CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy will meet expansion side Orlando City SC for the first time on Sunday, but even if the meeting will be the first between the two clubs, the Galaxy insist there is no mystery heading into the match.
Led Brazilian star Kaka, Orlando City has struggled to start season complying a 2-5-3 record. Despite their struggles, there is some temptation to consider them favorites on Saturday due to their wildcard status, but Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena is quick to squash that thought.
“Everyone in our league knows each other. It’s not like there’s going to be any surprises. I think the new challenge in our league is going into new markets in the south,” Arena said. “You’re going to deal with the conditions, the heat, humidity and artificial fields. It’s another challenging aspect to everything.”
Added defender Omar Gonzalez, “Orlando is a brand new team, getting great crowds, they want to give their city a win but we can’t let that happen. We got to get a result. Our focus is on leaving there with either three points or one point.”
ROBBIE ROGERS STATUS IN QUESTION FOR ORLANDO GAME
LA Galaxy left back Robbie Rogers missed out on training for two consecutive, but LA boss Bruce Arena says he’s still deciding if the defender will travel with the club to Orlando.
According to the Galaxy’s injury report, Rogers is questionable for Sunday's game due to an ankle injury, but after training on Thursday, Arena told reporters that he remains undecided on the left back's travel status.
DIVISIONAL PLAY ONE DAY?
Bruce Arena earned plenty of headlines with his comments on the discovery process earlier this week, and the always opinionated Galaxy boss offered a few thoughts on how the league might evolve in the coming years as teams look to alleviate their hectic travel schedule.
Divisional play.
“Major League Soccer right now is survival of the fittest actually over 34 games. There are so many things that are challenging. I think in retrospect at some point we’ll analyze this whole league and understand the combination of travel, the conditions we have that we may be better off with divisional play. I’m sure it’s something that will be need to be addressed. In certain aspects we do have divisional play. But we do play each other
Implementing divisional play would be a stark departure from the balanced schedule that teams typically play across the globe. However, with the league growing due to rapid expansion, Arena believes that a balanced schedule does not make sense at the time being.
“ou can’t have a balanced schedule with 20 teams. I don’t think we can fit 38 games in. it’s something to talk about down the road. The problem is the travel. It’s not playing in England where you get on a bus or you take an hour plane ride,” Arena said. “You're flying to two different countries, different time zones, different field conditions, different [climate] conditions. I think a home and home schedule would be extremely difficult for teams in the league to deal with. Especially the way we travel, flying commercial. It would be virtually impossible to do.”
