CARSON, Calif. – There was little, if any, good news coming out of the LA Galaxy’s 4-2 loss to Chivas USA in Monday’s reserve league match. With two exceptions.
One was the play of striker Chad Barrett, who scored two goals and almost had a third. The other was the long-overdue appearance of Bryan Jordan at right back.
READ: LA Galaxy fall 4-2 to Chivas USA in Reserve League opener
The 26-year-old played the full 90 minutes, a positive development, to say the least, considering he’d been out since early in the preseason with left hamstring issues.
“I was concerned going in that he wouldn’t be able to go the full 90,” Galaxy reserve team coach Curt Onalfo said. “From a fitness perspective, that’s good.”
It was understandable why Jordan, who is one of just four players on the Galaxy roster who were here before Bruce Arena joined the club, was smiling after Monday’s game.
“It’s been a while,” said Jordan, now in his fifth season with the Galaxy after signing with the club as a forward from Portland in March 2008. “To come out here, get some minutes in, even though we didn’t get the result, that’s good.”
Jordan, who missed the last month of the 2011 regular season and the playoffs with a torn tendon in a finger of his left hand, first suffered the hamstring injury in an early 2012 preseason match against the L.A. Blues. He aggravated it during training camp in Arizona and since then had been careful on his lengthy road to recovery.
Jordan had been running on the side and constantly talked to the Galaxy coaching staff about getting back on the training field full time. He said he felt confident in the leg about a week or so ago and was anxious to test it.
Not only consider that exam passed, but perhaps more importantly, his frustration is now behind him.
“The guys do a good job of keeping you going,” he said. “But when you come to practice, come in early, get your treatment in, there’s a little feel of disconnect because you’re just itching to get back in.
“There’s been a couple of guys coming back, doing their stuff. We’re all pushing each other to get back out and get the whole group healthy again.”
He originally made his debut at right back against Real Salt Lake in April of 2010, when he replaced an injured Sean Franklin, and the switch in positions continues to be a work in progress.
“It’s been almost two years now,” he said. “Last year I was still learning quite a bit, even though at the end of the year I was really comfortable with Omar (Gonzalez), Sean, all these guys able to show me and keep me up to speed. It’s somewhat similar to right-mid decisions except you also have to pay attention to your defensive marks.
“I am feeling more comfortable.”
Enough to enjoy it?
“It’s coming along, I like it,” he said. “It gets me on the field, first of all. You do have the luxury of getting forward on certain plays and that’s what I’m trying to do.
“It’s one of those things where I have to get the right timing, and once I’m comfortable leaving the rest of my back line and getting forward and do what I usually did when playing in midfield, then I think I’ll be really good at the spot.”
