FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The LA Galaxy dropped their sixth consecutive match in all competitive competitions with a performance that has become all too familiar for Curt Onalfo’s squad.
Los Angeles twice erased deficits on Daniel Steres’ goals and nearly battled back in the second half, but fell 4-3 to the New England Revolution on Saturday at Gillette Stadium. As has become the narrative throughout the season, mistakes have plagued the Galaxy and negated positive sequences of play.
After the latest defeat, the Galaxy tried to explain Saturday’s outing.
“Listen, the manager is putting out a team that he thinks can win the game, and we’re letting him down,” Ashley Cole told LA Galaxy Insider. “He gave the young guys a chance, and now the older guys are back, and we’re nearly at full strength, but at the end of the day, we’re not winning games and controlling games. It’s down to us to roll up ourselves and change it. I don’t know how, but it’s on our shoulders.
Added goalkeeper Brian Rowe, “We gave ourselves a chance to be in this game, and we gave it away at the end there. It’s a tough loss, but there were good things to take away from it because we had some good play in the second half where we scored two goals, but it’s just about shoring up some pieces. I truly believe that we’re right there.”
Despite bright spots for Los Angeles like Steres’ brace or the dynamic play of Romain Alessandrini, the Galaxy once again struggled to prevent giveaways in midfield that led to Revolution chances. As has been the problem during their recent skid, the Galaxy were dispossessed 21 times and lost the edge in duels by a 50 to 44 margin on Saturday.
According to Cole, who stabilized the midfield after reprising his role in the center of the park in the second half, the Galaxy must learn to do the simple things correctly if they’re going to right the ship.
“We have to be confident on the ball. You must want the ball. You must move. You must play simple. I think that if you have that type of logic, then soccer is easy. You control the ball, give it, move and go," Cole said. "We don’t seem to be doing that, and we’re giving the ball away in dangerous areas. Maybe we’re not communicating enough. It’s simple stuff, but we keep getting caught doing the same thing. We have to look in the mirror. It’s down to us.”
The Galaxy will look to stop their tumble down the standings next Saturday when they host Seattle Sounders FC in a match that could prove decisive for their postseason aspirations. After a poor start to the second half of the season, Alessandrini believes the results must come by any means necessary.
“I think we have to speak to each other because we have a lot of players with experience,” Alessandrini said. “I believe in every single member of my team. We have the team to be at the top, but we’ve got to find a good way. That starts with winning at home.
“We need to be a team that wins at home. That starts with not conceding goals, whether that’s putting a fence around the goal or whatever, we have to find a way.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at www.LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.