Seattle looked like garbage, and it wasn't just playing in Mexico. They are going to struggle with quick teams this year. There are too many players on the shady side of athletic on that team.
100% disagree with you. They are 2 excellent players. Henry Lindpere, Solli, Tainio, Keel, Ream, Agudelo, and Rodgers have all been excellent signings. Looks like Palsson, Meara, and Lade will be too. Possibly Cooper and Conde. McCarty, DeRo, Ballouchy, Neilsen, and Marquez so far have been busts. The Red Bulls don't get them all right, but they've done okay for themselves.
We are realizing how much we miss Omar right now, but Meyer didn't cost us the game. TFC goal #1: Mike Magee watching and giving plenty of time for a cross to be put in on a dime. TFC goal #2: Juninho missing his mark. Again. 3 goals out of the 7 (shoot me now) that LA have given up have been directly tied to Juninho missing his mark. Don't blame Meyer. Not to mention, Robbie Keane missed two sitters, Magee a wide open header, and a goal was incorrectly ruled offsides. We (LA) shot ourselves in the foot. And kudos to Omar - shows how good he really was in 2011. Get well soon man, we need you for the US and LA.
We've watched him play for Jamaica. No thanks. The fact that he scored against us is even more galling. To return to the thread, LD had two excellent threaded passes to Keane tonight that Keane muffed. How he didn't score while 1:1 is beyond me. During the RSL game on another night LD would have had a goal and two assists (hit crossbar, another Keane muff, and a Beckham missed sitter of a header). This while not quite 100% healthy. His service from the wings continues to be stellar. Thank you time at Everton. Not his two best games, but once he gets healthy, looks like he might be an assist machine for the US this year. Looking forward to it.
This isn't all on Meyer and Boyens, but I never expected LA's D to struggle quite so much without OG. But the defense's collective performance so far this year is really showing Gonzalez' value to the Galaxy. He makes an average defense an elite one.
LA is going to have to adjust how it plays defense, starting in the midfield. Last year they could give more time and space to opposing midfields, knowing Gonzalez would clean up any aerial threats. Meyer is not nearly the physical presence Gonzalez was, so LA is going to have to be better about applying upfield pressure to cut out the crosses into the area. Toronto's first goal was a good example of an LA team still playing as if Gonzalez were there. Johnson probably does not score on that cross if Gonzalez is playing, and Magee looks less of a defensive liability.
Gee I wonder where that style originates...Arena is a genius..... ?? Long ball, counter not too good when defense stinks.....all in all a very plebian effort...against an expansion team that was better coached worked for each other and kept coming....they deserved the win!! should this be transferred to the MLS heading??
They were getting blown by on their left side, exposing the rest of their defense. They are not the quickest team in the league, but the big question mark over their heads is whether they can defend out wide.
The way I looked at it,as a neutral, was that Meyer cost them the game and the Keane misses cost them the chance to overcome Meyer's screwups and Concacrap reffing.
I am pretty shocked how big of an influence Omar was. He was obviously the best defenseman but I had no idea that the D would completely fall apart without him. AJ Delagarza has really been a shocker. With Omar as his partner, AJ looked like a quality CB, but now AJ looks mediocre at best. He lunges into tackles, he gets pulled out wide far too easily leaving a huge hole in the middle, and he is reading the game poorly. If Toronto's offense can do that, I am really scared what a good team can do.
Not true. You want to see how bad our wastefulness was in front of goal? Finishing, tiredness (thanks Bruce) and midfield D did us in last night. Plus, TFC wanted it bad and played with heart. I think LA will right the ship based on those stats. But it'll be painful to get there.
Here's the thing, you are shocked because he didnt have as much influence as your thinking. The thing about LA's defensive record has been that it is a TEAM defensive effort. The midfield sat hard on the outside wings, dropping very deep at times and never giving opposing offenses space, the bursting out on the counter, and getting back very quickly. They could pull this off because they had GREAT counterattacking weapons in Donovan and Beckham, one to launch the passes forward and the other to make the defense shredding runs. Add in guys like Keane and Buddle plus a guy like Magee to clean up and they are really scary in the open field where the defense is having to defend in space. In 2010 they were eliminated by a Dallas team that simply didnt play this game in the playoffs, applying pressure only when the ball was in there own half, and using speed to counter quickly before the midfield of LA could get back. I always thought that was the best way to deal with LAs approach, force them to defend as individuals on the back line by attacking them quickly and conceding possession. I think the biggest problem this year with LA is they won the MLS cup. The bottom line is that this team just isn't as hungry as it was a year ago, and they aren't as dedicated to the gameplan as they were last year. Defenders are now getting isolated 1v1, and the overall mediocre talent on the backline is showing. Maybe Bruce will get them back to that grinding defense first, attack second mentality, in which case they will probably go back to doing well, but this team unlike an RSL will get shredded in the back if they try to open the game up and rely on their backline to make plays when needed.
Drew Moor atop of the Castrol Rankings after the first week. Dare we give him a call up again? http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2012/03/15/castrol-index-moor-heads-top-weekly-rankings
If the ratings aren't a reasonable reflection of what happened in the first week, why should I believe they'll become reasonable later?