CARSON, Calif. – Ashley Cole held no punches following LA Galaxy’s 6-2 defeat to Real Salt Lake on Tuesday evening.
Missing several key players, a youthful Galaxy squad fell to Salt Lake in a loss that equaled the club's highest margin of defeat ever at home. Tuesday's loss was only the seventh time in club history that Los Angeles has conceded five or more goals.
“I’m embarrassed. I’m pissed,” Cole, who donned the captain’s armband with Jelle Van Damme suspended, said. “[A defeat like this has] happened maybe once in my career, but these young guys have to step up now and hopefully we can get all the players back and kick on from there.”
Injuries, suspensions, and international absences have ravaged the Galaxy this season causing head coach Curt Onalfo to rely on a younger lineup than expected at the start of the campaign. The Galaxy’s young guns have helped Los Angeles earn the league’s best road record, but on Tuesday, the team’s youth suffered as Salt Lake scored four times in the second half.
Although Cole indicated that it is not the time for the Galaxy to “panic” yet, he admitted that the young kids must grow up fast after an “embarrassing” loss.
“For me, when I was coming through the ranks, I wanted to run everywhere. I never wanted to lose a tackle and today was embarrassing,” he said. "Sometimes you can’t control them. I can’t hold nine players' hand every game. That’s what happened [Tuesday]. They’ve played enough games now, and they have to understand they have to win. It’s on their shoulders, personally. You can talk to them as much as you want, but no one’s going to put their foot into tackles. You can’t teach that. It’s the mentality they’ve got to have. I think [Tuesday] it showed that they didn’t have that mentality.
“They have to improve. The mentality has to be better. You can’t always keep saying we need the veterans. It’s their time to play. Yeah, we’re missing a lot of guys, but they’re getting their chance to play. They have to look in the mirror and understand what it takes to be a professional footballer because [Tuesday] was not good.”
