CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy have hit a late summer slump in front of goal, and if they’re going to snap out of it, head coach Bruce Arena says his team must be more selfish.
The Galaxy will likely be missing four key starters on Saturday when they host Columbus Crew SC, but that means little to Arena. As the Galaxy look to prepare for the rest of the season without Gyasi Zardes (broken metatarsal) and Nigel de Jong (transferred to Galatasaray), Arena believes his team needs to start taking more chances at goal.
During the Galaxy’s scoreless draw against Vancouver Whitecaps FC last week, Los Angeles appeared flat in front of goal, continually failing to turn their attacking movement into shots on goal. After the match, Arena decried his team's showing, stating that his group must begin to take more shots, a strategy that was worked on ahead of their clash with Columbus.
“We have opportunities where we can shoot a little more. We can be a little more selfish. We’re looking for the perfect play,” Arena said. “The example would be the play with Robbie Rogers [against Vancouver] where his pass ends up with the goalkeeper. We were knocking it around and confusing Vancouver’s backline, and we need to be smarter, lethal, and more selfish in the end to convert that play. We’re trying to walk the ball in the goal.”
Veteran striker Mike Magee, who is likely to be one of the players to step up in Zardes’ absence, agrees.
“We have to play with a lot more urgency and more of a killer instinct," he said. "We just have to embrace the fact that some teams are going to put their entire team in front of the goal and we just have to find a way to score.”
