CARSON, Calif. – Injuries to four starters mean the LA Galaxy won't be anywhere near full strength when they visit Seattle Sounders FC this weekend, and their biggest star will be absent, too.
The Galaxy (10-8-7), who have lost just once in their last dozen games, are definitely missing midfielders Giovani dos Santos, Jonathan dos Santos and Romain Alessandrini, and center back Michael Ciani through injury, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic did not make the trip north for Saturday’s game (4 pm ET | ESPN – full TV & streaming info).
“Obviously, we've got to look at his overall health and where he's at,” Schmid said of Ibrahimovic before the news broke that the Swede, who has played just 18 minutes on artificial turf after suffering a major knee injury in 2017, didn't travel. “He's also played two games [in the last] week. The main thing is we want to make sure guys are able to play week in and week out.”
Ibrahimovic's production will be missed. He has 15 goals and seven assists in 19 games with LA, but he had few opportunities – just four close-range free kicks, two of which, he quipped, “hit the bird outside the stadium” – in two home games since his July 29 hat trick to beat Orlando City SC gave him 12 goals in a span of nine starts.
Meanwhile, the Sounders (9-9-5) have won five in a row and are unbeaten in their last six outings.
Alessandrini departed in the first half and Giovani dos Santos at halftime of Saturday night's draw with Minnesota United, and Jonathan dos Santos exited in the first half and Ciani at halftime against Colorado on Tuesday.
Giovani dos Santos, who has endured a series of minor injuries this season, has a grade 2 calf strain and, Schmid said, likely will be sidelined three to four weeks. Alessandrini has a bruised knee and Jonathan dos Santos a groin strain and likely will miss another week or two. Ciani had been nursing a hamstring ailment, and it tightened up against the Rapids. He, too, will be out a week or two.
“There's a chance for [all but Giovani] to play against LAFC [next Friday night at StubHub Center]. We just have to see,” Schmid said. “Chances are better against Real Salt Lake [on Sept. 1 at Rio Tinto Stadium], but we have to see how the guys come along on a daily basis.”
Ibrahimovic said the absences impact what LA can do.
“We miss these players. They're important for us,” he said. “And, especially, [Alessandrini and the dos Santos brothers are] very important for the offensive game of ours. If we don't do good defensive, we need to do good offensive, and we miss a lot of players that can create chances and score goals.”
Chris Pontius started on the right flank in Alessandrini's absence Tuesday night, with Sebastian Lletget slotting onto Giovani's spot behind the front two. Daniel Steres came off the bench when Ciani was pulled.
With Ibrahimovic out, Schmid likely will go with a 4-2-3-1 alignment, with Ola Kamara the sole forward.
“Even when injuries have plagued us early in the year, scoring goals wasn't a problem,” Pontius said. “So I'm not so worried about [who will be missing]. You have depth for these reasons. We're built for this.”
