Depending upon how one looks at the Los Angeles Galaxy schedule to begin the season, it's either a blessing -- or a curse.
The Galaxy opened the 2007 campaign with two matches in four days, coming against the top two teams in the Western Conference from a year ago. But their last league game came in the second of those, against FC Dallas on April 12. Their next league game comes on Saturday. That's a 16-day span.
Tucked between those two league games is a U.S. Open Cup play-in game against the Columbus Crew on Tuesday. That adds up to two games in one week, two weeks off, then two more games in one week. Couple that with the travel involved and the Galaxy haven't been given much opportunity to develop any early season rhythm.
The Galaxy did come out of preseason a little banged up, so the optimist will look at this recent layoff as a chance to heal up.
"It kind of helps us to be honest, because we have a lot of guys who are nicked up. It gives us a chance to heal up and get them back," said veteran defender Tyrone Marshall, who's been less than 100 percent to start the year. "(Pete) Vagenas should be coming back. Hopefully Santino (Quaranta) will be ready and Quavas (Kirk). Those are some guys that we can definitely use."
Those players Marshall mentioned could all get their first taste of action on Tuesday in Columbus, which would give the Galaxy starting 11 a decidedly different look. Head coach Frank Yallop isn't the biggest fan of his side's early calendar, but even he concedes that the rest could work in L.A.'s favor.
"We do have some injuries. It gives us a chance to heal. Gavin Glinton's back on the field. Quavas should be back, Pete should be back," said Yallop, reiterating Marshall's comments. "(The layoff) gives us a chance to rest, but we want to play."
That's where the other side of the argument comes into play. The Galaxy have gotten off to a slow start this season, and as competitors, they want to get back onto the field as soon as possible to turn things around. Furthermore, as other teams continue to play, the gap in the standings starts to grow. Even with games in hand, it's not a situation a team wants to get into early. The lack of games early will also test the team down the road.
"We played our first home game and we want to play another one quickly. We can't deal with the schedule though," said Yallop. "It's going to be a logjam at the end."
The schedule compounds itself after the April 28 Super Clasico against Chivas USA. Just as the Galaxy get back into their league schedule, they have another bye week. Inconsistency in the schedule will likely make it difficult for the Galaxy to gain any consistency on the field.
"It's 16 days between regular season games. It's not the best scenario," said Yallop. "Then we have another break. Then we're kind of all over the place. We want to get back to business."
When the Galaxy do finally take the field again in a regular season contest, Yallop should have almost all of his weapons available to him. The Galaxy will have the schedule to thank for that. But then as those players get healthy, they don't have any games to use those players in.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
