It's no secret that the Los Angeles Galaxy's attack has been struggling of late. In fact, over the last four-plus games -- a stretch now of 6 1/2 hours -- the Green-and-Gold have not scored a goal.
The scoring drought began nearly a month ago when Herculez Gomez scored in the 60th minute against Real Salt Lake. The Galaxy haven't found the back of the net since.
The Galaxy did show signs of life, though, against the Colorado Rapids last Saturday night. They registered 14 shots in the second half, and if not for some heroics by a relatively unknown goalkeeper, Los Angeles would have ended the scoring slump.
One of the reasons that the Galaxy were able to generate at least some scoring chances was the return of several players from injuries. One of those players was Alan Gordon, who came on in the 65th minute with the aim of giving his team a lift offensively.
Gordon joined the Galaxy at the tail end of the 2004 season from the Portland Timbers of the USL First Division. Gordon led the USL in scoring that season, and showed a lot of promise early. But unfortunately for Gordon, he has battled a series of injuries since coming to Los Angeles and has appeared only in nine games thus far in his short MLS career.
Standing 6-foot-3, Gordon joined John Wolyniec on the field Saturday night to give the Galaxy a large presence on the front line. Wolyniec is also listed over six feet tall, and the pair gave the Galaxy a new look on offense.
"It was nice to see two big bodies in the forward line," said Galaxy head coach Steve Sampson. "It's something we haven't seen in a long time here."
Sampson feels that playing with two target forwards gives the Galaxy an extra dimension to their attack. The Galaxy can play from the wings and have two players in the box who are strong in the air. In addition, the Galaxy can play down the middle and have two forwards that can hold the ball up for players to make runs off of. It's a look that Galaxy fans might be getting used to in the near future.
"Having Alan and John in there might pay some dividends for us down the road," said Sampson.
Gordon admits that adrenaline helped him get through his 25 minutes on the field Saturday, and that he still has a ways to go in terms of fitness. Still, he's excited about the prospect of being a bigger part of Sampson's plans.
"We have to do something. We have to find something that works," said Gordon. "John and I are two big strong forwards and that's how we have to play. We have to be a blue collar team and work hard."
Gordon has already worked hard just to get back onto the field at The Home Depot Center, but it will likely take a lot more work to shake off the rust. Despite his team's current run of poor form, Gordon is happy to be back on the pitch, trying to help steer his teammates out of the current slump.
"It felt really great getting out and being a part of it," said Gordon. "I felt the pain we've felt the last couple of games, but it's better than watching from the sidelines."
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
