CARSON, Calif. – Baggio Husidic's return to the field is a huge plus for the LA Galaxy's depth, and he's not the only one getting healthy as the MLS regular season heads into its final month.
Edson Buddle is ready to go, finally, and Jose Villarreal could return next week. Even Todd Dunivant is training fully again, although he's going to need some time to rebuild fitness and find sharpness.
It's good news for LA (13-8-8), who have prospered without these players thanks to an outstanding first XI – especially their potent front six – but they know they'll need to go much deeper if they're going to claim the Supporters' Shield or win another MLS Cup championship.
“Certainly, when you're coming to this stage of the season, you need everybody as healthy as possible ...,” captain Robbie Keane said ahead of Saturday night's clash at Real Salt Lake (9:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE). “We certainly need everybody ready to go, because there's going to be games where you're playing away from home that are maybe not going your way.”
And depth, especially in attack, can turn those games around.
Husidic, perhaps LA's most versatile player, led the team in minutes played before hurting his right calf in the July 21 International Champions Cup friendly against Barcelona, an injury that figured to keep him on the sidelines for a couple of weeks at most.
A setback nearly two weeks into his rehab slowed things down, “and then we took a really safe route and made sure there were no issues.”
He finally returned in last weekend's scoreless draw with visiting Montreal, playing the second half after Giovani Dos Santos exited with a sore groin.
“I thought he looked rusty,” head coach Bruce Arena said. “He's obviously going to need a little bit of time.”
Husidic, whose aim to be back on the field in a Galaxy II game two weeks ago was thwarted by the USL's roster freeze, thought that a fair assessment.
“My last game was July 21st, and [including the game against the Impact] I've played about 60 minutes in seven weeks almost,” he said. “So you'd expect some rustiness. This week [in training] was really good. I felt sharp, and I felt like my old self.”
Buddle, who has 100 career MLS regular-season goals, has been out since the beginning of August with a hamstring injury, the latest in a series of minor ailments that have limited him to just 230 minutes over 10 league games this season. He was on the bench against Montreal and says he's now “the closest to being healthy and available whenever I'm called upon” all summer.
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“He's fit finally, probably for the first time all year,” Arena said. “Hopefully he'll get some time in the next week or so and help us.”
Villarreal, who has looked good this year when he's been healthy but has been sidelined three times by injury, is aiming for next week's CONCACAF Champions League group-stage game in Trinidad against Central FC.
He was hurt when he knocked knees with a Club America foe in a July 11 ICC friendly. When it didn't heal as expected, a scan found damage in the right knee, which needed to be cleaned out. He saw action in two Galaxy II matches late last month but said he's been training fully only this week.
“I thought it was going to be three and a half or four weeks, tops, and it took longer,” he said. “It's been frustrating, but these things happen for a reason. And maybe it's a test for me to see where I'm at and if I can come back stronger.”
