CARSON, Calif. – The importance of last weekend’s victory over the Portland Timbers cannot be underestimated for the LA Galaxy, but now comes the real test.
The defending MLS Cup champions travel to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo., on Saturday to take on the Colorado Rapids (6 p.m., KDOC and KWHY, lagalaxy.com/gamedaylive) in a true indicator of whether or not they’ve snapped out of their early-season doldrums.
“It’s another big game for us, obviously,” David Beckham said. “Coming off last weekend’s game we needed that win, we needed the three points. But we need to push forward.”
Galaxy preview Colorado match
The Galaxy (2-3-0) face a Rapids (3-3-0) team in a stadium where they have had some good fortune lately. In fact, under head coach Bruce Arena the Galaxy are 2-0-1 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, which opened in 2007.
The Rapids are led by a new coach in Oscar Pareja, who was brought in to replace the departed Gary Smith in early January. A veteran on the field, he made 189 appearances with New England and Dallas during a eight-year career in MLS while also collecting 11 caps with the Colombian National Team. After retiring in 2005, Pareja served as an assistant coach with FC Dallas before becoming the club’s Director of Player Development, helping to oversee the club’s Academy setup.
The arrival of the Colombian has seen the Rapids take on a more Latin approach in terms of play and personnel, with the likes of Jaime Castrillon, Martin Rivero and Luis Zapada joining the side. That trio is joined by an established group of players who were central to the club’s MLS Cup championship in 2010. Omar Cummings is once again leading the way with two goals while Kosuke Kimura, Jeff Larentowicz and Matt Pickens once again make Colorado difficult to play against.
And while talismanic captain Pablo Mastroeni remains out, the Rapids could welcome back forward Conor Casey, who has been out since last summer after tearing his Achilles tendon. Casey has terrorized the Galaxy throughout his career – he has scored more goals (six in eight games) against the Galaxy than any other MLS team – has been bothered by a strep throat and his status for Saturday’s game was unclear.
The Galaxy, however, aren’t concerned so much about the Rapids as they are about themselves, but they definitely have had much more to smile about this week in training.
READ: Moods improving in Galaxy camp after 3-1 win over the Timbers
“Obviously it’s a lot more relaxed,” Beckham said. “It’s not a nice place to be when you’re on a bad run and everyone’s a bit nervous, a bit down.
“This week’s been great. The sun’s shining and the players have been more relaxed. But we know we’re going into a tough game this weekend and we have to be ready.”
The Galaxy’s Landon Donovan said he wasn’t so sure if the team had turned the so-called corner, but at least they’ve gotten a glimpse of what’s around the bend.
“I think to be honest, I think we turned a little bit of a corner the weekend before (in Kansas City),” he said. “We played a team that’s now 7-0 and played them at home. We played OK against them and didn’t give them too many chances and had a chance to tie it at the end. I think that’s when we started to feel better.
“Last week was a little better, but we’re still a long way from where we need to be, where we should be. It’s a good test this weekend.”
Donovan said the early slump – three losses in the first four games – actually could work to their benefit in the long run.
“All in all, I still think it’s good this wakeup call is coming now,” he said. “We need to figure it out and quickly. The league this year is a lot tougher than it has ever been, and it’s going to keep getting tougher. More money is available, teams are getting better … we can’t just keep sort of hanging around the bottom and say we’ll make our push later. We’ve got to do it.
“Next thing you know you’re not in the playoffs, and then there’s real problems.”
