Our Competition

Discussion in 'LA Galaxy' started by skydog, Jan 31, 2012.

  1. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Exactly. What mostly bugged me was the whole "they couldn't even take care of Toronto" talk. Well, happened to them tonight.

    Soccer is a *itch sometimes.

    [With that said, they still had some decent passages of play and Kennedy was solid again tonight. Plus, Rimando had a clanger with Schuler at the end to give the Goats the win.]
     
  2. UcIceD2011

    UcIceD2011 Member+

    Jul 10, 2011
    Nor Cal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    As you said, soccer is a bitch sometimes. A team may have the run of play for most of the game and still end up losing. Its a cruel game and even the best of them have one of these games every once in a while. I just find it funny that they didn't lose to an upper echelon team but to chivas. The irony is sweet. Especially when chivas' gameplan looked like it was stolen from tfc in the CCL.

    Speaking of tfc, it seems that they may have just played out of their minds against us. SJ is good this year, but good enough to lay a smackdown on tfc at tfc's home? I didn't watch the game so maybe it played out differently. They have 2 or 3 losses to start the season and have lost Frings and Frei for a good amount of time. Hopefully they are able to keep the embarrassment to a minimum against Santos. The funny thing is we were saying similar things before our match up. Santos is just another beast though and could easily go for 15+ if TFC doesn't get their shit together.
     
  3. ssanchez

    ssanchez Member

    Oct 15, 2000
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I watched the TFC vs SJ game and to be honest it was not what the final score showed. Toronto had the run of the game but could not finish their chances. They had most of the possession and created many chances. San Jose was quick on the counter and Wondo is very good in the box. Obviously you gotta score to win and props to the smurfs they did that but Toronto was the better playing team. The difference is that Wondo can finish.
     
  4. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Without Frings, TFC is screwed. I fully expect both games to be blowouts. They are welcome to serve me crow.

    And although they may have had the best chances, they still let in 3. Santos Laguna will be even more ruthless with their chances.

    It'll be ugly.
     
  5. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    SKC beats FCD tonight. Sadly, I'm feeling pretty good about the Shield prediction for them. The rest of their conference is going to have a hard time catching up.

    Also - really looking forward to our match against them in April. We might be handing them their first loss.
     
  6. skydog

    skydog Member+

    Aug 1, 1999
    Durham, NC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    My take from this weekends games:

    Observation 1: The NYRB's have taken a major step forward if Conde stays healthy and plays like he did for them yesterday. With him playing like that they could actually be the contender they've been expected to be rather than the pretender they have been.

    He improved their defense 100%, playing an almost perfect game while adding a beautiful assist for the cherry on top. He was physical and took charge in the back , calm on the ball, showed great decision making and nice distribution out of the back. Most importantly his positioning and hustle allowed him to snuff out clear goal scoring opportunities for Colorado following the usual mistakes his fellow defenders are prone too (Roy Miller and this year's version of Solli). Those would have been goals against last season. I thought Conde played like a combination of our Omar and AJ (except for Omar's dominance in the air of course).

    BTW I wasn't the only one with that impression. In the postgame interview Henry was asked about how it was having Marquez finally back and Cooper helping up top. Henry's response was telling - he ignored the direction the interviewer was leading and instead praised Wilman Conde and what he did for the defense and the team. Then a token good word for Marquez and finally he said he thought Cooper's 2nd goal was actually an own goal - ouch! He seemed pretty pissed at Cooper during the game for not passing to him when he was wide open and shooting instead - that's what you get Cooper when you cross Henry.

    In case anyone forgets or wasn't aware - NYRBs were the 2nd leading scoring team in MLS last season. They ended up being a laughing stock and Backe an "idiot" when they went on a two month skid w/o winning, just a bunch of ties, which is what happens when you have a pourous defense (see LA, early 2012). If Conde can stay healthy and tighten up that defense watch out - it could be a different season for NY this year.

    Observation 2:
    As most of you know I have been singing Martin Rennie's praises ad nauseum for a couple years now. He knows how to assemble teams and coach them so they just win, blah, blah, blah. Like all winning coaches he focuses on defense. Preseason I predicted the Whitecaps would be a team to watch out for this year despite being the worst team in MLS last year. Others said no way, arguing they had too many offensive players and not enough defense. Well I know it's only 3 games in and they have had a soft schedule and a game in hand over Seattle and LA -- but guess which team is currently leading the Western Conference? Hint - it's the only team that hasn't allowed a goal yet this season. And the fact they are winning despite getting little production from their offense so far (3 goals total) is a real good sign for them, because goal scoring will come with LeToux, Hassli, and the rest of their offensive talent. But right now they are winning like LA did last year, with shutout defense.

    Could this be the 4th team (in the 3rd or 4th league) that Martin Rennie has taken from worst-to-first in a single year? That is an unlikely hurdle to clear in parity-driven MLS but it will be interesting to see how the season unfolds for him and his team.

    Observation 3: Wondo really is a great finisher.
     
