CARSON, Calif. – Gyasi Zardes has cooled off following a sizzling summer, with no goals in his last six games and just one in his last nine, but the LA Galaxy are pleased with everything else he's providing.
Opponents' defensive approaches has eliminated a lot of the space he exploited en route to 16 league goals, and two more in the US Open Cup, during a tremendous four-month stretch in which the second-year forward evolved into a pivotal contributor for the Galaxy.
Zardes is taking the slump, if you want to call it that, in stride. He understands it's not the end-all, be-all of his game.
“I always want to score, but sometimes you just don't score, you know,” said Zardes, who hopes to hit the net when LA is home Nov. 23 in the first leg of the Western Conference final against the Seattle Sounders. “And I feel like [earlier in the season] I had more opportunities within games – I had about six opportunities or six shots – but lately I haven't been having as many shots. That plays a factor.”
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It's primarily about the defenses he and the Galaxy are facing. Teams are dropping midfielders deeper, clogging lanes and filling space in front of and inside their boxes, and there are fewer clear paths to the net. He's had chances, but they've gone wide or high or to the goalkeeper, and the one goal he has scored in recent games – in the first leg of the conference semifinal, at Real Salt Lake – was waved off by an errant offside flag.
Zardes had a handful of chances in last weekend's second leg, the best a one-on-one shot on which RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando made a foot save just before halftime, but wasn't able to join in as LA romped to a 5-0 triumph.
His teammates like what he's doing, regardless.
“I think he's done really well,” midfielder Stefan Ishizaki said. “He hasn't scored goals, but he's been very important for us, making plays for others and creating space and sometimes just keeping the ball [in an advanced position] for us for a couple of seconds so we can get our team up the field. …
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“He's just been unlucky he hasn't scored. He's gonna get a goal. We're not worried about him.”
Bruce Arena agrees: “He's ready to get a goal, no question about that.”
And goal or no goal, the intensity of the defenses Zardes is facing should help continue his evolution.
“The last four games, five games, teams have played us hard physically, and Gyasi is the lead guy in most cases on our frontline, so he's probably taken the most physical abuse of everyone,” associate head coach Dave Sarachan said. “It's been a little harder for him to find space, [but] that's a nice, maturing aspect of Gyasi, that he's dealing with playoff pressure and the physicality of it. …
“He's learning how he needs to create space and how, when you're being defended very tightly, how you find room, whether it's moving, whether it's checking late, the timing of movement. He's learning that now, and we hope it's going to pay off.”
Zardes, who had stretches of 10 games with nine goals and three with five, plans to keep toiling. Hopefully, all the way through MLS Cup.
“Sometimes, it's frustrating [not to score], but at the end of the day, the team is winning, the team is playing good, and I'm playing good,” he said. “So I'm just trying to think of it in a positive way. It's just motivation for myself to keep working.”
