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.
Good keeper, hope he comes back healthy soon.
Thoughts and prayers are with Josh Saunders. Hope he can beat this and get back on the field for the Galaxy!
Should never get hooked on pain killers, stick to the ganja. On another note what happened to brian perk
+1
Any word on how good Gaudette is? Never heard of the guy…
“Slosh Saunder” really?
Seattle invented substance abuse.
Josh, you can pull through this. We are rooting for you!
Like
but then you fail the drug tests and end up like Jeff Par… er nevermind.
perk is still out injured. had sports hernia surgery i believe.
+1
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.
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.
No wonder the lines kept disappearing when Josh played.
Best of luck to him. Substance abuse is a serious issue to have to deal with and he should take his take.
It rains a lot in your city.
Work it out Josh , prayers with you.
Ahh that sucks. I was hoping he would get a shot but if hes still hurt thats a no go
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
Seattle invented never losing to Chicago.
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.
Substance abuse is a serious issue, but LOL
Wow, Saunders is 31??
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.
Weed is a drug too brah.
that was my reaction also. I thought he was mid 20s at most.
hope he is better soon.
Wish Him well. getting hooked on pain meds is more common than most people realize. Great guy. Fond memories of Josh in Portland.
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.
There are 50,000 cities in the US.
That means you get a lot of rain.
Gaudette was a beast for PR. Had some pretty stellar games in CCL.
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…
+1 thought he was mid-20′s.
Get well soon.
I think you just won the comment section.
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
And comparing summer anywhere with that in Hawaii is like comparing Johnny Bench to the catcher of your local beer league softball team.
Where is he? Saunders gobbled him up because he thought his name was Brian “Perkocet”.
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…
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.
No wonder.
What a tool. If you knew anything about meth, you would recognize he’s not addicted to it. Frickin’ idiot.
Seattle does get alot of grey cold drizzle though. Blech.
And never letting anyone else have the last word on the internets.
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.
I thought he was older. I remember watching hi play for the Timbers 10 years ago.
timmy two shoezzz is trying way too hard for rainy seatlle
Since when were there still summers anywhere?
Donovan Ricketts, where are you???
Leave it to the crappy LA Times to only write up a Galaxy article on something negative.
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$$
I think a lot of GK’s are taking something
i love how all that seattle has to brag about is winning against chicago in meaningless games lol…do something in the MLS, then talk sounders
-1000
What, other than your mom?
The number of tools on this thread is breathtaking.
Substance abuse is ALWAYS a way of coping with something we don’t think we can handle otherwise. Some people can walk away from the substance and some people can’t. It’s a life long battle for those that can’t.
Take it one day at a time Josh! I’ve never routed for you before, but I certainly am now.
that was “rooted” Oof!
Wishing Josh Saunders all the best.
When he was playing for the Puerto Rico Islanders, he like Bill Gaudette was a very pleasant guy who appreciated all of the love that the fans had for him.
“One day at a time” is right.
Yes, I’m sure he specifically needs YOUR thoughts… Get off the high horse buddy, we know it’s a serious issue but there’s nothing wrong with playful jokes.
So with all that said –the Ricketts trade gamble wasn’t the best strategy after all.
Snort Coke off one hooker’s boobs and they want to put you in rehab…..we live in a world of prudes.
As a recovering addict I have to say it is uptight overly precious crap like this that makes me wanna get high.
Because only a “fair weather” soccer fan wouldnt know who the back up goalkeeper is for the LA Galaxy. Is if really so inconceivable that someone wouldnt know the former goalie of an NASL team?
Donovan Ricketts is busy letting balls fly past him in Montreal.
Wooooooooosshhhhhhh
Wait, the Galaxy are taking this “one day at a time”?
I see what they did there. +1.
^WEAKLING
?
Amen brother!
dude, get off it. we don’t even know why he is there. sharlie joseph had to go through this because he got caught smoking a J. the dude was fine and in control of his life, but because he’s a professional athlete and signed a CBA, he still has to do this program.
quaranta is probably one person who actually NEEDED the treatment as he was a cocaine and opiates addict. i highly doubt saunders is anywhere near that level.
Seattle invented not denying that they claim to invent a lot of things but getting butthurt about rain levels
Speaking of Seattle, here’s some pure class from their fans from when Saunders got a DUI
link to soundernation.tripod.com
“He drinks! He drives! He endangers people’s lives! Josh Saunders! Josh Saunders!”
C’mon Seattle!