CARSON, Calif. -- The LA Galaxy aren't particularly concerned with their absence of form, not while they're getting adequate results -- and without captain Robbie Keane, to boot.
LA (3-2-4) aren't playing well, they acknowledge, but it's been a month since they've been beaten -- they're on a four-game undefeated streak following Saturday night's fight back for a 1-1 draw with Colorado -- so they're not hugely displeased with how things are proceeding.
Don't mistake that for satisfaction.
“As long as you're picking up points, I guess it's not an issue,” defender Omar Gonzalez said following Monday's training session at StubHub Center. “It's when you're losing [that] it becomes an issue. But the question now is how do we turn the one point into three points. And we just have to be a bit sharper.”
The injuries, especially the groin issue that has kept Keane off the field the past four games and likely will cause him to miss this week's trek for games Wednesday night at Real Salt Lake (9:30 pm ET, MLS LIVE) and Saturday at FC Dallas (8:30 pm ET, MLS LIVE), have slowed the Galaxy's progress, with personnel in flux all over the field but especially among the front six.
“He's a big key to [the attacking flow],” Gonzalez said. “He's a magnet for defenders, which gets guys open, and we're lacking that a little bit right now. Everyone's worried about where [Keane] is on the field, and that leaves guys like [Stefan] Ishizaki open, leaves Juninho open at moments, and right now they're just playing us man for man, and it's hard to get open.”
There's not enough movement off the ball and LA's passing game, which fueled often phenomenal form last year, has been substandard.
“I think some of that has to do with we haven't played with a set lineup, really, anywhere on the field,” defender Dan Gargan said. “We're also incorporating some younger guys into games and some guys that are new to the team, that takes a little bit to get used to.
“We always talk about chemistry on the field, and that's a big cliché, but it is true in terms of having an understanding of where guys are going to move, and that makes movement a little bit easier. Which should, hopefully as we continue to play, open up the field a little bit more for us.”
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The problem is deeper than just building chemistry, Gonzalez says.
“I think there's been a lack of energy,” he said. “I think other teams have been coming at us with more energy than we're meeting them, and we knew it was going to be the case from the very beginning of the season that teams were going to come like that. Now it's just a matter of putting in the work. ...
“It's going to come. It's definitely not here right now. There's not a lot of chemistry going on, not a lot of options on the field. Guys are sort of playing by themselves. We need to get together as a group and work together and make it easy for the guy next to you, give him as many options as possible, and I think once we start doing that, once we start getting our passes better, the one-touches, play the ball quicker, things will start working out in our favor.”
Head coach Bruce Arena's advice is simple.
“Give it time. The season's young,” he said. “It starts to become more obvious where the teams are in August and September, now now. ... Got to be patient, play it out. Hopefully, we start getting a little bit better, obviously. When we get into the month of June and July, we'll be a little healthier and, hopefully, a little bit better.”
