Before Bob Bradley and his side returned to training in preparation for the Galaxy's arrival at Banc of California Stadium on Thursday, one last thing had to be said of LAFC's 5-1 loss in Minnesota on Sunday.
"I just looked at the whole thing and said it’s not what we are about," Bradley told the team on Tuesday.
"Just because you establish ideas, and because you’ve gone through many games and seen progress, that doesn’t mean it just comes easily. You have to prove it every time you get the chance."
LAFC's unbeaten run of nine games in all competitions came to an end in Minnesota. Prior to the loss, LAFC hadn't failed to capture at least a share of the points in a match in nearly two months. And while the defeat is only the Club's fifth of the season - second fewest in the Western Conference - the 5-1 margin was the steepest for LAFC since the 5-0 loss in Atlanta.
With the Minnesota result officially put in the rearview mirror, Bradley fixated on the task at hand: a condensed week of training leading up to a rematch with the Galaxy. Despite the short week and intensifying spotlight, the message remained clear from Bradley. His squad needs to fall back on the foundation it's been building since day one
"The strategy is to have a way of playing. To have football ideas that everybody embraces. And then, you bring them onto the field every time. If you play a big game, a derby, then you understand there is a little more at stake, the spotlight is a little bigger, but the way that you have worked from the beginning is going to be the most important thing.
"We don’t arrive this week with a new game plan. We arrive knowing that the way we’re working has us going in a good direction."
News & Notes
- Eduard Atuesta returned to full training for the first time since sustaining an ankle injury against Philadelphia that has kept him out of the last five matches.
- Also in full training on Tuesday was André Horta. Bradley had this to say when asked about the possibility of Horta seeing his first MLS action since joining LAFC: "We’re hopeful that maybe this is the first game when we can include him."
- Lee Nguyen didn't travel with the team to Minnesota due to the red card he picked up in LAFC's previous MLS match with Portland. After serving his one-match ban, he is available to Bradley for the Galaxy match.
