The Galaxy went into the international FIFA break having split its first four games, losing the last two.

The break saw Julian Araujo (Mexico), Johnny Perez (Mexico U-20), Jalen Neal and Markus Ferkranus (U.S. U-20), Kelvin Leerdam (Suriname) and Eriq Zavaleta (El Salvador) depart for international duty.

Those remaining back had some work to do.

“We were limited in some numbers, but we were able to isolate some different phases, we did a lot of work in the final action, things that we talked about in the last few games, in terms of our timing and quality on the final pass,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said of the break. “We did a lot of work in that space. We’ve had a lot of competition amongst each other and working on various things and our speed of play.

“They’ve worked hard every day. I feel like we took some steps forward and ultimately those things have to come out in the match for us to feel really good about them, but I think we all feel really good about the things we were able to accomplish in this window.”

The Galaxy will return to play Sunday at the Portland Timbers (1:30 p.m., FS1) and will look to snap a two-game skid.

Despite the Galaxy’s 2-2 record, Vanney believes the club has been a bit unlucky so far this season.

“I really thought we were successful in trying to implement what is our style of play and how we want games to look,” Vanney said. “We controlled the possession in the vast majority of the games, not just possession for the sake of having possession. I thought we were pretty dynamic and good in terms of chance creation.

“There are games where the way we play and when we have good possession, we force the opposition sometimes into mid or lower blocks where there’s not a ton of space in front of the goal. So not all of our chances were clear-cut, but we certainly had a lot decent looks and opportunities to be dangerous. I think we were in control of a lot of the matches … we’ve put ourselves in position where in the majority of the games, if we have 28 chances and the opposition has two, you have to like your chances in games like that.”

The Galaxy has scored just four goals in four games and all four games have been decided by one goal. The Galaxy could be 4-0 or 0-4.

“I think the tempo of play has been a lot better, a lot cleaner,” Galaxy midfielder Mark Delgado said. “Our connections have definitely improved. We’ve been kind of beating ourselves in the two games that we lost, but I think overall, there’s nothing really get too down on because they’re definitely things we can look back on and fix. I think the break was a good things for us just to regroup all together and look forward to the next games.”

Related Articles

Costa’s availability

Douglas Costa was subbed off at halftime of the Galaxy’s last game March 19 due to hamstring tightness.

Vanney said Costa would be questionable for the Portland game with the hope of getting back into full training ahead of next week’s game with LAFC.

GALAXY (2-2) at PORTLAND (1-1-3)

When: 1:30 p.m. Saturday (1:55 kickoff)

Where: Providence Park, Portland

TV: FS1