Landon Donovan has urged his LA Galaxy teammates to swiftly improve their game following a couple of heavy defeats on the trot.
The back-to-back MLS champions were beaten 3-1 by Real Salt Lake on the weekend, which came after last week's 5-0 loss to New England Revolution, leaving stand-in captain Donovan to dissect the poor performances.
"It's a little bit like 'Groundhog Day' right now," Landon Donovan said on the club's postgame telecast.
"We're playing well enough for long stretches of the game. This was always going to be a tough game, a tough opponent.
"We knew in the second half they were going to put a lot forward and press us, and we go from in one minute Robbie [Rogers] hitting a good cross, I almost score, and a few minutes later, we're picking the ball out of our net again.
"So it's frustrating, and we've got to make plays when they count. I keep saying that, but it's the reality, and we've got to do a better job."
Of the absence of internationals Robbie Keane (Republic of Ireland) and Omar Gonzalez (USA), and the injured Todd Dunivant, Donovan added: "We're in a great position and doing just fine up to 82 and 83 minutes.
"[Missing key players] happens to teams throughout the year. That's why you have 28, 29, 30 guys on the roster, not 11 or 14. So that's not an excuse. Obviously, we want those guys back quickly, but we've got to do our job when they're not here."
