CARSON, Calif. –Following the LA Galaxy’s final training session before Wednesday’s match against the Portland Timbers, Bruce Arena addressed the media on what he expects from Portland and provided an update on several injured players.
During his comments, Arena confirmed that he was optimistic that Robbie Keane and Todd Dunivant, each who have missed several games due to international duty and injuries respectively, will be in the lineup on Wednesday. The Galaxy coach also noted that Landon Donovan was “stepped on” in a play that occurred prior to the opening of practice, but he was not concerned about his availability for the Portland match.
Arena’s comments are below…
(On the impact of Pablo Mastroeni…)
ARENA: “I’ve known Pablo for a number of years. He’s a good player despite his age, I feel like he’s got a lot of games still left in the league. It’s going to take him a couple weeks to get him fit, but we know that he’s a good player. He’s an experienced player, a player of quality, and we think that he’s going to help us in our central midfield.”
(On whether or not he’s dreamed up his lineup for Portland…)
ARENA: “I’ve dreamed about tomorrow’s game. Yes, I have.”
(On whether the lineup will have any surprises…)
ARENA: “No, we have some players coming back, obviously, Robbie Keane is back and I would expect him to be playing for sure. We’ll finalize everything today for the rest of the group.”
(On who he’ll opt for in goal…)
ARENA: “Cudicini has been playing the whole season, if you haven’t figured that out. We expect him to be our goalkeeper as well.”
(On whether the team is optimistic about Todd Dunivant starting…)
ARENA: “Yes.”
