Is he under contract for another year? If not, time to cut the ties. If he is, another albatross around Sigi's neck.
The fact he didn't retire after his season ending injury probably means he has another year on his contract and he intends on coming back. I doubt he's a traceable piece so he's either playing for the Galaxy or not all. My guess anyways.
According to this site, his contract expires at the end of this year: https://www.transfermarkt.com/robbie-rogers/profil/spieler/51352
Maybe he didn't retire so he get paid while recovering? I hope we don't offer a contract until we know he'll be fit enough to play.
Just finished the mid-week 1-0 win against Orange County SC. Solid result but horrible game to see, once again almost no creativity with a Fuji - Cova - Zanga (later replaced by the young Alex Mendez from the Academy, who looked anonymous) - Vera midfield. Good goal from Fuji after a pressing from him and Covarrubias and a solid give-and-go with Zubak. Man of the match : Kempin, hands down. A ton of saves to make and stopped a penalty (terribly taken TBH). At least in competition with Diop for number 2 this year. Once again I'm begging for playing Zubak out wide. I'm tired of seeing him wasting opportunities after opportunities up top (yes, despite his assist). His speed, his athleticism and his decent dribbling skills are much adequate with the RW spot. Otherwise, meh.
An uninspiring 2-0 loss. Diop looked good, made a couple of great saves and didn't do anything crazy.
Just finished the 2-0 loss at home against Phoenix. MOTM : Bradley Diallo. Diop did OK. Turnley was too easily beaten on the second goal. Payeras was average for his first game back. At this point I'm watching G2 games just to see how our defenders are doing. Our attack is so anemic, it's depressing.
2-1 away win against Colorado Switchbacks. Honestly it could have gone either way, we were a little bit lucky to score on an own goal and they missed a few opportunities in the end. The young GK Lopez was MOTM, he had a couple of nice saves. Smith looked our best defender just before he lost the ball to Colorado who equalized on the counter. Payeras was good after an average first half, Diallo was OK. Arellano was also OK at LB but he's still much better as a CB. Mendiola and Lassiter were very dynamic on the wing, and Lassiter had a nice right-footed goal. You can feel Raul really wants to break into the first team but he needs to be more decisive. McBean missed a few golden opportunities, but also worked as a playmaker on the first goal and had an assist to Lassiter, and was the crosser who created the own goal for the win. Like I said in the other thread, he's more a Villarreal than a Gordon type player despite his size.
2-1 loss at Vancouver, who was on a 13 game winless streak. First goal conceded following a collective error from all our defense following a set piece, and second goal in part because of a Fuji mistake. Los Dos scored by Zubak after a good run behin the defense and a solid lofted ball by Vera, who looks better than at the beginning of the season, but nothing outstanding. Nothing new with Zubak (who will turn 20 next year), average USL player at best when he's playing forward, just a little bit better on the wing. I say this because I'm tired of the GII Twitter account who's trying to sell him as a very dangerous player and a GII star. In this week end of mediocrity I'll have a few good news for you. Three very young players started and played the full 90 in that match, and looked good : - Eric Lopez (March 1999) : once again, our GK was the MOTM. A lot of key stops for a player who was described with a big ceiling when he signed with Los Dos at the age of 15. Now it's time to give him the starting role. - Zico Bailey (August 2000) : didn't impress me in a big way (didn't have any defensive key plays TBH), but I was impressed with his passing game. He was absolutely perfect in his short passes, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had the best passing accuracy of the team. Looked calm for a player who was celebrating his 17th birthday during the match. - Jake Arteaga (February 2000) : I saw him playing in the DM position earlier this year (and he looked completely average), but IIRC it was the first time he played CB for Los Dos. He had a solid game and was our best defender IMO. I want to see more from the USNT U-17 player. Otherwise, Payeras was OK but I wait a little bit more from him. He was wearing the captain armband for that matter. McBean and Jaime Villarreal looked like players from the first team : phantoms from their old self.
