CARSON, Calif. – LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena delivered some good news regarding Jose Villarreal and a pair of other injured players as the club began their preparations for this Sunday's match against their archrivals Seattle Sounders FC.
Villarreal was unable to travel to last week’s defeat against Vancouver Whitecaps FC due to a precautionary hamstring injury, but Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena told reporters that the 21-year-old is back in training and continuing to make progress ahead of this weekend’s match.
"He’s getting there. He’s making progress," Arena told reporters after training. "The turf [at BC Place] is always a problem, that’s a bad surface and it creates some issues so we have to be careful with certain players."
Arena echoed his comments when asked about Brazilian center back Leonardo who missed out on the match due to a quad strain, stating that he’ll be evaluated prior to Sunday’s game.
The Galaxy boss was more direct regarding Finnish midfielder Mika Väyrynen. The 33-year-old was forced to exit LA’s defeat to Vancouver with a right calf injury, but Arena stated that he believes Väyrynen will be “ready to go” this week.
While none of the answers were too direct, in typical Arena fashion, however, the Galaxy boss is not too concerned with injury news this early in the week.
"The game is Sunday, it's Tuesday," Arena said bluntly. "We've got an entire week to prepare for the game and make those decisions."
