CARSON, Calif. – It is an understandably disappointed LA Galaxy that will take on D.C. United on Sunday afternoon at The Home Depot Center (4 p.m., KDOC, Galavision, lagalaxy.com/gamedaylive). But their outlook remains positive despite what has been a forgettable week.
MATCH INFO:
Sunday, March 18 @ 4 p.m. PT
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AM 1150, 1220 AM - CHAT:lagalaxy.com/gamedaylive
The Galaxy, who will receive their 2011 MLS Cup championship rings in a pregame ceremony Sunday, are coming off two unfortunate results, a 3-1 loss to Real Salt Lake in their regular season opener last Sunday, followed by a 2-1 loss on Wednesday to Toronto FC that knocked them out of the CONCACAF Champions League.
There isn’t a sense of desperation among coaches and players, but there is a sense or urgency.
“The time is now to win,” goalkeeper Josh Saunders said after Saturday’s training session that included periods of strong wind and heavy rain. “We are impatient because we had such a good season last year and we want to follow up this season with the same results.
“I think the time to win is now.”
Donovan, Franklin preview LA vs DC
The Galaxy (0-1-0) will take on a D.C. United team that also lost its season opener at home, 1-0 to Sporting Kansas City, last Saturday. United has a new striker in Albanian Hamdi Salihi, who had 53 goals in 90 matches with his previous club, Austria’s Rapid Vienna, and he is expected to be paired up front with Dwayne DeRosario, last season’s MLS Most Valuable Player. United also boasts two talented wingers in Chris Pontius and Andy Najar, but they will be forced to play without starting goalkeeper Bill Hamid and central midfielder Perry Kitchen, each of who are with the U.S. Under-23 National Team.
The Galaxy are 3-1-5 all-time at The Home Depot Center against D.C. United, but they’re more worried about correcting their current problems than adding to past success.
Defender Todd Dunivant said it comes down to the “little details.”
“We’re doing all the right things, but it’s just the final pieces and that comes down to sharpness,” he said. “We’re not sharp, we’re not clicking 100 percent yet. We’re not quite there, but we’re doing all the right things, so that’s encouraging.
ON THE OPPOSITION:
“If we can keep playing better and keep improving, the results are going to come. The shutouts are going to come, the goals are going to come. We just have to keep working on the little details. For the most part we’ve done well, but in the critical moments it hasn’t happened.”
Mike Magee said the Galaxy won’t let results of the past week fester, but he also can’t help but think of a lost opportunity on Wednesday against Toronto FC.
“We’ve played enough games and we have enough veteran guys to not let one game cause us problems,” he said. “We’ll be fine. But it was a week where we had pretty high hopes, we had our home opener, the CONCACAF Champions League where we kind of assumed we would advance and we thought we’d be hopefully the first [MLS] team to raise that trophy.
“It’s definitely disappointing, but we’ll move on.”
The Galaxy return to MLS action this Sunday against D.C. United at 4 p.m. at The Home Depot Center. The 2011 MLS Cup Championship ring ceremony will take place just before the match and SoccerFest will take on a St. Patrick's Day theme including Irish music and dance, green-themed Metro PCS Family Fun Zone and more. Limited edition MLS Cup Championship pint glasses and green gear from Team LA will also be available. TICKETS
