Although they were outplayed on a night that head coach Frank Yallop called his team's worst performance since his arrival, the Los Angeles Galaxy still managed to split the points in a goalless draw with Chivas USA on Saturday at The Home Depot Center.
They conceded far more chances on the night, were outshot 10-3 by Chivas and saw the post save them twice. But the Galaxy still extended their unbeaten streak to five games and now haven't allowed a goal in 512 minutes.
"It was probably our worst performance since I've been here. It was kind of a down game for us. We just couldn't quite get it together," said Yallop. "Chivas has a game off last weekend and got beaten 3-1. We had a game off and we tied nil-nil, so that's a positive."
Still, emotions were mixed in the Galaxy locker room. The focus wasn't on the current shutout streak as much as it was on the poor performance on the night.
Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman made four saves on the night and saw his goalpost make two more. While he admits that while confidence is high defensively, there is still a lot of work to be done in Los Angeles.
"As a group we're not necessarily satisfied with how we played. But at the end of the day we didn't allow Chivas to get three points," said the veteran 'keeper. "We were able to keep our shutout streak going. That's what you want to do really when you're not playing your best soccer. We definitely have things we need to work on."
One thing that was lacking was the play through midfield. It was something that plagued the Galaxy at the beginning of the season, and it reappeared Saturday night. The majority of the Galaxy's chances came from direct balls over the top of the defense, especially in the first half, when Chivas 'keeper Preston Burpo was often seen at the edge of the area collecting through balls.
"I think we've created a ton of stuff wide. Tonight we couldn't do that. We need to just pass the ball better," said Yallop. "The midfield wasn't connected with the front two. We were too far away from each other."
Hartman noticed the difference as well. He attributed the dropoff in the midfield to the fact that the Galaxy were forced to move Nathan Sturgis out of the center of the midfield and out to left fullback in a reshuffled back four. Sturgis played well on the night, matched up for the most part with Juan Pablo Garcia, but Hartman said his presence in the midfield was missed.
"Having to pull Nate out of the center of midfield, he's been really good in there as of late, he's been able to possess the ball for us," said Hartman. I don't really think we showed the possession in the center of midfield that we sometimes do. Nate has been sharp lately, so I think we miss him in midfield."
Another member of the makeshift back line for the Galaxy was Troy Roberts. Roberts had been enjoying a starting role in the left side, but against Chivas he played in the middle.
"(Chivas) is definitely a better team than last year. But with that being said I think we're capable of putting on better performances," said Roberts. "We're capable of beating a team like Chivas in games like this. I think it's more of us, that we didn't perform well tonight, that let us down."
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
