Have to say, I'm not THAT disappointed with the result. A 1-0 AWAY loss after what we had for the past 4 weeks is BIG. We only leaked ONE goal and it's an away game. For me that is a big improvement. However, at the same time I couldn't believe our offence didn't score a single goal. I mean..we are supposed to have the best offence in the league. But then I see the reason is because our offence didn't get enough support even to make a shot. Midfield was horrible. So...now that is away, the next thing we have to work on is gel our midfield back in the game next week. The way I see it we really have to take one step at a time. From the back to the front. This week is defence, next week is midfield and grind out 0-0 or 1-1 result. Only the week after the next week that we'll start seeing a win for us. Well, if the team can give us a win next week WITHOUT giving up more than 1 goal I say we are on the right track again.
Well, another week, another loss due to poor marking, this time Franklin's part again. It's groundhog day I swear. Anyway, at least the lads didn't lose 4-0.
Didn't score a single goal... How about we didnt have a single shot on goal... not even one, the whole game!! Positives were slight improvements defensively. I think Meyer did ok and for the most part limited their chances. Landon did alright and again has such obvious quality... Negatives and things to work on: what is going on with Sean Franklin?? Not only the goal but gave the ball away almost everytime he had the ball. Crosses were woeful and rarely every even got high enough to beat the first man! Center of midfield seemed completely anonymous to me. Juninho? Stephens? just lost with zero creativity!! Highlights how much we miss Beckham! Buddle seems to have lost all confidence? I shudder to think I fully wanted Barrett on and thought he had a decent enough game (except the sitter he missed... why not hit that with his right foot?) Did you guys see Bruce shake his head in dismay... I sort of feel for him because he knows this isnt good enough but this is the team this year! I fully agree that we will be better at home and as the season continues however the last two performances home and away were simply not good enough! JACK-UK
Easy, you're talking about the defending Champs buddy... They shut us down and for whatever reason we couldn't shoot the damn ball in the direction of the dam net..its early.. We need to regroup and start having fun out there.. The beckham benching was a mistake the other game, I hope we can just relax and have fun!.. And Hach, you keep your position and keep having fun with it.. Superstitions are bull(Dash) and let's start having FUN Dammit, that's an Order!
the AR had a much better view than the CR... and the AR immediately indicated a goal kick. As you said the replay showed that there was little to be cautioned, the AR saw nothing either. yet the CR comes running in and without any consultation with the AR makes a bum call. It shows a lack of communication or confidence between the AR and CR. The appointment of Peter Walton has shown that MLS is taking the issue seriously.
It's possible the AR was too close to play to make the call, as in he just couldn't see it because his eyes were on the ball. It's a pretty obvious foul despite what Twellman thinks.
Not to be "that guy", but for what it's worth, while no official shot was registered, I felt LA came close on 3 attempts. 12 inches and a little curl on those shots and it may have been a very different game. Once the goal came though, it looked like LA gave up on the midfield entirely and just played longball. Which, it looks like you guys have covered, SKC's CBs are monsters at covering. Saunders was huge though. A couple of great saves that kept LA in it, and the front line for LA is still super dangerous. No reason they still can't win the West if they can get back to BA's results first, pretty soccer second soccer.
