CARSON, Calif. – Remember how great the LA Galaxy were last year? So do they, and they made sure to remind everyone of that Saturday night. With Bruce Arena’s squad finally close to full health, they fielded a lineup that wouldn't have been out of place during their 2014 title run.
The Galaxy needed a good 20 minutes to find their footing, then took off, romping to a 5-1 triumph over visiting Philadelphia in what looked like their most complete performance of the season.
Their message when it was done: We can be better.
“I think the score does not indicate the game correctly. I don't think we were as dominant as the score would indicate,” head coach Bruce Arena said after a veteran, first-choice group – the first time he's been able to field such a lineup all season – ran riot on the Union. “We were pretty sloppy in the game. Having said that, we finished some good goals, at times played well. At other times, we didn't play so well. It was far from a complete victory tonight, and we've got a ways to go.
“It is good to have some of these players back, and it gives us a little bit more quality, obviously, in the final third. But we can play better than we did tonight.”
LA (6-5-7) were on the back foot until Baggio Husidic slotted home a rebound after Gyasi Zardes hit the post in the 23rd minute. Juninho netted a second a dozen minutes later, and once Zardes and Stefan Ishizaki sandwiched goals around C.J. Sapong's strike for the Union during a four-minute span early in the second half, the rout was on.
Sebastian Lletget added the fifth six minutes later.
“We had five different guys score tonight. That's a good sign of a good team,” Husidic said. “I think we're getting much more depth, more more competition around different positions, and I think that's one of the reasons guys are performing better and better. Because there are guys behind them who are stepping up, and they're really pushing for it.”
The injury crisis that defined the first half of LA's season has all but passed. Zardes and Robbie Keane hadn't started together since early April, when Keane suffered a groin injury that sidelined him seven weeks. They reunited in Wednesday's US Open Cup rout of amateurs PSA Elite, and again on Saturday with a veteran crew of first-choice players at every post.
“It's fun having healthy players on the field,” Zardes noted, “and having the guys who were out back in the lineup. ... As you could tell, we had some rough spells at the beginning of the game, but we had a veteran lineup out there. The chemistry gelled, and, as you could see, the scoreline was phenomenal. the team played amazing tonight.”
The timing couldn't be better. The Galaxy open the second half of their season with four home games in five outings, and Steven Gerrard is expected to arrive within the next week or so. He'll be eligible to play the second week of July.
Once he settles in, LA expect to be at their best.
“There is definitely much more for this team than we saw tonight,” Husidic said. “We weren't as sharp in certain areas. We created quite a few chances, but Ishi played me a great ball [that I volleyed over the crossbar at the start of the second half], and you've got to score those. And there were other occasions where we could have done better.
“I think once we start clicking a bit more, get more used to playing with a similar lineup, I think we'll get better and better.”
