Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop will be the last person to make excuses, but when D.C. United come to The Home Depot Center on Saturday, he will be a little shorthanded when it comes to finding a team to field.
The Galaxy will have just 13 outfield players available for the match. Five players will be missing due to injury, two more are with the Canadian national team and one is sitting out a red card suspension.
It doesn't take a math genius to realize that Yallop will start 10 outfield players and have just three more left over to choose from if the need for subs arise. Outside of his starting 11, Yallop will have zero wiggle room to work with once the whistle blows on Saturday evening. It's a frustrating position to be in, especially considering the names that are sitting on the bench -- and those that are on the way in the form of Abel Xavier and David Beckham.
"We have guys on the squad with a lot of MLS games under their belts who aren't on the field right now," said Yallop. "We're desperate to get those guys on the field and get the guys we're going to bring on in June and July."
The Galaxy aren't ones to feel sorry for themselves though. They know that nobody else in the league is going to be taking it easy on them, so it's simply a time to face the reality of the situation and take a positive attitude.
"I think it's a big challenge for us because we're going to be putting guys on the pitch who aren't regular starters," said veteran defender Tyrone Marshall, one of the few veteran Galaxy players left available for Saturday. "At the same time it's going to be exciting because those same guys are going to come in and work hard and hopefully make a difference."
Yallop was taking the same optimistic approach to a very unenviable problem this week in training. Eventually the Galaxy will be healthy, and by midsummer will have two more experienced internationals at their disposal. For right now, he's hoping his youngsters will gain valuable experience if he needs to call upon them later in the season.
"What I like about the situation is we're going to find out about some players on Saturday because they're going to play and they're going to get some experience," said Yallop. "Hopefully we can get a result out of this and it will really bode well for us once we get everyone healthy and we get everyone in."
Still, the Galaxy are far from being in an ideal situation right now. Look at the players who will be eventually taking the field for the Galaxy; it's an imposing group. Yet with just 13 players to choose from on Saturday -- and a similarly reduced group in the weeks ahead -- there are several inexperienced players who will need to step up before their time to keep the Galaxy from slipping too far behind in the standings too early. Yallop knows that isn't going to be an easy task either.
"I think the youngsters we have have been put in the firing line. You'd like to nurse them along a little bit easier than we've done," said Yallop. "They've been thrown into the deep end really. They're learning as they go along. Collectively it's not easy for these guys."
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