Last place in the Western Conference. I hate it. Saunders 7 - Made a great save in the first half, looked to gain some confidence. Handled crosses well. Basically just looked more sure of himself and his backline. Couldn't do anything on the goal. Dunivant 6 - looked MUCH better on defense. MUCH better. Had some critical clearances. The only reason his score isn't higher is because his attacking today wasn't great. But I'm willing to forgive that as defense first was important. AJ/Meyer 6.5 - Putting them as a unit, and giving them a slightly higher grade than Todd because they for the most part shut down Sapong. Meyer in particular surprised me. He had a very physical game with Sapong - and didn't come out looking too horrible. I shudder to think how Boyens would have done. AJ also wasn't horrid. Basically the two of them looked more settled. Welcome to the starting CB spot Meyer, you earned it today. Score would have been higher with better distribution and clearances (aka not straight to a SKC player). Franklin 3 - I don't know what to do with him. He's been downright AWFUL. Singlehandedly gave up the goal today. Couldn't pass to a teammate. Meyer had a right to chide him. The fact we're considering Bryan Jordan is how bad he has been. Offense, defense, NOTHING is working right now. The entire midfield 4 - Landon definitely looked like he was playing with his injury. How do we know this? Mike Magee took some freekicks and corners. LD's service was bad, and his crossing was off target. He did have some nice passes, but he just didn't look healthy. Willing to give him another week to judge if he's off form, or just not yet fit yet. And when he wasn't working, the rest of the midfield couldn't provide the creativity we sorely needed. Juninho is off form. And what the hell was up with the long ball from the back and from the midfield? Our team is SHORT, so why aren't we playing ON THE GROUND? As someone said earlier, long balls to midgets is a recipe for turnovers. Keane 7 - the only one that looks like he has something going on. Buddle 3 - Oy. For all the reasons everyone has already mentioned. I'm at a loss. We are in last place in the West. EDIT: And I'll eat crow where credit is due. We looked better with Chad. Until Buddle is better, Chad is in. Although Chad's shank of his chance in the 2nd half just sums Chad up doesn't it?
Grant Wahl @GrantWahl Before season I thought LA Galaxy could be best team in the history of the league. Right now: No. 16 in points of 19 teams. Ives Galarcep @SoccerByIves Chivas USA's win also means that the team sitting all alone in last place in the Western Conference after five weeks is....the LA Galaxy.
Good news is we can't get any lower. So nowhere to go but up now. Season is probably a write off but we can still play for pride.
LA Galaxy manager Bruce Arena On playing more direct as the game went on… At the end of the game, that’s what you have to do. Nobody cares about making short passes in the midfield when you’re chasing the game with then minutes left. They have to be pretty direct to get the goal and I still don’t think we did a good job with that. On the performance of Landon Donovan, coming back from injury… I thought Landon had a solid game today. He’s been out for a few weeks, usually first game back isn’t easy. On his team’s morale after another loss… Well obviously I’m pretty sure they’re not popping champagne in there. We have to work and get better. That’s all. On dealing with injuries… We have two centerbacks that we’re trying to get back in Leonardo and [Omar] Gonzalez. The League is not setup where you can just be bringing in players left and right on your senior roster. You have to deal with injuries that are long term and if they’re rostered players there’s nothing you can do about it. We’re going to wait to get our players back and keep working with the young kid that played today and he’ll get better with more games. **************** Well, we know where the long ball came from. Also, welcome to the starting iine-up Meyer.
Agreed. This team could go on a 10 game winning streak for all we know. Right now though? We are awful. The exact opposite of KC; there is no joy out there. They aren't playing with any fluidity whatsoever. Last season the passing was so crisp and this season, we are lucky if 2 passes get strung together. The midfield is a disaster, leaving our forwards on an island. We are reverting to the long ball of yesteryear. What concerns me is that when thepassing isnt there, we wil always get punished by faster and more atheletic teams. A 3 is a generous rating for Franklin. His play is abhorrent. Bruce really needs to get someone in there who is in better form. The defense lapses are one thing, but the indecision and inability to cross is another. Still not panicking, but not pleased.
A lot of well deserved criticism here for the galaxy...not as much thou for Arena....the season has started and the guy still does not know who his starters are and what formation to change too. Lets face it, the team struggled to make 3 consecutive passes today and no threat of scoring minus Barrets horrible pass/shot wide. I say dump the 4 4 2 and move on. The defense is so bad,so lets just start with 3 CB's that stay put, with no running up the flanks...old fashion stay put and play a high line...bench Franklin. Also bench Saunders...he is scared and refuses to come out of the box and prevent those headers and clearly cannot control his defenders! Start Gaudette One single striker ...Robbie or Buddle 5 midfielders...and yes play Junhino and Sarvas with Magee or Keat or Becks wide. Have LD as an attacking Middie.... lets save the season please!
