CARSON, Calif. – Edson Buddle's ready to contribute for the LA Galaxy, and he could get his chance Saturday when they visit D.C. United (7 pm ET; MLS Live) without starting forwards Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes, who are both away on international duty.
The 33-year-old striker, one of eight men to score 100 MLS goals, is still working on match fitness following a preseason quadriceps injury, but he says he's ready to go whenever the Galaxy need him.
“If you ask me, yeah [I'm ready], but realistically it takes time get match-fit ...,” said Buddle, who made his first appearance for LA since 2012 at the close of last weekend's draw with Houston. “However many minutes [are needed]. If I have to play 90 minutes, I'll play 90 minutes. Probably wouldn't be the best 90 minutes of my life, but I'd start out thinking I'm going to give the best 90 minutes.”
He'll likely be the first option off the bench, behind Alan Gordon and Jose Villarreal, and he's fine with whatever coach Bruce Arena desires. He's just pleased to be back in Southern California for his third stint with the Galaxy, after playing for the club in 2007-10 and again in 2012 after a year in Germany.
“I probably thought about it so much that it came true ...,” he said. “I'm happiest when I'm in LA.”
Buddle, who scored 15 MLS goals for the Galaxy in 2008 and 19, including playoffs, in 2010, wants to show everybody he hasn't lost his touch after tallying only seven times, and just twice last year, in two seasons at Colorado. It's part of the reason he went through a preseason trial before LA signed him on the eve of their opener.
“I think it was a matter of seeing if I have all my screws together, and Bruce wanted to make sure I didn't have any lingering injuries,” Buddle said. “I didn't play quite a bit last year due to all the consecutive losses in Colorado. I think it was a thing where they had a young group, and they wanted them to go through the trenches and get some experience in a bad situation; the only way to learn from it is to go through it. It wasn't any injury, in particular, but I think the thought process around the league was I had an injury, that that's why I didn't play.”
Arena doesn't doubt Buddle's abilities, and the Galaxy love what he brings to the club.
“He's a great locker-room guy,” said defender Todd Dunivant, who is in his fifth stint as Buddle's teammate, with the Galaxy, New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC. “He's happy-go-lucky, he's positive, but on the field he's a terror and a nightmare to play against.”
Added Arena: “He's a good, experienced guy ... just a good pro. I keep thinking it's a luxury to have Edson Buddle as an option on your team. ... He's scored over 100 goals in this league, so there's no reason to believe he can't score a few more.”
Buddle hopes so, too.
“It's a challenge, you know?” he said when asked if he was confident he could be productive for LA. “Push myself, and I know once I'm doing that I'll be able to push the group. ... It takes a team [to score goals], it's not just me.”
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Gordon is the apparent shoo-in for Saturday night, with Buddle and Villarreal – a revelation on the flank in LA's first three games, who could move up front if Bradford Jamieson IV or Baggio Husidic slot in on the left – contending for the other slot, as long as the Galaxy stick with their tried-and-true 4-4-2 alignment.
Gordon says he enjoys playing with Buddle.
“He's a hybrid,” Gordon said. “He's going to work hard and bang with you, so you get to share that responsibility. You don't feel all the pressure to be that guy banging around because he's going to do it, too. So you can kind of mix your game up a little bit, which is nice.”
Who will play up top?
“You can probably be expecting to see all three of us ...,” Gordon said. “Whoever's called upon is going to have to step up and fill some big shoes. I don't think that any of us are going to be Robbie Keane or the quality that he is, but we have our own qualities, and we're going to have to play to our strengths and, hopefully, get a good team win.”
