Rogers was left of the roster for the 3-3 draw against Dallas.
Robbie Rogers was left out of the 18 man squad for LA Galaxy’s 3-3 draw with FC Dallas, for what Associate head coach Dave Sarachan called “a message”.
“It’s always a message,” Sarachan said. “It should be with every player when they’re not included.”
Sarachan said the Galaxy want more than what they’ve seen from Rogers, who has US national team experience but has struggled to find the form that made him one of MLS’s most exciting attackers while at Columbus Crew.
“We’ve built a strong roster, and there’s competition, and some guys have sort of moved up the ladder a little bit,” Sarachan said. “Robbie is moving, maybe not quite to the speed we and he would feel comfortable with … Robbie, he knows that everything needs to improve a little bit – speed, speed of play, the ability to get at players, getting crosses in – and it’s a work in progress. We’re confident Robbie will get there.”
Rogers attempted to put a positive spin on his omission from the game day squad and said he was working on what needed improving.
“I thought I played pretty well against Juventus and Real Madrid, and the AC Milan game wasn’t my best game, and I think that Bruce just wanted me to kind of refocus and think about those games I did well in,” Rogers said after the Galaxy returned to training Tuesday. “I think he just wanted to switch things around a bit.”
Rogers conceded that he needs to focus on getting “a little sharper in the final third, and it comes, definitely, with being confident. Sometimes I feel great. In the Juventus game, I played 81 minutes and felt great, but I need to do that all the time.”
“You always feel that way as a professional, but you don’t want to be left out of the 18, no matter what, whatever the reason is,” Rogers added. “So definitely you do your best. You can’t control some things, but you work your ass off.”
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