After last weekend's loss to the Columbus Crew, Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop described his team as a side lacking in confidence. The play on the field looked disjointed, and a lot of that can be credited with the unfamiliarity generated by the number of personnel changes that have been made in the Galaxy locker room over the past couple of weeks.
Los Angeles has brought in players like Carlos Pavon, Abel Xavier, Edson Buddle and Chris Klein. They have also let go Tyrone Marshall, Ian Russell, Nathan Sturgis and Robbie Findley. There is an obvious facelift going on in the Galaxy organization, and it has some players in the Galaxy camp on edge.
"That's human nature. We're in an industry that's based on results," said Galaxy veteran Pete Vagenas. "No matter how well you think you're doing, at the end of the day it's about how many games you win. When you're not winning it's your job that's on the line."
It is the nature of the business. You see it in all sports. The pressure to win can be intense, and often times leads to tight play. That appears to be the case in Los Angeles right now, but Yallop is trying to quell some of the fear and instill some confidence in his squad.
"We had a good chat (Monday) and what I said was 'If you're here, play. Don't worry about what's going to happen, you have no control over that,'" said Yallop. "We're just trying to get the right combination of players."
Collectively, the Galaxy roster is one of the most talented rosters in all of MLS. With the arrival of David Beckham, the Galaxy will have three senior internationals with as much or more experience than any player in the league. They have Landon Donovan, arguably the best U.S. player in the game today, as well as a slew of other players with experience with their respective national teams. Right now, that talent isn't coming together.
"When you look at this team we're obviously a collection of great individuals, but we're not a great team," said goalkeeper Joe Cannon. "We have time to turn things around, but it's pointless to talk about playoffs right now. We have bigger problems."
The pressure is mounting in Los Angeles. It was around this time a season ago that Steve Sampson was dismissed with a similar record to what the Galaxy have right now. Everyone knows the pressure is there. Whether the team collapses under that pressure or rises to the occasion remains to be seen. Vagenas is hoping it's the latter.
"We have two wins on the season. It can't get any more intense for us as players," said the veteran midfielder. "Hopefully we can use that as a positive momentum swing because the best teams are the ones that play on the edge. Right now we're on a razors edge."
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
