourth goal and really put the game away and never did. The Dynamo have a good team; tonight wasn't their night, but as we know, they're a good team, and they're going to be fighting all season for a playoff spot."
On Gerrard's play....
"I thought Gerrard had a really good game. I think he's been out three weeks, and there were certainly some questions about whether we could get 90 minutes out of him tonight and it's great to see he played 90. We also got a little bit of a break with the weather. This is like playing here in the winter to have a night like tonight which is probably 75 or 80 degrees with little humidity. That was a plus for us. The field was in good shape, so the conditions were there for us to be able to play and play well."
On if Giovani dos Santos is near his best...
“He’s getting there. He’s missed a fair amount of the early part of the season. It’s going to take some time, but he’s working hard. If we get some consistent games over the next month or two, he’s going to be in some good form.”
On if things are coming together on the road...
"We've lost one game in the 95th minute in a 92 or 93-minute game, so given the circumstances, the season has gone okay to this point. We know that we can get better and get ourselves a little healthier because we're a little bit thin in a few positions right now, but I think we're going to be bringing a few players back in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, we'll get better. You know how it is in this league, every game is a tough game. We've had six games so far, three at home and three on the road. It's never easy, but I'm pleased that we've kept our heads above water and we haven't disappeared. We have a chance to have a good season."
On the final three subs by Houston...
"I think that's a pretty good move. It's 4 to 1 at that point, things are going well, so you roll the dice which Owen (Coyle) did. It brought some energy to the team and I thought Torres played well in his 30 minutes. No. 33 and the other player did well and added pace to the game and created some chances for Houston. I think it was a clever move by the manager, they almost got a goal. If they got to 4-2, maybe it gets crazy at the end of the game. "
On the play of Ashley Cole...
"Ashley had a good night tonight."
