CARSON, Calif. -- The LA Galaxy don't have much time to step past Thursday's emotional and frustrating CONCACAF Champions League victory over El Salvador's Isidro Metapan and get set for Sunday afternoon's vital league showdown with FC Dallas, but they're hardly worried about that.
“Business as usual,” says manager Bruce Arena. “That's all.”
The Galaxy (11-11-4) ran a regeneration session Friday morning at the Home Depot Center, with few who featured in the 5-2 CONCACACAF Champions League triumph involved and captain Landon Donovan, saddled with a hamstring strain suffered in the USMNT's victory last week over Mexico, running a little on his own.
His status is uncertain.
View from the Booth: LA Galaxy vs. FC Dallas
“Don't have anything at this point,” Arena said. “There's a chance he'll play. ... We have to have a lineup by 3 o'clock on Sunday, so we'll try to take advantage of that time as best we can.”
LA won't need as much time to clear their heads following Thursday's victory, which was marred by a sensational, controversial red card to forward Robbie Keane, the most egregious of the calls by Mexican referee Alfredo Peñaloza and one that the Galaxy called unfair.
Keane, who has dealt with his share of frustration since joining the Galaxy a year ago, was apoplectic after Peñaloza cautioned him for diving after he'd clearly been tripped. And as the Irish striker signaled to the bench that he'd had enough and wanted out of the game, the red card came out. He stormed through the postgame mixed zone without a word and wasn't on the field Friday.
Associate head coach Dave Sarachan said he wasn't worried about Keane's demeanor.
“You're talking about a guy who's been around the block,” Sarachan said. “He's an emotional guy anyway, and I think he was tearing his hair out a little bit with the whole thing. But Robbie literally can wake up the next day and move on.”
Same for everybody else, too.
“I think we have enough guys on our group who have short-term memory. They can quickly turn that switch,” Sarachan said. “We knew these next four games [starting with Thursday's] what we were getting into, with Metapan and now Dallas and then [next week] Puerto Rico [in the CCL] and then Vancouver. We kind of put these in a little bit of a cluster of four games.
“I think we've kind of set the table mentally, knowing we have to turn the page quickly, because this is a crucial game.”
