CARSON, Calif. – Chandler Hoffman remains a work in progress for the LA Galaxy, getting a few minutes at the end of games to show what he can do while playing a starring role for the Galaxy II, who open the USL PRO playoffs Saturday night.
The 24-year-old striker has 13 goals in just 17 appearances for the Galaxy’s new feeder club (15-7-6), the best scoring rate in the league, but his coaches are happiest that his game is broadening as he shuffles back and forth between “Los Dos” and the first team.
“He's proven once again that [scoring goals is] what he does. … That's really what he's brought consistently to the group,” Galaxy II head coach Curt Onalfo said on the eve of the quarterfinal game against the Rochester Rhinos (10-10-8) in the main stadium at StubHub Center. “We don't want him just to be a goal scorer, we want him to be hard to play against defensively because that's the modern game.
“We want him to be able to combine more and have more of an influence over the 90 minutes. … That's been the point of emphasis, and he's improved with that.”
Hoffman has had three multi-goal games, netted four winners in Galaxy II's first seven victories and scored five goals in five starts since returning to the side following a solid month in June and July exclusively with the first team.
“It's been great for me to be able to get consistent minutes, and I feel like with consistent minutes I've consistently scored goals,” Hoffman said. “That's the idea, to prove that I can continue to score goals and keep moving up the ladder.”
Hoffman played in seven league games and scored five Reserve-team goals as a rookie two years ago in Philadelphia, and he featured in five non-MLS first-team outings – with a goal in a CONCACAF Champions League win at Cartagines – while scoring five reserve-team goals after coming to LA in a trade last year.
- Get the latest LA news at LAGalaxy.com
He's made eight appearances this year off the bench for LA, five in the last eight games – about hour's worth in all – and has come close a few times to bagging his first MLS goal. He's made the bigger imprint with the Galaxy II.
“When I step on the field out here, I feel like every game that I play I'm going to score a goal,” said Hoffman, the first Alabama-bred player in MLS. “And so it's just carrying that over [to the first team] because whereas here I'll get multiple chances, with the first team right now I'm getting five to 10 minutes. So you get one chance, and you've got to be that much sharper.”
It's not easy for young forwards to get time with the Galaxy's first team, not with Robbie Keane, Landon Donovan, Gyasi Zardes and Alan Gordon getting most of the minutes, but Hoffman is working with some pretty good mentors and hopes the lessons will pay off soon.
“You can either be frustrated [about the lack of playing time] or you can look at it as an incredible opportunity on a daily basis to train with world-class forwards, and so that's kind of the approach I'm doing,” he said.
He said he’s trying to soak up “any bit of knowledge” the veterans can give him.
“There's not many players that can say on a daily basis that they're training with Robbie Keane, Landon Donovan and how Gyasi's been playing this year,” Hoffman said. “It's a fun group to be part of.”
