|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Los Angeles Galaxy 10 Questions: Kevin Hartman | Coachspeak: Sigi Schmid
Posted: Friday March 10, 2000 07:28 PM
By Jeff Green, CNNSI.com At a press luncheon in Boston before MLS Cup '99 last November, Los Angeles Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid made light of D.C. United's dominance over the rest of Major League Soccer. "I'd like to thank D.C. United for inviting us to their annual championship game," Schmid said. "I know you usually rotate opponents, but we'd like to come a little more often if possible." Two days later, Schmid's tone turned angry as he lashed out at the officiating and the field conditions after his team lost 2-0 in the rematch of MLS Cup '96.
The longtime UCLA coach could very well get another invitation and a chance for revenge at RFK Stadium for MLS Cup 2000. The Galaxy managed to retain most of the team that dominated the league's individual awards in 1999 and turned in the best defensive performance in MLS history.
The Galaxy is one of only four teams to make the playoffs in each of the league's four years, and this year the team will look to win 20 games for the third straight season. But what did the Galaxy learn that will allow it to make the jump from bridesmaid to bride in 2000? "We need to do a better job when Mauricio Cienfuegos gets marked by a player like Richie Williams," Schmid said. "We have to do a better job of freeing Mauricio up. "I think we need to play with better level of aggression. I think D.C. United was just more aggressive than we were and battled a little bit harder and fought a little bit more for those 50-50 type of balls," Schmid added. One hole to fillThe Galaxy could begin 2000 with the same lineup that played in MLS Cup, with the notable exception of star forward Carlos Hermosillo, 35, whose return to Mexico could be more of a blow to the team's popularity with the local Mexican population than to its success on the field. With the season opener nearing, Schmid was still waiting for the league to supply Hermosillo's replacement. Schmid was looking to boost an offense that that dropped to fifth in the league last year, with his increased emphasis on defensive discipline. Under current MetroStars coach Octavio Zambrano in 1998, L.A. went 24-8 before losing to Chicago in the Western Conference finals. That L.A. team set an MLS record for goals scored, with a stunning total of 85 in 32 games. At the same time, it had the league's best defense for the year, allowing 44 goals. However, Zambrano was fired after a 2-3 start to '99. "Right now, we have a little bit of a hole up front," Schmid said. "Certainly, I think we need to find somebody."
Returning for 2000 is the team's leading scorer from the last two years, speedy 29-year-old Cobi Jones, a U.S. national team staple. "I think we have speed up front," said Schmid. "I think we have a little bit of versatility up there." Clint Mathis, 23, is likely to see more time in the offensive third than he did as a midfielder last year. "I expect more goals from Clint," Schmid said of the third-year player from the University of South Carolina. "We've talked about it. We've made the decision that we're going to play him as a forward. We think that's where he needs to be in order for our team to be successful. "But I think what we need is that personality, or that forward, who has got maybe a little bit more size, who battles for some of those balls that are up in the air and who can finish off opportunities on a consistent basis." Whomever they find, rest assured that general manager Sergio del Prado hopes he's Mexican. Defense intactThe Galaxy must have breathed a sigh of relief in February when 1999 MLS goalkeeper of the year Kevin Hartman signed a new contract with the league after traveling to Europe in the offseason to explore playing opportunities there. Last year, Hartman became the first goalkeeper in MLS history to register a goals-against average of less than one (0.91), but his season went sour at the end when he flubbed a clearance at MLS Cup and gifted Ben Olsen's goal that gave D.C. a 2-0 lead. Hartman's defense allowed just 29 goals through 32 games last year, shattering the league's previous record of 41, set by Columbus in 1997. Hartman, 26 in May, owes much of that success to the experienced back four in front of him, marshaled by captain and MLS defender of the year Robin Fraser, 32. Rewarded for his consistently strong performance in MLS -- he made the Best 11 in '96, '98 and '99 -- Fraser has earned a regular spot on Bruce Arena's national team roster, recovering from a broken collar bone suffered early in MLS Cup to play in the Gold Cup. The Galaxy's left back, Greg Vanney, has also looked solid recently under Arena. World Cup veteran Paul Caligiuri also adds a wealth of international playing experience in the middle, while Ezra Hendrickson of St. Vincent and the Grenadines provides an attacking weapon with his loping runs down the right side. "We have experience back there, and now I think we have some youth back there as well, with Danny Califf and whether it's Steve Jolley or it's Ali-John Utush, whoever we hold on to out of that group," said Schmid. "I think Danny Califf has been solid for us in the back. I think he'll be a plus for our team." The Galaxy paid what could be a heavy price for the No. 6 draft pick that netted Califf, a 20-year-old rookie out of Maryland. For that pick and another first-rounder next year, the Galaxy gave the Chicago Fire DaMarcus Beasley, the 17-year-old left winger who was voted the second best player overall at the Under-17 World Cup last November. Midfield strengthEven considering his record-setting defense, Schmid cites the midfield as the Galaxy's biggest strength."I think we're very good in midfield," said Schmid. "I think we have an ability to hold the ball and knock it around." For the fourth straight year, the Galaxy's playmaker will be diminutive Salvadoran international Mauricio Cienfuegos, who is third all time in MLS with 56 assists. Playing a defensive role behind him is the team's enforcer, Danny Pena. The acquisition of lanky Costa Rican midfielder Roy Myers last year helped take creative pressure off of Cienfuegos in the midfield, while New Zealand international Simon Elliott played his way into rookie of the year consideration. Adding depth for 2000 is rookie Sasha Victorine, picked up with the No. 11 choice overall in February's draft. Schmid said he was shocked that no team had snapped up Victorine, whom he had coached at UCLA and was Califf's teammate on the U.S. youth national team at the Under-20 World Cup in 1998. "Victorine has shown that he's a very versatile player," Schmid said. "We played him up front; we've played him deep in midfield, we played him at attacking midfield, so I think he's a good addition to our team." The Galaxy's strong showing in 1999 helped the team finish second in the league in attendance, averaging 17,632 at the Rose Bowl, where the team went 12-4. The total trailed only Columbus, where a new stadium boosted attendance, but the Galaxy's numbers were not what the league hopes for out of the rich Los Angeles market. The team drew an average of 28,916 in 1996. Part of the remedy could come in the form of a new stadium built specifically for the Galaxy. According to media reports, billionaire investor-operator Phil Anschutz held a party for all three of his MLS teams -- L.A., Chicago and Colorado -- in Miami's South Beach during spring training, revealing designs for a new soccer-specific stadium in each city. As far back as MLS Cup '99, Galaxy officials indicated the question was no longer "if" the Galaxy will get a new home, but "when" and "where." "We're convinced that if soccer is going to make it in Los Angeles," club president Tim Leiweke said, "it has to be with a 20,000- to 30,000-seat stadium that we build and we operate." "We're committed; it's just a matter of finding the right piece of land," he said at MLS Cup in November.
People, Places and Things
New Additions
Key Departures Get The Highlighter
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
