Beckham will be cut. He doesn't have it. And that's fine, because he sticks with us for the remainder of the year. Never let someone other than LD attempt a penalty. And tsaldana, y u no start new P/I/P?
Lopes was really bad tonight.. did we keep the receipt so we can take him back for refund or store credit? He cost us the PK by not clearing the ball immediately
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E27cgwaAWFA"]HIGHLIGHTS: LA Galaxy vs. FC Dallas - YouTube[/ame]
Okay negative nellies. First of all, I don't think our offense played half bad. I watched it on replay after all of you, and what I saw was a dominant LA side that didn't have their finishing boots on tonight. Yeah, Lopes & Gaudette gave up a PK. But frankly, that PK shouldn't have mattered. For all of you that are saying "return Lopes!" - his play wasn't a surprise tonight. He makes bonehead mistakes, he also has decent distribution and a solid head and is physical. We knew all of that, it hasn't changed. Get used to it: clean sheets are going to be rare for LA. With our offense that shouldn't matter, and tonight it shouldn't have mattered. On another night, end score is 3-1. (And I'm not even counting the three chances Chad Barrett managed to singlehandedly butcher). Landon makes his shot 9 times out of 10, and I don't know what bizarro world that was where we let Keane take the PK, but we left it as of tonight. Right back to Landon, thanks (and no letting Keane "redeem" himself.) But some of our play through the midfield is great. Gaudette - did fine for being inserted for his first start in forever. He's slow, but he only let 1 in. Franklin - looked better defensively, still a black hole on offense though (man his crosses are bad) at least his runs are getting better. AJ - solid night. Finally. Lopes - way too cute in the back. Needs to go for the clearance. I like his distribution, but in order to get it he gets cute with the ball, which leads to trouble. Was responsible for the PK. His heading ability is crucial for us. Dunivant - still not his best, his positioning just isn't his usual. Still though, did okay tonight. Juninho - very solid game. Tracked back, defended in midfield, was great being a pivot in midfield, almost scored. Welcome back buddy, we missed you. Beckham - above average, not great. Some nice balls over the top to LD, but also was a little off target. LD - solid. He made Benitez his beeyotch. Should have scored (I thought that was in, couldn't believe he hit the post). Beat players on the left and right all night. Earned the PK. Not the problem tonight. Magee - crosses from the left were terrible. Not his best. Buddle - SO MUCH BETTER. His hold up play tonight was excellent, but beyond that, his passing game was SO MUCH BETTER. Looks like he's finally rounding into something good. Keane - ugh. Missed PK, and spent the entire night whining. Just looked frustrated and out of sorts. Barrett - his night sums up Barrett. Misses a free header, then sets up Noonan's goal with a lovely assist, but then skies the ball at the two - THE TWO - and puts the ball into side netting with a cross beckoning not 20 seconds later. Sigh. Matthew Doyle @MLS_Analyst Did Chad Barrett just shoot 25 yards high from 4 yards out? Cristman - meh. Noonan - did his job for the 5 minutes he was on. Not as upset as the rest of you, we are unbeaten in three games, bring on Seattle. EDIT: Donovan is about 94% from the spot. (jason davis twitter) Sigh.
Hachiko - I don't understand your ratings for LD, Juninho and Becks. You have Barrett higher than all three. I don't get it. LD burned Benitez so much Benitez got moved. He outran his defenders multiple times, and yes, he hit the ball off the post, but he got there in the first place. Add to that the shot off the Becks corner kick that was saved, the cross into the center of the box that no one was around for, and the PK he earned...a 4.5????????????????? Really? Juninho did a bunch of dirty work tonight and his defending was pretty solid. A 4? And Becks doesn't deserve a 3. A 6 maybe, but a 3? EDIT: Not just me: Jared DuBois @Jrodius When is the last time you saw Donovan move like this over a two game stretch for LA? Dude is feeling it.
@adamserrano: Donovan on Robbie Keane's PK attempt: [There was] No conversation [between us] I wanted him to take it...to get him going."
Do you think that Robbie Keane would have deferred to Landon Donovan on PK's if Landon had joined HIS team this past year? Not a chance in hell. Frustration!
Any word on Saunders? I'm not a fan of Gaudette. Lopes is giving me flashbacks of HeyDude. Crazy wild lunges at the ball, and miles out of position on some plays.
Absolutely unacceptable. Lopes had an unequivocal nightmare. Maybe it's time to go 3 in the back. 3 - 5 - 2 or 3 - 4 - 3. So what does Sarvas have to do to get another chance. Don't give up on him, Bruce. There is a reason Landon takes our PKs. Glad we play again quickly. No time to think about it.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf-WYHTTMVQ"]How to Score a Penalty with Robbie Keane - YouTube[/ame]
Funny game. Quite exciting despite being a one-all affair and a just result. I was hugely distracted in the first 20 minutes, but it looked to me like we could have been down 2-0 in the first 60 seconds. It seems to me our three main strikers are too similar at this point, though Buddle played much better last night. Sliding Donovan behind Keane, or Buddle would seem to be a much better option moving Sarvas to his “preferred” position on the right, but with our tenuous back line and Sarvas not being the most committed defender we’re sort of stuck. That Beckham/Buddle “goal” was stunning.
Of course MLS doesn't have the two highlights I wanted to see. The Beckham/Buddle “goal” and the “handball” shortly after the equalizer.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUp_QcOStAw"]Postgame Interview: Landon Donovan - YouTube[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S12PhnnP7wY"]Postgame Press Conference: LA vs Dallas - YouTube[/ame]
Also, why does Direct Kick always - ALWAYS - use the opposing team's announcers? It doesn't matter if LA is home or away, I always have to watch the other team's production. For once I'd just like to watch the game from an LA point of view; tired of hearing how we're being "dominated" and yet the scoreboard (except last night) and what I'm watching says something different.
That's interesting. On MLS Live this week, I had our Galaxy announcers (Cobi is doing pretty good, IMO). I thought it was always the same broadcast for both.
I was at the game and watched the broadcast this morning. Lopes was even scarier in person than he looked on TV. That said, he pretty much came as advertised- won balls in the air, good physical defending, a number of good offensive chances on set pieces, all punctuated by 4 or 5 brain farts. At the end of the day, we only let in one goal. For whatever reason, our dream team and its unstoppable offense can't finish chances. That is our real problem.
Landon sometimes is too nice. Maybe he was trying to get Robbie out of his scoring rut. When you're 94% from the spot, you take it.
That is exactly my position. We didn't lose that game last night because of Lopes. We lost that game last night because our offense didn't finish the three glorious opportunities that would have put the game away: Landon's shot at 10 minutes, Robbie with the PK, and Chad from the two at the very end.