Well, that was great. First things first though, Sean Franklin!!!!! SEAN FRANKLIN!?!?!?!?!? WTFF are you doing out there man? Like was said before, not only is his defense bad right now but I don't even think he could connect a pass with a person in a white jersey tonight. Every single time he was wide and we were in the final third and he went to "attempt" a cross he hit the first defender in the legs, not the chest or face. The motherf'in legs. This team is really pissing me off right now. I can take a loss but it seems like there is no passion for the crest anymore. No off the ball movement, terrible, and I mean terrible, first touches, can't connect passes. Slow movement from left to right, no ideas on how to make a pass and move into space in anticipation of another pass. I really don't understand what is going on in practice. The team right now is playing like a bunch of robots, jerky and indecisive in play. One other thing that is starting to really become apparent is our total lack of team speed. I don't know but we seem to be much slower than most of the teams we are playing. Even the announcer alluded to KC being more fit and it looking like we are in two different parts of the season on the same field. We really have speed nowhere on the field except for a pretty healthy ld. Without that will to win our guys are getting out-hustled and muscled to every ball. In this league if you aren't going to have any team speed then you are going to have to make sure to play at a high enough level week in and week out if you want to be competitive. Obviously that hasn't happened yet this year. The strength and conditioning coach needs to make the players dig deep with the objective to be playing/thinking at a much higher level in a couple weeks.
I always try to write a little and it turns into paragraphs. Glad there is this board to talk with my fellow fans.
Are you really defending a sport that has only two moving parts, yet somehow requiring 2,000 different statistics? A soccer match involves more calories expended and brain cells engaged on the field before they finish the national anthem than nine innings of baseball, but I guess you are right that bowling, with only one moving part, is even more elementary. But wow, you're setting the bar pretty low when your defense is, "Bowling is dumber!"
5 games and the season is a write off? There are 29 remaining league matches, the play-offs, the US Open Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League group stage. The Supporters’ Shield was always going to be a long shot this season thanks to the unbalanced schedule. I feel like a broken record, but when the coaching staff and front office decided the team could have their pre-season over the first 6 weeks of the season there was always the risk of a disjointed season. The big worry is losing, like winning, can become a habit. The likes of Robbie, Landon & David I’m not concerned about, but the rest either haven’t dealt with adversity like this, at this level. Bruce earns his paycheck this season by keeping up morale of the non-DPs. We are not the 2011 Red Bulls or even the 2008 LA Galaxy
Guys, we are in preseason form. There is no other way to say it. If you want to lay blame about the early season and the failure of the Champions League, it has to be the lack of team building in the preseason BA. You have the return of Juni and Buddle who may or not want to be here and are playing, indifferent. Two other players that would have preferred to stay in England and Becks setteled for his life style in LA. Franklin is in horrible form. LD is hurt. No Becks this week and we are not fit at the beginning of the season, shameful. Our heads are not in it right now. The loss of this game comes down to horrible midfield play and individual mistakes. Stephens is not the answer. He is a one dimensional defensive midfielder. I can appreciate his engine, but I thought this game we would see Sarvas in a more advanced CAM which is what our team needed in front of Juni to try and create and breakdown SKC. We are a month away from getting our heads (absolutely the most important factor) and team play improved. The only positive is Meyer's upside. I hope I never see Boyens, Bambi on ice, ever again. April's going to be rough. Let me say it one more time, team building, team building, team building.
I didn't see your post before I wrote mine, but you are right on Dash. BA will earn his pay checks if we can pick up some points in April and hit our stride in May.
Are you sure about this? 2008 LA Galaxy is what this team reminds me of except - perhaps that in 2008 we'd have scored 4 goals only to lose 4:5....