1-0 win against RGV. Maybe the most solid game of the season. The defense (Turner - Payeras - Arellano - Smith) did very well and allowed just two dangerous chances in 90 minutes IIRC. Sneddon started in goal and for all the critics I gave about him, he made a crucial save on a header during the second half. The opponent wasn't strong but once again the defense was really impressive. Jose Villarreal, Mendiola and Lassiter had solid games. Jose fustrated his opponents and took a lot of fouls, and was also frustrated because of this. Very similar to what happens in MLS play with him. Lassiter is having a good year despite not playing much (7 goals in 18 games in all competition, one goal every 122 minutes), if he could get Bradford's minutes with the first team I wouldn't be shocked. BJ4 has been decent lately in MLS play so it's not that unfair but I think Ari looked much better in USL. The score could have been higher but McBean and Zubak missed a few good opportunities. McBean is in a terrible slump right now, like Zardes is (was?). And I hope you didn't miss Lassiter's wonder goal : 🚀🚀🚀From waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy back!!! #LAvRGV pic.twitter.com/wj6Y3BsUaa— LA Galaxy II (@LAGalaxyII) September 4, 2017
Just finished the replay of the 1-2 home loss against Reno FC from last week. It was the team who beat us 9-0 earlier in the season so I guess there is progress. Lineup : McBean Jo. Villarreal Vera Zanga Covarrubias Mendiola Smith Engola Payeras Turner Lopez Subs : Garcia in for Zanga and Lassiter in for Mendiola at the half, Zubak in for Jose Villarreal early in the second half. Goal scored by Mendiola on a deflected shot. Offense was OK in the first 45 minutes then Munoz had the great idea of subbing out our two best creators (Villarreal and Mendiola) early in the second half. Then : long balls to "always offside and can't finish" Zubak and "I'm in a terrible slump right now" McBean. It didn't work for the whole season so why don't we try it once again? Terrible mismanagement from Munoz here, once again. This team creates nothing without Jose Villarreal, Mendiola or Lassiter and is not fun to watch. Kudos to Ari for bending a few dangerous crosses during the second half. Lopez was solid, couldn't do a lot more on the two goals. Engola was good, and looks so much comfortable with the ball now. He has to continue to improve. Smith was very good too, surely our best player on the field, and not at his natural spot. This supports my hypothesis that he should have played one more year with G2. I'm worried about Payeras, who was just average and was partially responsible for the first goal. He forgot the bases of soccer and heads out a set piece ball right in the middle of the pitch, and an opposite player scored from a solid volley. He was beaten a few times too. Didn't look great since his return and that disappoints me because I was impressed by his stint with us last year.
1-1 at home against San Antonio last weekend. Actually it was a solid performance against the second best team in the West, with SA scoring a late goal on a direct free kick. Team was better both on defense and on offense, with more passes in the opposite half of the field, but still too many route one ball. Lineup : McBean Zubak Vera Zanga Covarrubias Jon. Hernandez Turner Engola Payeras Smith Lopez (yes they really switched Turner and Smith) Subs : Jorge Hernandez for Jonathan Hernandez in the 67th and Estrada for Zubak in the 89th. Efrain Avarez was on the bench for the first time but didn't play. Goal scored by Engola on a Covarrubias corner kick (51st). Engola was solid on defense and as always tried to close his opponent as much as possible. It worked well but he made the foul who lead to SAFC free kick and goal in the dying moments. His first touch was erratic too. I was worried about Payeras after the midweek game. And guess what? He had a very good game, his best since his return. He read the game well, and his ability to put his body between the ball and the opposite player is sometimes impressive. Way to go, Jefrey! Smith was solid. Lopez was OK and didn't have much to do. Covarrubias had a great game, maybe MOTM (or it's Payeras). I'm tired of Jonathan Fernandez, who's mediocre at best like he has been all year. Jorge Hernandez, who replaced him and who's three and a half year younger (he will turn 17 in November), is already almost as good as him, and has great skills for a man of his age. He should play more. McBean was a little bit better, his holdup play was solid. Missed a few opportunities but it was more because of great goalkeeping than terrible finishing. And Zubak had a mediocre game, still bad at finishing and his decision making was sometimes suspect, and sometimes a little bit selfish. Still not convinced. Away game at Sacramento today, at the same hour than our game against TFC.
