CARSON, Calif. -- LA Galaxy associate head coach Dave Sarachan addressed the media following the LA Galaxy's 5-0 victory over Chivas USA on Sunday.
Sarachan's thoughts are below...
(On the win...)
SARACHAN: “It was no secret that we were at a point now that we needed three points. I thought the guys, given the conditions today and as hot as it was, came up with a very good attitude and came up with three points, which is the most important thing. It gets us closer to a playoff position. Sure it’s nice to score five goals, but the key was getting three points and we did that. It’s massive. We kind of think that the season started today.”
(On Landon Donovan tying the MLS all-time regular season record...)
SARACHAN: “We’ve known Landon for a long time. Very proud over these years to follow Landon, to be a part of Landon’s career. We say it over and over when Landon is healthy and in full tilt you take him over anyone else. Very proud and he should be very proud of the achievement, but he will be the first to tell you that the three points were more important. Just hope it continues.”
(On Gyasi Zardes’ performance today...)
SARACHAN: “Gyasi has been like a caged lion for us in terms of getting some points on the board. We spent some time in training, and hopefully it paid off a little bit for him, on recognizing moments where he can really use his speed to get by guys. Today, I thought he did an excellent job of finding those moments to find some space to use his speed to beat the defenders. That’s part one. Part two is that once you’ve beaten the defender you get to serve it properly, which he did. He had two assists and got himself a goal. Production wise we are very pleased for Gyasi. I thought in the second half, like most guys, tired a little bit, maybe took his foot off the gas. He’s a young guy, so he needs to understand that 90 minutes is 90 minutes, but this was a big game for him. I was pleased.”
(On Michael Stephens’ performance today...)
SARACHAN: “Mikey competes. The guy competes. He’s tactically very sharp in terms of knowing where to position himself. You never have to question his desire and his effort that he’s going to put in. I think he made good decisions today. Fair enough, we had some space to play, but I think Mikey, in that role, both sides of the ball, did a very good job.”
(On defeating Chivas USA...)
SARACHA: “I’m just happy we won. It didn’t matter who we played today. It’s a Clasico, and I know that you guys build that up as an emotional affair. I think that we are at a point in our franchise that it’s not quite the emotional affair that you guys think it is. It was just another game today. We respect them. I think their coach is a classy guy. I think their staff is trying to get that ship righted. We respect them. We look at this as we banged in some goals, which we were pleased about, and got three points. It happened to be against Chivas.”
