View from the Blues, Chapter 20: Blues on the Road Again

Charlie Naimo's Los Angeles Blues could have done better in their 1-1 draw with the Dayton Dutch Lions, although they did make up for it with a 4-1 victory at Norco College. They would hit the road the following weekend for two very important encounters in USL PRO action.

Still, Naimo felt his team was not really tested and was given a mulligan on Sunday in the Inland Empire.

“I’m completely unhappy about the match,” Naimo told LABluesProSoccer.com's Gunnar Berndt. “That’s not to belittle the quality of Dayton. They just had two players sent off and were clearly tired in the second half, which helped us tremendously. So the win is deceiving. We should have played hard from start to finish, but in the first half the attitude simply wasn’t right.

“The players need to take responsibility and really understand what their role is as part of a team that wants to be a champion. There is no point in being a professional soccer player if you don’t have the desire to be the best you can be and win trophies.”

Newcomer Peter Byers, who spent one month with Antigua Barracuda, agreed with the manager's sentiments.

“I thought we came out a bit too soft in the first half, but after giving up the game’s first goal we worked harder and took over control,” Byers said. “We started playing like we know we can and outplayed Dayton in the second half especially.

"So we all know the team is capable of playing good soccer, but we need to go out there with a high work rate and maintain it from the beginning to the end of the match. It’s a question of staying motivated throughout 90 minutes.”

Naimo hid nothing when it came to that big word that starts with a "U": urgency.

“I’m disappointed with our recent results because some of them suggest that perhaps we don’t have the players to win, which is not true,” Charlie Naimo offered. “I just care about energy. I just want the guys to come out and play to win. If we bring that mentality and if each of the guys battles for the guy next to him, I know we’ll be successful. But right now, when we have bad luck in a game or perhaps the lineup isn’t exactly what we had hoped due to injuries, we’re not doing the things to still get a result.

“We’re past the halfway point of the season now and there is not much time left, so you have to bring it and try to get better every single day. We’ve had games where we’ve brought it for the most part, but I don’t think we’ve had ninety minutes of focus a single time this season.

"As a result, there are teams that aren’t as good as us but have found results against us. That’s just not acceptable if we’re hoping to beat the best teams in our league.”

The Blues needed results against the Richmond Kickers and Harrisburg City Islanders because with only a few matches remaining in the regular season, every point mattered.

On Friday night at city Stadium in Virginia's capital city, the Blues finally got a break. A Jonathan DeLeon Brace was what Los Angeles needed as they upset the Kickers, 2-1.

Five minutes into the contest, LA dialed in. A delivery from Cesar Rivera at the top of the penalty spot found DeLeon, who beat Richmond goalkeeper Ronnie Pascale on a one-on-one to make it 1-0 Blues.

In the 44th minute, Rivera and DeLeon joined forces once again. From the left side, DeLeon took the delivery and sent one past Pascale to make it 2-0 LA at the break.

Richmond got one back on a penalty conversion by Sascha Goerres in the 68th minute, but that's as close as they would get, as Oscar Dautt led the Blues to a strong defensive stand in the closing minutes of the second have.

LA had revenge fresh on their minds as they traveled to Skyline Sports Complex in Harrisburg, Pa. for a Saturday encounter with the high-flying City Islanders.

Harrisburg have been a team Los Angeles have had trouble getting a results against, and after going down a goal, all they could muster was a 1-1 draw.

The Blues are going to have to deal without the services of Peter Byers, who was sent off in the second half of that contest, when they take on Antigua Barracuda in the first of two home ties.

Kickoff for the first match at Titan Stadium on the campus of California State University, Fullerton is scheduled for Friday, July 29 at 8 p.m. PT/11 p.m. ET.

The Blues and Cudas will meet again on Sunday, July 31 at Norco College in Norco, Calif. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET.