Los Angeles Blues News Release -- www.bluessoccerclub.com
Thursday, July 28, 2011
LOS ANGELES – After Coach Charlie Naimo’s recent criticism of his Blues team in the pair of home games against Dayton, last weekend’s back-to-back road matches at Richmond and Harrisburg saw a much improved collective effort. The trend continued with increased intensity in training all throughout this week, as Los Angeles looks to pick up more steam in the race for the USL PRO playoffs when it hosts Antigua Barracuda FC this coming Friday, Sunday and Tuesday.
Naimo acknowledged his side’s promising performances over the weekend, powered in part by several recent additions to the roster. Carlos Borja, Mehrshad Momeni, Peter Byers, Yeniel Bermudez and Jonathan de Leon each started in at least one of the two matches at Richmond and Harrisburg, De Leon scoring a brace in his debut Friday to give his side a crucial 2-1 away win over the Kickers.
“To me, this road trip was the first time this season that the guys really played for each other – quite contrary to how it was the week before when I felt that we wasted our talent and didn’t work hard,” Naimo said. “Something happened in the past week. The guys are much closer now and I think our recent acquisitions have been very good. We’re also finally recovering from a lot of injuries and it leads to everyone being less frustrated.”
The Blues tied the City Islanders 1-1 on Saturday, a result that is all the more impressive in light of the visitors finishing the game with ten men following a 65th minute ejection to Peter Byers. In addition, the draw came only one day after the victory over Richmond, both matches being played in the unforgiving conditions of the hot and humid East Coast summer.
“I thought the trip was a success,” midfielder Akeem Priestley said. “Getting four points from back-to-back road games in that heat is a good result. Obviously three points on Saturday would have been ideal, but considering we got a red card early in the second half, we have every reason to be happy. We fought hard and most of the players did very well individually. That’s something that should make us optimistic as we’re heading into the final stretch of the regular season and getting ready for the playoffs.”
Priestley was sure to stress that the back-to-back positive results were no coincidence, citing an overall improved mentality in training, as the Blues’ injury woes appear all but overcome and the recent signings have served as added motivation to step up the intensity.
“Most of our players are healthy now and everyone is really hungry, which makes training extremely competitive,” the Jamaican said. “You don’t know who is going to be in the starting eleven anymore and we’re all trying to secure a spot. Bringing in new players has definitely played a big role in that. It makes it really difficult for the coaches to pick a team and it pushes each player to work harder. You can’t afford to take it easy even for a day, which is exactly the kind of situation you want.”
With the change in mentality, Naimo gladly shifted his focus from the past disappointment of six winless games in league and U.S. Open Cup play between June 24 and July 17 to his side’s future prospects. Los Angeles finds itself in a close three-way race for first place in the USL PRO National Division, just behind the Rochester Rhinos and the Harrisburg City Islanders.
“I’m sensing that the guys are starting to believe in what we’re about and in how good they are, which is crucial,” Naimo said. “It doesn’t matter if we had a 0-3-3 skid recently. We had a great start to the season, but then we had some injuries, which really affected our performance. Now, I feel like if we continue to play with the same mentality that we have been lately, we can have a really strong finish to the regular season.
“The goal is to finish first in our division. We still have games in hand on both Rochester and Harrisburg, so we’re not really looking at what either of them are doing. We’re just looking at our next opponent and the next game, and we’re going to do our best to keep the guys healthy by rotating them. We think we have an extremely deep roster right now, but at the same time we’ve had to play most of our players when it wasn’t as deep, so as a result everyone has plenty of experience in matches. All that can only help us.”
One of the most crucial factors in the Blues’ recent success has been the form of team top scorer Cesar Rivera. The 24-year-old has recorded five goals and two assists in his last five matches.
“Little by little, the team is coming together both on and off the field,” Rivera said. “As a result, you can clearly see the quality on the field improving. The competition in training is pushing us to come out with a positive attitude all the time and has created a lot greater urgency, which has also helped me find success up top. It’s crucial that we keep that up.”
Byers has been among the attacking impact players for Los Angeles as well, despite not having a goal to show for his several strong performances. While Byers will miss Friday’s clash with Antigua due to his recent red card, Sunday’s and Tuesday’s meetings with the Caribbean side are of special meaning to the 26-year-old, who donned the Barracuda FC jersey for about a month earlier in the season.
“I’ll definitely be ready to play on Sunday,” the Antigua and Barbuda international said. “I’m already motivated, knowing I’ll be playing a team from my home. Some of their players are among my best friends, but when it’s game time there are no friends. It’s all about getting three points, and then we can be friends again after the final whistle. I really want to do well and get my first Blues goal against my former team.”
Byers can be safely assumed to provide his teammates with some advice heading into the three upcoming home games.
“Having played for Antigua, I obviously know their style well,” he said. “They like to put long balls over the top of the defense for their players to run on to, because they have some fast guys, such as Stefan Smith and (Tomarley) ‘Ziggy’ (Thomas). They’re a strong, physical team that thrives on its speed, meaning we’ll really have to be strong in the back. I know our defenders will take good care of that, but I’ll definitely still talk to them more about what to expect as the game gets closer.”
As always, Naimo was most concerned with his own team in his preview of the upcoming matches. However, this time it was with a twist, as the recent acquisitions may lead the Blues coach to slightly alter the possession approach usually taken by his side.
The approach tends to open the door to occasional dangerous counter-attacks by opposing teams, something Los Angeles will have to avoid against Antigua, which banks on the impressive speed of top scorer Smith. The 21-year-old forward, who has five goals on the campaign, has already hurt the Blues once before, netting on a fast break to give his side a 1-0 road win back on May 1.
“We’re a much different team now than when we played them last time,” Naimo said. “Philosophy-wise, we’ve changed a little bit to try to maximize our strengths. I think you’ll see that in the game on Friday. We’re a little better now at defending deeper in our own half and defending against counter-attacks. In addition, we’re also much more capable of attacking quickly. Part of that is having one of the best attacking players in the league in Cesar (Rivera), but it’s also a result of brining in fast players like Jonathan de Leon and Peter (Byers).
“We’ve adjusted our playing style a little to really bring out those guys’ strengths, meaning that we might let Antigua have the ball a bit, instead of being the team that always possesses and runs the risk of being surprised by the counter. So far the adjustment of our philosophy has proven successful, and we’re hoping we can continue to evolve in the same direction.”
The first of the Blues’ three consecutive meetings with Antigua Barracuda FC is this coming Friday, July 29, at Norco College’s Mustang Stadium. Kickoff is at 5.30 p.m. PST. The second match is on Sunday at 5 p.m. PST, also at Mustang Stadium. The two sides then round out the three-game series at Palisades Charter High School’s Stadium by the Sea on Tuesday at 5.30 p.m. PST.