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TIME FOR CHANGE
LA Galaxy manager Bruce Arena has said that it is about time he thought about the change in the penalty taking specialist within the team. This decision by the manager came after the second penalty of the season for Landon Donovan. The US international recently returned to first team action after taking a four month sabbatical from the game. However, he has missed the two penalties that he has received since returning to first-team action. The missed penalties have proven to be extremely costly for the team, which has made manager Arena look at this aspect.
Donovan’s latest miss came in the match against Houston Dynamo. The miss proved to be extremely costly as Galaxy have gone on to lose both matches 1-0. Arena has pointed out to this fact and has stated that he will probably assigning a different player for the penalty taking duties from next match onwards. Robbie Keane could become the designated penalty taker for LA Galaxy, as he has a great experience and record of converting penalties from his days stretching back to Tottenham. MLS Golden Boot co-leader Mike Magee, though, has said that it is a very high price for Donovan to pay for his two misses.
“I’m not doing the job, so someone else is going to have to do it, but aside from that, we’ve got to play better. Certainly, goals change games, and I could have made a difference and changed the game, but it happens and you have to move on,” said Donovan. “Never good to miss a penalty kick. We’re probably going to have to change that. He’s missed two in two games that we’ve lost, 1-0. Not good, so we probably need to make a change there,” said Arena. LA Galaxy are seven points behind leaders FC Dallas in the Western Conference table.
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Hilltop Awards – USF Men’s Soccer Team Awards
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ADU SET FOR RETURN
Freddy Adu’s much hyped second spell in the MLS could soon be over after the striker is set to join the Brazilian club Bahia according to the manager of Philadelphia Union – John Hackworth. He has said that the MLS club will be getting the World Cup veteran Kléberson as part of the deal. The 33-year-old Brazilian international is expected to provide some much needed quality in the attack after the failure of Adu. Adu was spoken of as the next big thing in world football. However, the striker has failed spectacularly in several spells in Europe and the MLS.
Hackworth, though, has said that the deal has not been finalised yet, but he does expect it to go through in the next few days. It is understood that Philadelphia Union will not be offering any transfer fee for the Brazilian. Instead, this deal is thought to be a straight swap between the two clubs. Adu came to the MLS for his second stint back in 2011. However, the former wonderkid has not been part of the first team plans after the new manager John Hackworth, who took over the reins in the summer. At the start of the pre-season, Hackworth revealed that Adu does not figure in his plans.
“It’s a complicated deal. But ultimately we’re going to get Kléberson here, they’re going to get Adu and we’re not going to be able to recover salary cap space in that. From Europe to Asia to Australia to South America to Mexico, there was interest in Freddy Adu. He’s the type of player and has the type of name that I think attracts that interest no matter what. Finding that situation that worked out for both parties has been much more difficult,” said Hackworth, whose team have stormed into the second position in the table.