LA Galaxy’s Midfield Mania
The Los Angeles Galaxy have established a rich tradition of mid-field players. Their history of midfielders includes such names as David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, and Jonathan dos Santos. These players and many other midfielders have helped the LA Galaxy win 5 MLS Cups.
The midfielder’s role is important because they control the pace of the game. Conceptually, in basketball terms, the midfielders are the point guards of soccer, they assist, make plays, and score.
During the Beckham era, Beckham would take all or most of the free kicks for the LA Galaxy and serve the ball to the forwards. His performance included a team high of 15 assists in the 2012 MLS season. His is just one of the many examples of how dominant the LA Galaxy’s midfield has been. Dos Santos, Romain Alessandrini, and Sebastian Lletget are in line to continue the rich tradition of midfielders. However, in the last few MLS games, the Galaxy have fallen short due to injuries and inconsistencies.
Injuries Are Hurting The LA Galaxy
Currently, the LA Galaxy are going through a losing streak that started against the New York Red Bulls on May 4th. They fell short 3-2 in a competitive match where dos Santos and Lletget tried to lead the Galaxy to victory.
Unfortunately, the team was also without Alessandrini, as he is currently recovering from surgery. The second loss came against the Columbus Crew, where Columbus was going through a losing streak of their own. However, this time it was dos Santos who went down during the first half of the game. Eventually, the Galaxy lost 3-1 to Columbus, and dos Santos left the game for precautionary reasons. His departure left a heavy role for Lletget and others to fill. Dos Santos returned but may have to depart for the Gold Cup where he will represent the Mexican National Team along with Uriel Antuna. Not only will the Galaxy be without dos Santos and Uriel, but Lleget may take some time as he has also been called up to the US National Team.
The LA Galaxy’s most recent loss came against NYCFC. The Galaxy played without dos Santos and although many would argue that the game was plagued with poor officiating, Lleget and the rest of the midfield held their own but were unable to come up with the win.
With inconsistencies of who will fill the role of dos Santos if he is injured, the Galaxy face the problem of who can help Lleget. This question may have been answered with the arrival of Favio Alvarez, the Argentinian with creative footwork. Galaxy coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto had his eyes on Alvarez for a while in hopes that he would join him and mix well into his style of coaching. Alvarez has one start with the Galaxy and demonstrated some promise, and with time the midfield should find its footing.
Which Players Will Step Up?
With two key midfielders in question, young talent and veteran players have the opportunity to step up. First, the veteran, Juninho was part of two MLS Cup championships and has the most experience, but he has battled injury. Second, young talent such as Efrain Alvarez may be able to provide the LA Galaxy with a spark of energy.
Emmanuel Boateng, and Joe Corona can continue to show their worth in these next couple of games as they shuffle around to accommodate for changes due to injuries and suspensions. Corona so far has shown the coaching staff that he is a contributor. Boateng is a spark off the bench and works well as a substitute as his speed kills his tired opponents. Perry Kitchen looks to be healthy and can provide defensive and offensive attacks in the midfield.
The potential is on the horizon, but the question remains how the LA Galaxy can blend this talent on the field. The team has not had a complete squad on the field with all of the new additions. In the coming weeks, the midfield will have the opportunity to work with one another and feed the lion, Zlatan Ibrahimović, during games. So who will step up? We’ll have to wait and see.
LA Galaxy Fans. Photo Credit: Ucniss | Under Creative Commons License