An already overtaxed Los Angeles Galaxy squad received some good news this week -- two scheduled exhibition games against the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Minnesota Thunder have been postponed.
The games were both set to be played in early October, but have been pushed back because of the recent injury to David Beckham. In addition to Beckham's injury, the Galaxy has been wracked with injuries, which makes any minor break in their schedule a welcome one.
"I think with a healthy roster and a little more of a gap between the games you have a chance to play in exhibition games," said Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop. "We're right in the middle of a number of really tough games."
In addition to their league schedule, the Galaxy played their way into the SuperLiga final, participated in their own World Series of Football exhibition which included a game against Chelsea and also faced a U.S. Open Cup game against Richmond. While Yallop was being as diplomatic as possible about the postponement of the two matches, the players weren't shy about expressing a little bit of relief.
"(Postponing the games) is a necessity with our schedule. Anything we can clear out of the schedule is a good thing," said Chris Klein, who has played nearly every minute during the team's current stretch of 31 games in 15 weeks. "We wanted to make those two exhibitions, but right now our focus needs to be the league."
It wasn't just the prospect of two extra fixtures on the calendar that was going to put extra strain on an already thin roster. Both games were on the road, meaning the Galaxy will also avoid several thousand travel miles as well.
"It's not just the games, but the travel that goes along with it," said Joe Cannon. "Obviously right now we're looking for any positive thing."
The Galaxy certainly have been in higher demand since the arrival of Beckham, as was expected. Mental and physical fatigue have played a large part in the poor results the Galaxy have endured, recently prompting some to say that the schedule makers may have been a bit too overzealous in their attempt to showcase their megastar signing.
The games with Minnesota and Vancouver will still be played, but much to the relief of the players on the Galaxy, it will come at a time when they are more rested, after the end of the regular season.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
