I thought I heard one of the announcers saying something about word from the bench was he was experiencing "tightness" - I can't be positive because we were having a rainstorm and satellite was sketchy and went from halftime break to six minutes into the second half. Edit: Ah, I see Skydog beat me to it again.
"Donovan had to leave the field due to, it says here, 'tightness'... I guess they mean muscle tightness." "Sure, I don't think it's about him being cheap when buying beers." "Ha. I liked that. I like that you made a funny." That was more or less the exchange.
I don't know if this is correct, but the announcers at the beginning of the game said that in the last 17 hours of football where Gio and Keane were on the field, Gio had not scored a goal. And obviously he didn't today. I think he is a very good player for LAG and will show it, but for whatever reason he and Keane together simply do not work. It's like Keane cancels out what Gio can do. And we have seen what Gio can do without Keane there. Fourteen goals are nothing to sneeze at.
I'm glad to see a few people mention Cole positively. I really think he's getting tarred with the "ex-Prem" brush, when really he continually puts in solid performances and actually lets Van Damme play football. Taking Gordon off was baffling. But unfortuantely the coach has never made big decisions throughout this season. I'm not sure how much Mendiola would have added myself, seems a little shy in games at times.
One last thought. The way this game ended was perfect. It epitomized the futility that has marked the entire season. ONE road goal would have put us through. Needless to say, that was too much to ask. But I would rather we go out now than get wiped out by some Northwest Puke-Green team.
I mostly agree... Although, I would keep Cole, Husidic and Larentowicz (who I think is one of the most underrated in the team). Personally I would love to say Time to Go to Dos Santos, but there is a player in him, its his mental game that needs worked on. Unfortunately I think it will be tough to keep hold of Zardes, unless clubs wait and see how he recovers from injury. LD done ok, but you only take him back if his wages are cheap. Boateng and Magee can both go for me. People are getting caught up that Boateng scored a few goals recently. What else did he do this season? I've mentioned it before, but a 3-5-2 style of formation is one I'd love to see. The back line would look something like this; ---Cole------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Rogers------- -----------------Van Damme------------------Steres-------------------New CB (Waston/Sjoberg/Watts etc) --------------------------------------------------Rowe---------------------------------------------------------------- I think the style of players are already there to be able to do it.
Move the ball down the field. Threaten defenses consistently. Add much-needed team speed. Pretty much all the things no one else on the team could do.
plus, he improved as the season wore on, which is what we want. We can't give up on him now at his age. Look at how Zardes grew by leaps and bounds.
After all was said and done, the Gs still only lost due to a wonderstrike by Gashi. However, the team laid an egg this game and the entire season. Glad I went climbing instead of watching this game live. PS. I suppose I don't put too much stock in PKs as it's usually just such a toss up.
Except with the Galaxy (or any team I support really). I think the last time LA won a PK shoot-out in a meaningful game was the 2000 CCC semi-final against D.C. United
It was a wonder strike, but the problem is how little effort we put in all match offensively. Even after the goal, we never threatened Colorado. Our only "attacks" came from set pieces. It seemed we were so happy to go to a shootout.
IMO Cole is usually a solid if unspectacular defender but his soccer IQ is limited when trying to go forward. He can work the ball with teammates when given ample time and space but his decision making when in tight spaces is often poor, which is a problem because he is prone to getting himself trapped on the touchline with the ball often. Good players in this situation have moves that allow them to either a) get past the defender with the ball, in the best case on the outside and its off to the races, b) cut and create an angle so they can safely pass the ball to an interior teammate or pull up and make a safe back pass, c) failing these - at least force the ball out of bounds off the defender. And they avoid these outcomes, especially the final one: d) you lose control or opponent forces it and you end up knocking the ball out of bounds and give opponent a throw-in. e) worst outcome of all (other than red card I guess) - you expose the ball to the interior, get stripped and your opponent has the ball and is off to the races and you are basically taken out of the play. For example with Rogers we've come to expect mostly outcomes a) -> c). In fact his ability to often generate a) is why he is so valued. Sometimes he messes up and he drops to d, but seldom does he fall to e). It happens but maybe once every two games or so. Cole on the other hand more often than not when trapped on the sideline ends up getting outsmarted by his opponent. Often the opponent will knock the ball off him and get the throw in. But worse probably on average three or four times a game he ends up stripped of the ball and chasing from behind. I notice this a lot and would say watch for it next game - but that won't be happening for awhile.
I'll be disappointed if we don't bring Cole back next season (unless he decides he wants to retire). I thought it worked well for us having 5 quality defenders to rotate. Rogers can't stay healthy for an entire season, JVD is going to get his yellow cards, Cole is going to need a breather as well from time to time. I know people were disappointed that AJ didn't see the field in the playoffs, but he certainly featured quite a bit for us throughout the year.
Well people today still sucks for me at least, I hate having to think of "something positive" when we lose and get eliminated. I really don't see any positives in getting knocked out of the playoffs. To me that's like getting a participation ribbon. It sucks and it does not build character! Well any how we failed and hence we wait a couple of months and hope our FO has made plans and good ones to strengthen the club. With the new clubs beginning play in the next few years the playoffs will get much tougher and this putrid display of football will not suffice! We need more pace and technical play so maybe we need Bruce to move on up to the deluxe office in the sky so some fresh ideas can mold the next group of players. I hope we do something positive to head in that direction, for now I'll be twirling my thumbs until March. My prediction is TFC wins it no stopping "La hormiga atomica" right now it doesn't matter if Crapids or you know who faces them they will lose. Oh man I hope Colorado ends them, I can't handle the thought of those hippies winning. The circus would be unbareable.
Well.... that happened. We were toothless without the speed and game-smarts of Boateng and Donovan...
Seeing British media blame Ashley Cole for "ending" Gerrard's playing time by missing his PK. What absolute crap.