CARSON, Calif. -- LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena speaks to the media after the Galaxy's 5-1 victory over New York City FC.
Arena's comments are below.
On the game…
“Well another game where we won and got three points, that is the most important thing. Certainly the goals are great but we played well today. After the first 15 minutes I thought NYC FC was all over us, but once we settled in we played pretty well.”
On the atmosphere of the game…
“Yes, I think anytime you are in this kind of environment and you take success it’s good, and I think this will eventually become a norm in this league; not only here, but in all the venues around the league. If anything, today, I think it tells about the growth of this league and the kind of support we are getting in the market is phenomenal. I do remember I coached in the opening game of this league in 1996, and we’ve come light years. Today was maybe a bit of recognition of the growth of the league, and certainly we have a long way to go, but we are certainly pleased to have these types of games today and obviously more in the future. We wish it would’ve been 30 degrees cooler, but we don’t control the weather.”
On Robbie Keane’s performance…
“He played very well. I think he and Dos Santos have a great relationship. I think Gyasi had an excellent second half. Lletget continues to play well and the tandem between Juninho and Gerrard is spectacular. Our back line was very good. Robbie Rogers played one of his better games of the year. Leonardo continues to do well along with the whole group. It’s been a real team effort and I am pleased with Robbie’s performance and the guys who scored goals, but it’s all about the team here and I think today we continue to see this team grow in this first eleven get better and better the more they play together.”
On difference between performance during the first half and second half…
“I think we just started passing a little bit better and certainly in these conditions today, if you exert a lot of energy to start you are going to hit the wall a little bit and I think they were tired towards the end of the first half. I just give them credit , and we didn’t play well in the early going.”
On performance from the defense…
“Well they’ve played very well for a long time and I think we are certainly aware of the danger of Villa, and he still had opportunities and continued to be dangerous and we tried to get around Pirlo a little bit. The guy is an exceptional player and once they get Lampard on the field they are going to be a real good team. We had a good 65 minutes or so, and we were tough to beat today.”
On Galaxy continually building momentum in second half…
“Well I think our quality gets better as we get into games. One of our faults has been that we haven’t started games well enough and maybe today is another example. We didn’t concede a goal but when we get into a rhythm we get pretty good, and certainly anytime you have a lead going at the halftime it’s difficult on the opponent. In our case, teams get aggressive and they come forward when they throw a lot of people in the attack. Our counterattack is very good and we have an advantage of finding Keane and Dos Santos and then others join in and we are very dangerous going forward. When we are positioned where other teams have to get a goal, I think we get even better.”
On Gio’s first 90 minutes in MLS play…
“Again, like most of the team his start to the game could’ve been a little bit better, but his passing and running off the ball and his understanding with the players is getting better. He had a goal and set up a couple other goals, but just an overall good performance.”
On the difference between Gio’s position out wide and up top…
“I think Gyasi is better suited right now to play in the midfield than Gio is, and that is the reason for it. Gyasi’s got an incredible tank and can run all day, and I think over 90 minutes he certainly gets an advantage to the guy he’s matched up against. Gio’s fitness is coming around, but I think you will see both of them switching positions as we get into the remainder of the year.”
On National Team taking a closer look at Lletget…
“I used to be the National Team coach and they don’t need anyone’s recommendations. That is their job, and I’m sure he gets plenty of recommendations. He’s still young and he’s growing and we need to give it a little bit of time, but those are decisions they are going to make.”
