Los Angeles Galaxy prepare for Vancouver Whitecaps
Aug 24, 2013; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan (10) looks for an open teammate against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC during the second half at BC Place. The Galaxy defeated the Whitecaps, 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Bruce Arena’s Los Angeles Galaxy prepared for their Saturday afternoon match with Carl Robinson’s Vancouver Whitecaps by moving their practice to StubHub Center’s turf field. Although it’s unknown whether this will be helpful for the Galaxy in the end, it was important for Los Angeles to expect how the surface will work for them.
“It was giving the guys a little muscle memory for these surfaces and get a feel for it,” Arena told LAGalaxy.com’s Adam Serrano. “We won’t be on this [surface] again this week, but it’s just an idea to get them thinking about it a little bit.”
“The objective today was simply to manage the way that the ball moves on turf,” said right back Dan Gargan. “The idea is to come out and move the ball around in order to work on your technique. It helps us get acclimated to a different surface for the weekend.”
“It’s very important to train here on this field because the ball will roll and bounce very differently on an artificial field and it can cause us problems,” added goalkeeper Jaime Penedo. “Artificial surfaces cause a variety of complications, but we will need to deal with them rapidly in the first five minutes of the game.”
Meanwhile, the Galaxy Academy Under-18s and Under-16s were in action. The Under-18s whipped Chivas de Guadalajara 4-1 on a Jaime Villereal hat trick, while Toronto FC fell to the Under-16s 2-1. In other Under-16s news, the team qualified for the 2013-14 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Playoffs with 54 points in 23 games played.
LA Galaxy Academy U-18 Lineup vs. Chivas Guadalajara: Cesar Jerez, Michael Lopez, Sebastian Velasco, Oscar Sorto, Malcolm Jones, Bradford Jamieson IV, Jaime Villareal (Axel Mendez 85’) Martin, Ryo Fujii, Christian Chavez (Gutierrez, 65), Jack McBean (Adonis Amaya 73’)
LA GALAXY U-18 DALLAS CUP RESULTS:
Sunday, April 13 – LA Galaxy Academy U-18 1-1 Anderlecht (BEL)
Monday, April 14 – LA Galaxy Academy U-18 0-2 Fluminense (BRA)
Wednesday, April 16 – LA Galaxy Academy U-18 4-1 Chivas Guadalajara (MEX)
LA Galaxy Academy U-16 Lineup vs. Toronto FC: Bennett Steddon, Bilal Abdallah, Brian O’Hara, Elan Koenig, Alex Ramos (Danny Huizar 50’), Ethan Zubak (Dylan Smith 46’), Johnathan Ramirez (Juan Orozco 57’), Chris Segovia (Enrique Bustamante 53’), Marc Calderon (Jorge Ruiz 46’), Rey Ortiz, Adrian Vera.
LA GALAXY U-16 GENERATION ADIDAS CUP SCHEDULE:
Monday, April 14 LA Galaxy Academy U-16 0-2 Stoke City (ENG)
Tuesday, April 15 LA Galaxy Academy U-16 2-1 Toronto FC
Thursday, April 17 vs. RSL – 4 p.m. – Toyota Soccer Center’s Field 8