Los Angeles Blues News Release -- www.labluesprosoccer.com
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
FULLERTON, Calif. – The past week was an eventful one for the Los Angeles Blues' coaches and players, as it began with former Scottish Premier League player Allan Russell returning to training and ended with a closed-door scrimmage against the mighty Los Angeles Galaxy. Fielding a highly experimental lineup, the USL PRO side fell 7-2 to the MLS Cup champions, who benefited from having kept the core of its trophy-winning team intact as well as from their superior fitness following a short offseason.
“I’m not taking the scoreline too seriously since the preseason hasn’t officially started and a lot of great players who have signed or are close to signing with us aren’t here yet,” Blues Head Coach Charlie Naimo offered. “That might even be the majority of our starting lineup – who knows. That said, it was a good exercise for us and we definitely saw some things we liked, so we’ll try to build on those and eliminate the things we didn’t like. The focus is definitely on the positives because we’re still in the process of building the team.
“There’s a lot for us to talk about now as we’re making some final decisions. We were still evaluating some potential signings in the game, so our lineup wasn’t anywhere near what it will be once we open the season. We also played some guys out of position so we could look at others in their most comfortable spots. Add to that the guys we were missing and we’re pretty happy with where we are.”
While the Blues’ improvised defense looked shaky throughout the match, the attack showed a lot of promise. With a bit of luck, Naimo’s side could have kept the score much closer, as the opposition’s final goal came on a controversial penalty-kick minutes after vehement protests by the Blues bench had gone unheard following a suspicious challenge at the other end.
“I’m more encouraged by our offense than I’m unhappy with our defense,” the Blues Head Coach said. “It’s extremely difficult to create chances against a well-organized, disciplined team like the Galaxy, so the fact that we scored twice says something. If those questionable calls had gone our way, it could have been 6-3, which would have been a much more respectable result given where we’re at. There’s very little to feel bad about right now. The Galaxy is a great team and they looked extremely sharp.”
Naimo did admit one aspect of his side’s performance left him disgruntled after the opening 45 minutes, which saw the Blues trailing 5-1. With both teams making a number of changes at the interval, the second period turned out a much brighter one for the USL PRO side.
“I was really disappointed in the way we defended in the first half,” the Blues Head Coach said. “We had a clear strategy in place, but some of the guys started doing their own thing once the whistle blew. They have to understand that if we put something in place, it’s our fault if it doesn’t work. You have to be brave enough to execute what you’re told even if it doesn’t feel right to you. That’s how you become a great player and a great part of the team.
“After the break, we did a lot better in that respect, and I would have been curious to see how our second group would have done against their first group, which was a little stronger and more difficult to defend against.”
Naimo singled out goal-scorers Matt Fondy and Cho Sunhyung as well as Carlos Borja, Erlys Garcia and another trialist in Park Jonghoon as worthy of praise. Striker Russell received an overall positive review from the man in charge, despite having been thrust into the action after just a few days of training.
“Allan is nowhere near full fitness, but there were still some things that were encouraging about his game,” Naimo said. “We saw his strength and the way he can move off the ball, but in the end it was difficult for him because we lacked the rhythm in midfield and gave him the ball in pretty bad spots.”
Russell signed with the Blues late last year following a short trial period. It was agreed then that he would be able to take a much needed break before returning to the training field at Fullerton College.
“I went home to Scotland and basically enjoyed spending time with family and relaxing for a couple of months,” the 31-year-old said. “After getting back to Southern California, I then used my first week here to get acclimated again. I’m sure it will take me another couple of weeks to get back to full fitness and get to know all the players, so that’s what I’ll be using the month of February for. After that, things will really start to get serious.”
Russell is upbeat about the state of the team.
“When I was last here, there were loads of trialists and only a few signed players,” he remembered. “Now, the first thing I noticed is that there’s more of a foundation to the team. It’s good to see that Charlie and (Associate Head Coach) Shayon (Jalayer) have worked hard to build a strong roster. From what I understand, they’ll still be assessing a few more promising players, so it seems that things are looking very positive for us.”