A historic win, but only 1 of 34 hurdles cleared this season. That’s the mindset of Bob Bradley this week in training as he prepares LAFC to face Real Salt Lake in the second match of the season on Saturday.
“I see things every day in training that I want to see better. So I scream and yell. I stop to try to work on things. I challenge guys,” Bradley said following training. “The process of becoming a good team is showing up every day with the right mentality. These are things that good teams do.”
With time over the last few days to lament on the 1-0 victory at Seattle last Sunday, Bradley remained steadfast in emphasizing the process of creating a good team goes beyond just score lines.
“The things I’m critical on, I’m critical on all the time,” Bradley said. “Everything that we’ve worked on is to establish ideas, and you work on those ideas to get things better and better. That’s timing, that’s movement, that’s technique, and quality of passes. It’s scoring goals. It’s reactions. You’ve got a pile of things that get introduced in terms of how they all go together to become a good team.”
With his team set to travel to Rio Tinto Stadium, sitting at the second highest elevation in MLS at 4,500 feet, Bradley was asked if he foresees any fitness problems for his squad this early in the season.
“Salt Lake is like 4,000 feet, you feel it a little bit, but you have to run through it. Whenever a team has to go and play at altitude, there, Denver, Mexico City, or whatever, unless you have time to acclimate, which takes literally two weeks, you go in late,” Bradley said. “You’ll feel it a little bit. But when you go in late, it still gives you a chance, if the mentality is right, to deal with it on the day. That’s how it works.”
LAFC will train the next two days before heading to Salt Lake on Friday. Kickoff is set for 12:30 PST on Saturday.
News & Notes
- LAFC winger Aaron Kovar is available for selection after missing the opening match against Seattle. As part of his loan to LAFC from the Sounders, Kovar was unable to face his parent team in any competition per MLS rules.
- Walker Zimmerman trained separately from the team on Tuesday and Wednesday. Zimmerman was a late scratch from the starting lineup against Seattle after feeling tightness during warmups. He continues to be monitored by the training staff.
- Also training separately on Wednesday were Calum Mallace and Omar Gaber. Their availability for Saturday’s game will be updated later this week.
