CAROLINA, Puerto Rico — Bruce Arena is putting his trust in his youngsters to get the job done against the Puerto Rico Islanders once again.
On the heels of the reserve-laden lineup manhandling of the Islanders, 4-0 on August 29th, Arena has chosen leave behind several key starters for Wednesday’s return leg against the Islanders. Among those left behind are David Beckham, Robbie Keane, Josh Saunders, Omar Gonzalez, Mike Magee and Sean Franklin. Beckham is still recovering from the effects of a left ankle sprain suffered during the club’s 2-0 over the Vancouver Whitecaps on September 1st while the latter five have logged heavy minutes over the last month. With the Galaxy still rising in the Western Conference standings, allowing the core players to rest offers them the chance to be fresh for Saturday's match against Toronto FC.
However, that does not mean that the Galaxy squad is not without quality as the Galaxy have brought several key contributors including captain Landon Donovan, forward Edson Buddle and winger Christian Wilhelmsson.
We’ll have Bruce Arena’s comments on these decisions during his press conference which is scheduled for 9:45 PDT.
