View from the Blues, Volume 16: Izzy Does It For Los Angeles in Open Cup

Charlie Naimo's Los Angeles Blues continued their 2011 season with another U.S. Open Cup match: a second-round with the Ventura County Fusion at Ventura College in Ventura, California.

The Blues were coming off a 3-1 victory over the Hollywood United Hitmen and were looking to improve on their performance with another solid effort on the road.

“The game against Hollywood was probably as close to a derby as we’re going to experience,” assistant manager Shayon Jalayer told LABluesProSoccer.com's Gunnar Berndt. “Obviously, there is a history between the two organizations. It’s not a bad history, but a lot of the players have played each other in the past. I think that added to the intensity of the match. There were a lot of emotions and the game swung back and forth.

“I think credit has to be given to the opponent. They had stretches when they kept the ball quite well, and we were fortunate not go down a goal early. However, I think we recovered well and showed why being a full-time professional group does give you an advantage. It means that you’re a little fitter and probably a little more organized, and the chemistry and camaraderie amongst our group helped us as well.”

LA's Chukwudi Chijindi downplayed the three-week break leading up to the match as a reason for their strong first-round performance.

“We don’t want to make any excuses,” Chijindu said. “Obviously we would have loved to have an official match in those three weeks, but we didn’t and as professionals you have to deal with that. Hollywood came out and put pressure on us right away, but at the end of the day we didn’t fall. That’s what’s most important."

LA would go into the contest without the services of Josh Tudela and Leonard Griffin, who were sent off last Tuesday against Hollywood United.

Jalayer emphasized the importance of other contributors to the team, the most notable being Mershad Momeni.

“Mehrshad has done a very good job of acclimating himself both to the culture and the soccer culture,” Jalayer said. “He has worked extremely hard in training and never put himself above the group. I think that has really helped him because the guys accepted him very quickly as a result. On the surface they saw that he can play, but when you’re also willing to be giving of yourself and complementary of your teammates, it brings you into the group much quicker.

“There’s no question that he’s got ability, and the two goals against Hollywood showed that. But he brings more than that. A lot of players in the soccer world are crafty and skilled, but maybe some of them lack the work rate or the humility a little bit. He seems to have all those things.”

“We should take the Open Cup game by game,” Momeni said when asked the Blues' approach to the tournament. “We don’t think about the big teams that we could potentially face in the tournament.

"All we care about right now is the next game against Ventura County. That’s the kind of mentality we need if we’re hoping to win the title.”

As for Ole Mikkelsen's Fusion, composed primarily of college-based players, playing against big-name opposition is nothing new.

"It's something we've done many times before and it's something we've done well in the past," Mikkelsen told vcstar.com's Joe Curley. "There's nothing to be afraid of. Just execute the game plan and play a style that's best suited for us."

In their previous meeting, a March 26 friendly at the same venue, both sides played to a 1-1 draw.

"Both teams had rosters that were still under development," Mikkelsen. "They've probably come a long way since then and we've put together a good team, which is why I think it'll probably be a good match."

“The big thing for us is that we have a lot of capable players,” defender Cameron Dunn told Berndt. “If one guy goes down, we have another guy that can come in and take his spot. No matter the team we end up putting on the field, we’ll have confidence in it. Injuries are going to happen all year long and other teams are probably dealing with similar situations, so we’re not going to make any excuses. We’ll just have to go out there and win the game with the players we have available.”

“For me personally, it would be a very emotional game,” said the Blues' Israel Sesay. “That’s why even though it’s only the second round of the tournament, I look at the match at Ventura as a semifinal standing in the way of a final against the Galaxy. All of us want to play against the big guys. Ventura is a hurdle that could keep us from getting there, so we have to go out and take care of business.”

Sesay scored in the 45th minute to make it 1-0 LA after what had been a lousy first half, highlighted by some dubious defending late.

The Blues, however, were unable to add to their advantage and instead relied on better defending in the second half combined with poor finishing from Ventura County to progress to the third round against the Los Angeles Galaxy, 1-0.

The third-round tie is scheduled for Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET at Titan Stadium on the campus of California State University, Fullerton.

But first...there is the matter of USL PRO action to deal with.

This coming weekend, the Blues will host the Harrisburg City Islanders in a couple of league matches. The first match will take place at Centennial High School in Corona, California on Friday, June 24. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET.

The Blues will hope that the third time at Titan Stadium in league play is the charm on Sunday, June 26. Kickoff between the Blues and City Islanders is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. PT/8:00 p.m. ET.