Dealing with an injury crisis at outside back, the LA Galaxy began Wednesday’s match at the Montreal Impact with a three-man backline.
LA first trotted out the formation on Friday against Colorado, switching to a 3-5-2 after defender Todd Dunivant left the Galaxy-Rapids contest due to injury. Things worked out just fine for LA on that night, with the Galaxy capitalizing on a first minute Colorado red card to smash the Rapids 6-0 at StubHub Center.
They had a decidedly rougher experience at Stade Saputo on Wednesday night, with the Impact punishing LA’s three-man defense early to take a 2-0 lead into the break.
The Galaxy worked their magic after that, rallying for a 2-2 draw after bringing on Robbie Rogers for Stefan Ishizaki at halftime to switch to their normal 4-4-2. There were certainly positives to gather from the comeback, even as their five-game winning streak ended and their bid to push past Western Conference and Supporters' Shield leaders Seattle fell short.
One of those positives? Head coach Bruce Arena discovered some of his team's boundaries.
“We don't have players that are capable of making the kind of adjustment I asked them to make to a back three, and that's my responsibility,” the Galaxy coach told reporters at Stade Saputo. “I'd like to see that we have players that have a little bit of a better tactical feel, but it's obvious that some of them don't and it's not the appropriate formation to play, so that's my responsibility.”
With Dunivant out again, A.J. DeLaGarza on a leave of absence, and Rogers and James Riley just coming back from injury, the Galaxy (14-5-8) had just one outside back – Dan Gargan – capable of going 90 minutes on Wednesday. So they put five men in midfield, leaving Omar Gonzalez in central defense and sending usual center back Leonardo to the left, where Montreal found some joy, leading to goals by Marco Di Vaio in the 28th minute and Ignacio Piatti in the 43rd.
“It's clear to see [the formation was a problem],” said LA captain Robbie Keane. “You could see we didn't have the personnel to play there, so when we went back to the original 4-4-2, then we got back into the game. It was obvious to see.”
Landon Donovan said that LA “didn’t do a good job tonight about figuring out how to do it. We are professionals and should have been intelligent enough to make it work, but we just weren’t good enough.”
The Galaxy looked more like themselves after halftime. Gyasi Zardes netted his 15th goal of the year in the 59th, and Alan Gordon scored the equalizer off the bench five minutes later. While Gordon called the comeback a “good sign,” Arena was left wanting a little bit more.
“Give our guys credit, but we weren't good on the night," he said. "We didn't play well tonight. So to get a point [after being] down two goals, I guess you can't complain a whole lot, but on the night, we weren't good.”