1-2 loss against Sacramento. I think you didn't miss Ethan Zubak wonder goal, who's the fastest goal scored in USL history (10 seconds) : Well, that escalated quickly. 🤷♂️ #SACvLA pic.twitter.com/GZff4KR2tu— LA Galaxy II (@LAGalaxyII) September 17, 2017 Unfortunately this was our only shot on goal of the night. The play itself sums up our season : long ball to a forward looking for a desperate miracle. This time it happened. Zubak this time did OK overall and scored this superb goal, but it might be his best game of the season. He's still far from being ready for the first team. Will he be ready one day? I still have my doubts. Estrada Zubak Vera Zanga Covarrubias Jon. Hernandez Sepulveda Engola Payeras Turner Lopez Subs : Fuji for Cova (69'), and the youngsters Mendez and Llanez replaced Estrada (77') and Turner (83'). Payeras and Engola switched at HT, for what? Summary : score an early goal with a little bit of luck, then produce nothing and defend. And concede two goals. Once again, Lopez was very very solid and had a few key saves. I was surprised the new GK (Vom Steeg) didn't play, but Lopez reminds me how he's a very good prospect for the future. Turner and Engola were both at fault on the first goal. Turner was average as he has been the last couple of games, and Engola was too. The young Leonardo Sepulveda (who turned just 16 last June) started at LB for the first time of the year. He was beaten by the speed of his opponents a couple of times but otherwise he didn't look out of place. Payeras had a very good game for the second time in a row. He made a lot of interceptions and finally looking like the Payeras of last year. MOTM to me. Jonathan Hernandez looked bad and I'm tired of giving him so many minutes. Same thing for Zanga, who is to blame on the second goal for not closing his man enough. Zanga didn't improve like Engola improved through the season, at some point I just want to try anybody else : Jaime Villarreal, Aguilar (I thought he had recovered), even Mendiola but stop playing this inoffensive CM pairing. Estrada looked invisible. The young Mendez and Llanez looked to have skills but weren't effective and didn't have enough time. Next game in Tusla.
Game against Tusla in less than an hour. Vom Steeg getting his first start, the young Sepulveda, Jorge Hernandez and Estrada also starting. Could be very interesting.
I agree on Estrada, but it's always cool to see new faces, maybe players for the future? I thought you didn't watch G2 games anymore, this is cool!
Just been busy. But the games are kind of relaxing. Doesn't matter whether we win or lose so I can focus on some of the players.
Just don't make the mistake of bringing them up to LAG before they are ready. I think there are a couple of players whose careers are badly hurt because we did that already.
Nothing to see here, 1-0 loss. Lucky but deserved goal for Tulsa after a couple of rebounds in their favor. Vom Steeg looked good, but otherwise, it was meh. Payeras was decent but he needs to work on his passing and is not dominant enough in the air. We already knew it but he must work on this. Sepulveda was constantly beaten by runs behind him, as he was last week. Jorge Hernandez provided a little bit of sparks but lost the ball a little bit too much. Still more creative than almost everybody in this roster. Estrada had the best chance of the night but his shot was saved by a brillant stop from the opposite GK. Fuji must be one of the biggest disappointment of the season. At least guys like Turner or Vera look decent at the USL level, but Fuji doesn't even reach this level. Second worst defense in the USL (54 goals conceded, the 0-9 loss hurt us), only 4 shutouts in 28 games, but the more I watch this team, the more I say the problem is not the defense. The problem is our style of play, we create almost nothing and our players seem lost with the ball at their feet in the final third. We can't even maintain possession and it exposes our defense. I don't know if Munoz is the right man for the job.
3-0 away loss against Swope Park Rangers earlier this week. Absolutely nothing to see here. Sneddon was our best player (it's amazing how many time our GK has been MOTM this year...), but I still don't understand how you start him when you have both Lopez and Vom Steeg on the bench. Sepulveda was constantly beaten by balls behind his back, as he was during the last two games. Hernandez looked average at RB. Engola had a lot of work to do but was responsible on two goals. Arteaga looked OK and I like how comfortable he's looking with the ball, but the last fifteen minutes were very hard for him. Otherwise, no surprise, we created nothing. Our only two SOG came from a long distance shot by Covarrubias and a one on one against the keeper in the last minutes that Zubak badly missed. So really nothing to see here, boring game. The most interesting thing about G2 this week? Laurent Courtois (assistant coach) tweeting this : All other level this time. New style of referring. #USL pic.twitter.com/LQepY0Pajh— laurent courtois (@laurentcourtois) September 24, 2017 You probably only see the guy that is off side and don t see the ref. That s because is 7 yards in front of the actual line. #usl @USL pic.twitter.com/y2RxBE6nM4— laurent courtois (@laurentcourtois) September 25, 2017 Not sure it's accurate to tweet about how bad the refs are when your team has been terrible the whole season and doesn't create anything. Sometimes I think mediocrity has taken over this club.