By ADAM SERRANO
Josh Saunders' absence from the Los Angeles Galaxy lineup was sudden, and it appears that the club may be without their No. 1 goalkeeper for the foreseeable future.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the Galaxy keeper has checked into a substance abuse treatment program and will be unavailable for the Galaxy until he completes the program.
A team spokesman declined comment on Tuesday afternoon.
Following the club's training session on Tuesday morning, head coach Bruce Arena reiterated that Saunders was still out for "personal reasons" and that the club was taking his absence "one day at a time." Back-up goalkeeper Bill Gaudette appeared to be the likely starter while Saunders is out.
Saunders, 31, is coming off a career season in which he wrestled the starting job from Donovan Ricketts en route to helping lead the Galaxy to the MLS Cup title.
Glad to see he’s getting help. Would hate for this to turn into a Robert Enke situation. To be clear, I’m not saying Enke took drugs, but perhaps Saunders is battling some kind of depression (like Enke was) and doing drugs is his way of coping.
Gaudette is a decent goalkeeper, but goddamn, I never wanted to get rid of Ricketts and now it’s biting us in the a$$
Leave it to the crappy LA Times to only write up a Galaxy article on something negative.
Donovan Ricketts, where are you???
Since when were there still summers anywhere?
timmy two shoezzz is trying way too hard for rainy seatlle
I thought he was older. I remember watching hi play for the Timbers 10 years ago.
Best of luck to him. He’s from the town my entire family stems from so I’ve always had a soft spot for him. Hopefully he can recover quickly and avoid relapses.
And never letting anyone else have the last word on the internets.
Seattle does get alot of grey cold drizzle though. Blech.
What a tool. If you knew anything about meth, you would recognize he’s not addicted to it. Frickin’ idiot.
No wonder.
I went to school with him at Cal…..dude had a mad meth addiction back then….sorry to see it come back and bite him.
Are you serious man? You read this blog and don’t know who he is? Must be one of those fair weather fans sporting Man Utd, Barca, or Real Madrid jerseys…
Where is he? Saunders gobbled him up because he thought his name was Brian “Perkocet”.
And comparing summer anywhere with that in Hawaii is like comparing Johnny Bench to the catcher of your local beer league softball team.
The ranking was of 100 major US metropolitan areas. So no, it means that Seattle doesn’t get alot of rain. You can live in ignorance if you want, but the facts are easy to find if you care to look
I think you just won the comment section.
+1 thought he was mid-20’s.
Get well soon.
Dude, I’ve lived in Hawaii and Seattle, and I’ll tell you what… Seattle has nice summers but they only last like 3 weeks…
Gaudette was a beast for PR. Had some pretty stellar games in CCL.
There are 50,000 cities in the US.
That means you get a lot of rain.
I certainly hope that Saunders gets the help he needs.
I also hope that you’ll let me shove a lump of coal up your butt; in two weeks, we’ll have a diamond we can sell and can retire rich.
Wish Him well. getting hooked on pain meds is more common than most people realize. Great guy. Fond memories of Josh in Portland.
that was my reaction also. I thought he was mid 20s at most.
hope he is better soon.
Weed is a drug too brah.
Shame on you people who are making jokes. What a classless, low life group. Substance abuse is no joking matter. It can be life or death in some situations. Getting help is the first step and it can and will be a long, winding road for Josh. He needs all the support he can get. I hope his rehab pay offs. Getting back on the field should be the last thing on his or the Galaxy’s mind. My thoughts go out to him. He will need them.
Wow, Saunders is 31??
Substance abuse is a serious issue, but LOL
Good enough to beat L.A. 4-1 at the Home Depot Center in the CONCACAF Champions League when he was with the Puerto Rico Islanders.
Seattle invented never losing to Chicago.
Actually, no it doesn’t. Seattle ranked 44th of US cities in rainfall in 2011. You can’t find many places with nicer summers than Seattle
Ahh that sucks. I was hoping he would get a shot but if hes still hurt thats a no go
Work it out Josh , prayers with you.
It rains a lot in your city. 😛
Best of luck to him. Substance abuse is a serious issue to have to deal with and he should take his take.
No wonder the lines kept disappearing when Josh played.
Hey nice one man. Real original. I guess i’ll follow it up with a Chicago invented never beating Seattle in MLS play ever. Not once.
Was PR Islanders keeper for a long time, and considered very good at that level, also he played for the Crew for a little while. Pretty experienced keeper, he should do fine.
+1
perk is still out injured. had sports hernia surgery i believe.
but then you fail the drug tests and end up like Jeff Par… er nevermind.
Like
Josh, you can pull through this. We are rooting for you!
Seattle invented substance abuse.
“Slosh Saunder” really?
Any word on how good Gaudette is? Never heard of the guy…
+1
Should never get hooked on pain killers, stick to the ganja. On another note what happened to brian perk
Thoughts and prayers are with Josh Saunders. Hope he can beat this and get back on the field for the Galaxy!
Good keeper, hope he comes back healthy soon.