Landon Donovan, David Beckham and Eddie Lewis were all out of the lineup in Bruce Arena's debut as head coach, and the lack of offensive punch only highlighted the Galaxy's struggles when their two superstars are out of the lineup.
The Fire also labored to put together a coherent attack; like the Galaxy, they were without a major offensive piece of their puzzle, as Cuauhtemoc Blanco was away with the Mexican national team. Still, they were the better side on the night.
"I think we played a very good team, the Chicago Fire. I think they're one of the better teams in the league. I thought they came out and put us under a lot of pressure early," said Arena. "Obviously we were a bit thin tonight with the loss of some players. Not that that's an excuse, because Chicago was missing some pretty good players too."
Without Donovan or Beckham, the Galaxy could not get any real consistency on offense. Chris Klein did well to provide some decent service from the right flank, but Edson Buddle and Alan Gordon both struggled to break down one of the best defenses in MLS. The overall lack of depth available to the Galaxy was evident, and it's something they are going to have to cope with again before the season ends as both Donovan and Beckham, and possibly Lewis and Ante Jazic, could be called up for future World Cup qualifying matches.
"We'll cope with that when the time comes. Those are things I certainly was aware of," said Arena. "Those are the cards that we're dealt, and others are dealt. We're not the only team in the league that's going to be losing some players. There are things that need to be done to make this roster better. There is no question about that, but you need to appreciate that it can't be done overnight."
There were some positives that Arena took away from the match. He was able to take a look at some young players under fire, such as Josh Tudela and Israel Sesay.
"The thing I'm pleased about with the guys is that they hung in there and fought for 90 minutes," said Arena. "They tried to get that goal and at least get a point. Overall I think the effort for 90 minutes was good."
Despite the depleted lineup, the Galaxy still had a chance to share the points. They managed to hold the Fire to a handful of scoring chances, and Steve Cronin made a several good saves to keep LA in the match. But one giveaway in their own end spelled their doom.
"Give them credit for the goal. We lost the ball in a bad spot on the field and did not react well as a group to step to Thorrington," said Arena. "But give credit to Thorrington, it was a very good finish."
That will provide little comfort to the Galaxy as they try to pull themselves back up in the Western Conference race. Donovan and Beckham will be back in action next weekend when the Galaxy travel to New England, and depending on the severity of the injury picked up by Eddie Lewis in Guatemala, he could be available as well. But as Thursday night showed, the Galaxy will need to get maximum points from the games where they will be at full strength if they are to keep themselves alive for a playoff spot.
"Without Landon and David, it's tough to create scoring opportunities. We're just missing that quality. Attacking in that final third, we're missing that," said defender Ante Jazic. "We're missing that final pass, or Landon's ability to get behind people, so I thought we battled."
