CARSON, Calif. -- Last week's acquisition of midfielder Dema Kovalenko from Real Salt Lake for a conditional 2011 draft pick was a no-brainer as far as Los Angeles Galaxy head coach/general manager Bruce Arena was concerned.
The roster he inherited when he came to L.A. last August and the roster he had at the end of last season was lacking in some areas, most notably at defensive midfield.
"We need to shore up that position," Arena said. "We needed some experience there. Dema is a good passer and a good communicator."
What Kovalenko also brings to Los Angeles is toughness, despite standing only 5-feet-8 and weighing 160 pounds. The 31-year-old once played with a broken nose with the New York Red Bulls in 2007, has been red-carded five times during his 10-year MLS career and has earned a reputation of perhaps going a bit too far in marking the opposition's best players.
"I like to play against players on other teams that are supposed to make a difference," he said. "That's what I enjoy. I get mad at that ... it gets personal to me. You take care of them, you'll have a chance to win."
Because of that take-no-prisoners approach, Kovalenko figures to be a welcome addition to the rebuilding Galaxy.
"I think you can always use some hard-nosed guys," forward Alan Gordon said of his new teammate. "I like playing with guys like that, and it's only going to make us better. It's going to give us more of a competitive edge day in and day out."
Kovalenko said that so-called "edge" simply is a product of his desire to win. He will do anything it takes to achieve that goal, but calling him "tough" is somewhat misleading as far as he's concerned.
"I'm not a tough guy," he said. "People say that, but I just give 100 percent every game. I just want to win. That's who I am, and I'm not going to change. The guys know I'm not the best player, but on the field I will do whatever it takes to win. I've always said that. If you compete in every game, you're going to be in every game."
Kovalenko said it was time for a change from Real Salt Lake -- "I guess it was not the place for me," he said -- and was pleasantly surprised when Arena called him last week and told him he had been traded to Los Angeles. He played for him two years ago in New York and knows exactly what Arena will be counting on him for.
"Whatever he tells me to do, I'll do it," Kovalenko said. "In New York, he told me to make sure we were defensively solid in the back. If he tells me to do that here, I'll do that.
"I know what he expects of me."
He said he's not sure what he expects of the Galaxy, only that it's time the club reverses direction. Los Angeles has not made the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, and Kovalenko said he will do his best to make sure that downward trend has run its course.
"Three years ... that's a long time for this team, this franchise," he said of the postseason drought. "I think it's time for this team to do something, you know? Last year we scored the most goals, but we gave up the most goals. I think this team is too good to have those kinds of statistics. With that kind of mentality, you're not going to go anywhere. We have to be solid defensively. As long as we know what we have to do, we'll always have a chance to win."
Gordon said Kovalenko's mind-set may be just what the Galaxy has been missing.
"He's not going to let anybody slack off," Gordon said. "It's something that we need. I think last year, I think maybe we got a little complacent at times. In tough times, you need guys that can motivate people to do better every day.
"I think that's what he'll bring."
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