CARSON, Calif. – It had been just over two months since the last time Pele van Anholt played a competitive soccer match. It was May 14, to be exact, when he played for his former club, Willem II of the Netherlands’ Eredivisie, in a 3-1 loss to AFC Ajax.
So it was understandable why the 26-year-old right back said he was far from satisfied with his first game with the Galaxy in Saturday’s 0-0 tie with the Seattle Sounders in front of a sellout crowd of 25,667 at StubHub Center.
“It could have been better, but for the first time it was OK,” he said after the game. “It was a long time ago that I played for a club, but I’m happy to make my debut for the Galaxy.
“Now I’m a little tired,” he added with a grin.
The Galaxy signed the 5-foot-8, 156-pounder on July 12 in hopes of solidifying a position that been a weak spot ever since Robbie Rogers was placed on the season-ending injury list in May because of nerve damage in his left ankle. Youngsters like Bradley Diallo and Nathan Smith were among those who have filled in this season.
Van Anholt, who made 24 appearances with Willem II in his one season with the club, went just over 70 minutes on Saturday before Diallo replaced him. He said his fitness is “maybe 90 percent,” but he did manage to give enough glimpses of his abilities to indicate he may be just what new head coach Sigi Schmid and his staff are looking for.
“I thought he did all right, considering his training time,” said Schmid, who was named head coach of the Galaxy on Thursday. “I know Ivan Pierra, our fitness coach, wasn’t sure he could get much beyond 45 (minutes) and he got a good 70 minutes in.
“I thought his defending was good and his decision-making was good. I thought he did a good job with his passes.
“There’s certain things we’ll tweak, but I thought he gave a really good effort.”
Van Anholt had been content with playing a waiting game for his chance to suit up since he joined the Galaxy, but the inactivity wasn’t as difficult to handle as one might have thought. He admitted his fitness was not at a high level when he arrived in Los Angeles – “I was not fit enough to play; for me it was not a problem to stay on the bench,” he said – but he quickly built up his conditioning with his new club.
“After two or three weeks, for sure I want to play,” he said.
He called the tie with Seattle “a good start with the new coach” and was looking forward to contributing to a team desperate to bounce back from a 6-10-5 start, including a dismal 1-6-4 mark at home.
“A draw against a good team,” he said. “Hopefully we can now win a lot of games. Hopefully I can play a lot of games and show my skills.”
