CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy are in the midst of yet another bye week that the team must savor because soon the grind of the MLS Regular Season will truly begin.
This weekend will serve as the Galaxy’s third off week of the 2014 campaign which was set in place—in large part—due to LA’s participation in the CONCACAF Champions League. Following this weekend’s bye, the Galaxy will not experience another weekend off until MLS action is halted due to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Once MLS action resumes, the Galaxy's campaign will truly begin as the team will play at least once each week until the season's end.
Although the schedule will pick up at a rapid pace after this weekend’s respite, the Galaxy actually believe that 2014 will bring a smaller work-load than past seasons.
“I think we actually see this as a lighter year, because we're not in the [next edition of] the Champions League. We're not playing extra games [down the stretch], so for us to play every week is fine. I personally would prefer to be playing regularly,” Landon Donovan told reporters earlier this week. “At different points of the season, which you're nicked up, you accept a bye week happily, but to have them so early is a little unnecessary, I guess. But it is what it is. I would think preferably we'd have them more late in the season, but that's the way it goes.”
But midfielder Stefan Ishizaki thinks that the bye week may turn out to be advantageous for LA ahead of their match against the Colorado Rapids next Saturday.
“Playing on hard turf in Vancouver made guys a bit sore and I think that it’s a good thing that we got that out,” said Ishizaki. “We can train hard during the bye week and then ease up our preparations as we get closer to the Colorado match.”
