Los Angeles FC - San Jose Earthquakes U.S. Open Cup (Thursday, 6/20) pre/in/postgame thread [R]

We had more chances. Our finishing, sigh.

 

Poor night for Lopez. Espinoza Quakes best player. Quiet night for Wondo. Considering they haven’t played much thought Kashia and Affolter did ok. 2nd and 3rd goal seemed more on Andrew and Lopez (but will have to watch replays). TT had some moments but even he struggled once close to the box. Most of the time his shots have so little power behind them it’s frustrating to watch at times. Thought JY was doing ok but I guess he was gassed at the end.

Danny, Shea and Flo out due to injury, plus Nick, Godoy (who’s injured) and Cummings at Gold Cup. LAFC looked to be at full strength.

 

It seemed like the final score, with a few inches or bounces difference, could have been 6-4 LAFC over EQ or 6-4 EQ over LAFC. I got the impression that the EQ ran out of gas the last 15 or 25 minutes and and just couldn't keep up. Still, what a difference compared to the 5-0 game.

 

Made it to Munich for my connecting flight... this is disappointing

 

Tarbell. Enough said.

 

Scoreboard will suggest this was just another LAFC win but holy sh*t the Quakes may be legit. They were right there tonight. Seem to have the mentality & fitness to go full-bore vs. good teams. Vako and Espinoza took 11 shots between them - 5 of them on frame! - & only scored 1.

— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) June 21, 2019

 

Have we ever (in the post-08 era) ever beaten an MLS team in open cup competition? Never mind, looks like we beat the Flounders and Fallacy in ‘17.

 

We played really well despite us missing 6 key contributors (Vega, Lima, Godoy, Cummings, Salinas , Hossen) as we are not a deep team . And still their back-up goalie had to save theirs asses many times or else we would have walked away with the game!

I agree we looked tired in the last 20 or so and i wonder if that’s partially related to being yelled at by their supports groups for 70+ minutes.

 

Tarbell's distribution is better in this game and didn't just chip up the ball to the outside back. His quick releases up field also created chances for Espinoza. Have to give him credit for these improvements. Still, I think that a better keeper might be able to stop at least one of the goals.

While we missed several starters, the biggest drop off in quality is Lopez and Judson. Maybe Lopez can still be coached to be a better LB but we may only see the results next season. Judson works hard but doesn't have the ball playing quality to transition and advance. Not sure when Godoy will return from injury. That may be the position to be reinforced mid season.

Magnus is playing better this season, but his lack of mobility was rather obvious compared to LAFC's Lee Nguyen who ran the offense.

 

I was at the stadium and the EQ did great! I can't believe the drastic change your team has made from the beginning of the season! Good luck.I might go watch a game one of these days at AVAYA.


LAFC!!!!!!

 

The team has really improved since March and this game was a good litmus test. What a shame we didn't win. If we had won we would play the Timbers at home and I'm certain we would win that game.

2.5 weeks until the summer transfer window opens - hope we get a quality DP and a couple other players.

 

Too much ruing. Rue too many missed chances, and you will pay for it with a loss.

 

I stand corrected....for some reason I thought they were at full strength

 

Good game. Fun to watch. Unfortunate result but we were in with a chance and were unlucky not to score more than one. Go Quakes.

 

Did I hear that LAFC has to now play 6 games in 16 days by winning this game? No one has that amount of depth.

 

Yeah, while I would have loved the Quakes to do well and even win the US Open Cup, I think the reality these days is if you're at all competing for a playoff spot (at least for the last couple of spots), then the Open Cup is more a curse than a blessing. LA has some room to give in terms of standings, so maybe they can manage both.

If the Quakes had still been languishing at the bottom of the table, I'd have preferred them to focus on the Open Cup and just go crazy experimental in league play. With a genuine chance to make the playoffs, I'd kind of glad the Open Cup run is over quickly.

 

Tarbell... sigh... Tarbell... Can we dump him, he is not the answer for "who would be a good back-up goalie"... sigh

 

Finally got to see the highlights of the match and it looked like it was all LAFC from that... based on your comments and a few articles it doesn't tell the whole story though.

That first goal... what the hell was TT doing (I think it was TT anyway)? All he needed to do was step up and close the space. So frustrating to see our defenders hold the line so low... perhaps that's a lack of trust in Tarbell?

The third goal was all Tarbell. Step off your freaking line already! My oh my does he read the game poorly.

These guys seem to like Magnus: https://www.lafc.com/post/2019/06/21/5-takeaways-lafc-edges-san-jose-reach-open-cup-quarterfinals

 

Trade Magnus while his value is highest. Tarbell is USL level at best.

 

So Bob Bradley doesn’t like the tactics Almeyda employs? For starters what does he care and secondly , does he want the Quakes to lay down for another 0-5 loss?

I don’t get his reasoning....


Almeyda's style? Bradley sees the game differently

 

My feeling is that Bob is super competitive and will never have a nice thing to say about the competition. I felt like some of the things he said about how our style isn't good for developing a player was intended to cause trouble.

 

It takes two teams to play Jogo Bonito. They way I see it after Almeyda’s and the Quakes horrendous start, they have improved their style 100%. Players are now responding and adapting to the tactics and system Matías has employed and the club is now competitive.

Styles are overrated but what counts is keeping the team in the game. Maybe Bradley would rather always win 5-0 but as an experienced coach and man of the game, I don’t see how he would really appreciate a game like that.

 

Another thing about Bradley, just like every other boring American coach , I’ve yet seen many who employ a certain “American style” as of yet. Kinnear had one with the Quakes in 2005 and it was very entertaining. Frank in 2012 kept lobbing the ball up to Wondo , Lenny and Gordon and it worked and fun to watch but it was short lived.

Therefore his philosophy on style is exaggerated.