Leonardo and Robbie Rogers were at it again for Friday’s scrimmage against the Seattle Sounders
By Ivan Yeo
With just a month to go until the MLS regular season starts up, the Los Angeles Galaxy are working non-stop to ensure themselves to be as fit as possible towarwds the start of the season.
The Galaxy continued its preseason on Friday morning with a scrimmage against conference rival Seattle at the StubHub Center training grounds. Even though it was a scrimmage, the match proved to be as competitive as their three regular season meetings as well as the Western Conference finals, with the Galaxy jumping ahead on Baggio Husidic’s goal early in the first half. Marco Pappa equalized for Seattle midway through the half, but Ignacio Maganto’s volley in the second half proved to be the winning goal on early Friday afternoon.
“We created a lot of chances and kept the ball,” Rogers said of the scrimmage. “For the whole team, the preseason has been good for us, guys have been able to stay healthy.”
Still, Friday’s scrimmage represented another opportunity to try new things. Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena certainly did so, inserting Robbie Rogers, who played primarily as a left back last season, at left back to start the match, which in turn enabled Todd Dunivant to start at his natural left back spot. Playing on the right side is not something novel to Rogers, who has gained a reputation for being able to strike the ball with either foot.
“Timing and spaing wise, it’s different, so I have to get used to that, but I can play on the right and left depending on where Bruce wants to put me,” Rogers said of going from the left side to the right side.
Next up for the Galaxy will be a week-long odyssey throught Europe, first in Sweden against Hammarby IF followed by a trip to Ireland to face Shamrock Rovers. Aside from the competition being a little tougher, Rogers believes there are other positives that go along with this road trip.
“The games in Sweden and Ireland will be good tests for us in terms of our fitness,” Rogers said. “Team camaraderie is always great, to go out with the guys, to travel together and the banter and all that stuff is always great for a team.”
