The L.A. Galaxy failed to score again Saturday night, drawing 0-0 at home against D.C. United. And to make matters worse, Landon Donovan, the team’s best player, now reports for international duty and may not return for more than six weeks. Frank Yallop’s men have now gone a dismal 220 minutes without scoring (310 minutes if you consider the friendly loss to Scotland’s Rangers). The Galaxy’s strikers are calling it bad luck.
“I can’t pinpoint it,” Donovan said of his and the team’s scoring problem. “I can’t remember ever being this frustrated. I can’t remember having this many chances in seven games. I should have 10 goals, realistically. But I’ve got to stay positive.”
Donovan, at least, has two goals in seven games. More worrying is the inability of fellow Galaxy striker Nate Jaqua to find the net. “We’re getting good opportunities. Me personally, I’m not finishing them,” Jaqua said. “Sometimes it’s like that, but you just battle through it and try to stay confident and hopefully it goes in.” Donovan points to last year’s struggles of Kansas City Wizards striker Eddie Johnson — this year he has nine goals in nine games. “Soccer’s weird, man,” said Landon. “Last year, Eddie scores two goals, or whatever it was, and this year everything that hits his foot goes in. That’s the way it goes.”