Los Angeles Blues News Release -- www.bluessoccerclub.com
Saturday, April 30, 2011
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Los Angeles Blues battled hosts River Plate Puerto Rico to a 1-1 tie last Saturday night and have since returned home to Southern California. The result saw the USL PRO side finish their demanding trip to the Caribbean unbeaten and atop the International Division. With Sunday’s home opener against Antigua Barracuda FC fast approaching, the Blues expressed pride in their 3-0-1 start to the season as well as excitement over finally getting to play in front of their home fans at Fullerton’s Titan Stadium.
Captain Josh Tudela conceded the team missed out on a possible fourth straight win Saturday but arrived at an overall positive assessment of the extended road swing.
“I think all the guys are a little upset because we know that we could have walked away with three points and ended the trip 4-0-0,” the former Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder said. “But the tie is still a very good result, considering it was our fourth road game in just over a week. The fact that we were able to go to the Caribbean and get ten points from four games is incredible. All the guys played and fought hard again against River Plate, which already shows the character of this team.”
Defender Leonard Griffin, another player with extensive MLS experience, was similarly satisfied with the Blues’ performance, especially considering the quality of the opponent.
“I would say that was our toughest game so far,” the 28-year-old offered. “It was very physical and they challenged us all around the field. I think we did a good job of matching their intensity, and considering the amount of games we played during the extended road trip, a draw is a good result.”
Griffin’s defensive colleague Cameron Dunn agreed, despite also seeing potential areas of improvement.
“I thought we played well but were still lacking 90 minutes worth of focus,” he said. “We held the ball well and created some great scoring chances throughout the match. River Plate relied heavily on the big ball forward and didn’t move it around as much was we expected them to. I feel like we had the better chances and should have gotten the win.”
As one might expect, Blues Head Coach Charlie Naimo took a more critical approach in his analysis of the draw. The 40-year-old has been stressing the importance of clean passing and patience, a strategy emulating the world-famous style demonstrated to perfection by Spanish giants FC Barcelona.
“Overall, I was satisfied with our possession during the trip,” Naimo said, “but today was the first time we never really established a good rhythm and failed to control play for a longer stretch of the game. River Plate is a very good team and they did a great job of being aggressive and pressuring our backs. We just couldn’t match their intensity, which probably had a lot to do with tired legs after such a demanding road schedule.”
Naimo’s men exerted greater dominance in the later stages of the match following the ejection of River Plate defender Yeniel Bermudez, but they were unable to force the winning goal. The sending off of Bermudez for a second yellow card following a hard foul on Akeem Priestley was the third ejection of a chippy affair. The Blues’ Cesar Rivera and River Plate’s Martin Morello were both shown straight red cards following a confrontation just after the half-hour mark.
“The ejections affected the game somewhat,” said Griffin. “They allowed for more space with less pressure on the ball, which forced both teams to adjust a little bit. In the end, I think we had the better chances and could have won the game.”
Once again, Naimo declined to blame the team’s inability to come away with three points on bad luck alone. “I think we could have done better with the man advantage if we had played sharper passes and used the entire width of the field late in the game,” he said. “We created some opportunities, but we could have had more considering the circumstances.”
However, despite the missed opportunity to earn a fourth straight victory, Naimo was able to see the positives in yet another unbeaten match to finish off the Caribbean road swing. His sights are now firmly set on next Sunday’s historic inaugural home game against red-hot Antigua Barracuda FC. The side that boasts numerous Antigua and Barbuda national team members recently thrashed Puerto Rico United 7-0 on the road behind four goals by Peter Byers.
While Naimo is no doubt aware of the skills of the former Montreal Impact ace, he is even more concerned about the absence of one of his own attacking stars, Cesar Rivera, following the striker’s ejection from last Saturday’s game. Rivera already has two goals on the season and his suspension for the home opener doesn’t help a Blues team recovering from the travel and physical exhaustion that comes with a hectic road schedule.
“First and foremost, we need to recharge our batteries after such a demanding road trip,” Naimo said. “In addition, I’m now focusing on who I’m going to field in place of Cesar Rivera. He has shown in the first few games that he’s a great striker who makes us better, so it’s not easy to replace him. But we have very good depth up front. It’s just a question of talking to my coaching staff and ultimately making a decision.”
The Blues’ roaring start to the season could require extra caution in upcoming matches, including Sunday’s meeting with Antigua Barracuda FC, emphasized Dunn. “With the results from this trip, we’ve put ourselves in a great position in the league standings,” the 27-year-old said. “That also means we’re now the team everyone’s chasing, so we need to continue moving in the right direction by resting up and getting right back to work. We expect to get better every game.”
The sentiment was echoed by Griffin, whose eager anticipation of Sunday’s home opener mirrors the excitement surrounding the entire Blues organization ahead of the meeting with Antigua Barracuda FC.
“We need to focus on recovering from this trip and getting everyone feeling a hundred percent both physically and mentally,” he said. “I know we’ll have a lot of energy and excitement against Antigua since it is our home opener. We just need to make sure we’re on top of our game by not giving up anything defensively, possessing the ball and finishing our chances. We’re really looking forward to the match and hope to put on a show for the fans that come out to support us.”
The Blues might just be able to do so, according to Tudela. “If we’re prepared and focus on playing our style, I think we’ll be successful,” he offered. “We have a very talented team, one of the best in the entire league if we play the way we know we can.”
Sunday’s game at Titan Stadium on the campus of Cal State Fullerton kicks off at 5 p.m. PST. The first 300 fans in attendance will receive free 2011 Los Angeles Blues schedule posters.