  7. juniorLA

    juniorLA Member

    Mar 4, 2008
    El Lay
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    re: NYRB, agree that they look like a different team out there, though it's not just picking up Conde, it's moving Keel to the bench. They looked a lot more solid. I saw that bit of post-game interview with Henry and also was struck by the fact that Henry went out of his way to compliment Conde. Agree that Conde is kind of like Omar+AJ together, and he served up some nice balls from the back. Taylor Twellman was right that Cooper should confine his game, laterally, to playing between the lines of the penalty area. Henry was getting increasingly frustrated. Still, I think that they play better with Cooper than Agudelo. I like Agudelo, but he doesn't work well with Henry. I think that Dax McCarty is a stand-out in not being up to standard for that team. He's a workhorse, but gives the ball away cheaply.

    re: Vancouver--I have been similarly interested to see how Rennie would do, things are pointing in a very positive direction, but I want to see how they do when they come up against stiffer competition. They've had it very easy so far.

    re: RSL--I had to take a bit of pleasure in that result, given the huge number of RSL muppets that came over here to be as shitty as possible during CCL. Then again, this is MLS, and any team can beat any other team on any given day.
     
  8. Ghosting

    Ghosting Member+

    Aug 20, 2004
    Pendleton, OR
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    One note on this NYRB result: I'm not sure how much you can read into this match, with Colorado missing Larentowicz and Mastroeni. Colorado was lucky to win last week, and with the heart and soul of their 4-3-3 midfield gone, I didn't think they would have a shot in this match.
     
  9. skydog

    skydog Member+

    Aug 1, 1999
    Durham, NC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Yeah, Colorado was missing the heart of their midfield defense so the particular lopsided outcome of the game needs to be taken with a grain of salt. But my comments were based almost completely on watching the play of Conde, not the score or the fact that NY won.

    As we fans of the 2007, 2008 LAG well know to avoid stupid, demoralizing losses and/or ties every team needs a solid D, which means it has to have at least one centerback who has the skill, size, strength, will, and grit needed to win the majority of the physical battles in the box. NY didn't have that last year and so they leaked goals and looked constantly vulnerable in the back exactly as we have w/o Omar so far this season.

    For one game at least Conde was their Omar. If he can continue to play that well and avoid injuries it stands to reason that NY will be a much improved team this year.
     
  10. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Great points on NY. I watched the first 45 minutes, and it looked like a different team, even though Colorado was missing key players.

    Conde has made a HUGE difference. (Though Marquez actually did make some effort in that game).
     
  11. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Rafa Marquez is suspended for the game against us. Not too sad as I could see him injuring one of our players on purpose. (in particular the one named LD)
     
  12. Pegasus503

    Pegasus503 BigSoccer Supporter

    Jul 7, 2008
    San Diego
    no Luke Rogers either to blast the ball into the crowd
     
  13. Higher Learning

    Jul 1, 2009
    San Jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    damn Im good. I bet you all believe in the Quakes now
     
  14. respite_cdd

    respite_cdd BigSoccer Supporter

    Feb 12, 2009
    Harrison, NJ
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Congratulations to the Kings of April.
     
  15. dashiel

    dashiel Member+

    Jul 15, 2000
    orange county
    Mike Magee
     
  16. skydog

    skydog Member+

    Aug 1, 1999
    Durham, NC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    And with Conde out NYRB's defense immediately went back to its old sucky ways.

    Speaking of sucking - that applies to Marquez, the league, and the refs. Marquez is a douchebag, the ref should have spotted Marquez's incessant blatant fouling in the box before he broke the guys collarbone, and the league should have suspended him for 8 or more games at least and those games should be w/o pay.
     
  17. jmaestro

    jmaestro Member+

    Mar 27, 2008
    Bakersfield
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yup. It's a bit early to be calling that. San Jose has also not faced very much of a schedule. Loss to Houston (good team) draw with a suddenly struggling team (NYRB) and the win against RSL, while well-deserved, isn't really a good barometer because they had the 2 red cards, and SJ managed to give up a goal a man up and only put the game away at the death. That leaves wins against NE (meh) Toronto (terrible team) Sounders (Good team but struggling) and Vancouver (much improved this year but still question marks).

    Schedule doesn't get tough until May 23rd, when SJ begins a tough run of about 6 games or so. Check back after that if you want to brag and if they're still leading the West, you can get your kudos and brownie points. Until then, enjoy the trophy they give you for leading the league in April. Oh wait.....
     
  18. futurequakekeeper

    Feb 14, 2008
    New York City
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    And your schedule has been oh so tough?..how are your multi million $ DP's doing it for ya? Don't let the smog get to your head their fella.

    You guys are so epic you lose against the revs(who loses against the revs?!) and barely eek out a tie with a shit FCD team.

    simple.

    wondo>lenheart>chavez>baca>bernardez>garza>beckham>keane>landon>marquez.

    funny thing is, all of the quakes players I mentioned do not even cost a fraction of what you guys pay for beckham...sad, no?
     
  19. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Wow. That land of denial you're living in must have some great pina coladas.

    SJ finally puts some wins together and their fans act like they've won the EPL. Sad.
     
  20. dashiel

    dashiel Member+

    Jul 15, 2000
    orange county
    Mike Magee
     
  21. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    More likely it's Lenhart in disguise. (Who by the way is looking like a pod person more and more with his weird tan and bright blond hair.)
     

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