Anyone know anything about these trialists? Is it Cato (right back?) and Boucher? I vaguely recognize Cato’s name.
Definitely the sternest test our first team has faced this preseason. From the first minute our new backline looked fragile just like last year. We easily were the better team in the first 45 yet they had just as many good chances as us. The difference being we had to earn our chances and theirs were from our mistakes. Feltcher seemed more interested in being in their penalty area then in defending. Interesting that we had Cordell Cato trialing and playing second half minutes. He looked ok defensively. Bingham was not great. On the flip side our attack had some nice combination play. Kamara seems a good fit to poach for goals in a team full of midfielders. We are still terribly thin up top. I’d be interested in who that Boucher fella was. Didn’t impress really. Hopefully this was a wake up call. Would be curious the post game quotes from us.
Sigi apparently questioned Feltcher about his play after the game and Feltcher replied that he was “exhausted.” Not good. But, glad Sigi saw what we all saw. Not sure Cato is the answer. We have 2 major problems: RB & Gio. How do we fix these? I don’t know.
Liked this OC treat. Stadium is intimate which made it really interesting to watch warm ups, player and coach reactions. Definitely still in pre season mode. Player did not look on same page
Feltcher was bad but so was the rest of the defense. Skjelvik also pushed up and turned over the ball in dangerous positions a couple of times. Also Skjelvik's marking and positioning were often suspect - he didn't force opponents to the outside, instead letting them turn or pass to the inside. Plus he doesn't seem strong enough to win physical battles and so often resorts to grabbling opponents. He is a pk waiting to happen. I also thought Steres was poor at staying compact and close to Skjelvik - he let himself repeatedly get pulled up or out wide. He also was late getting to Wondo on the first goal. Steres just doesn't read the game that well, imo. And when your leftmost defender (Cole) is in the smack center of the box (like he was on at least two of their goals) then you know your defense has completely lost it's shape. Cole also could have done better at picking up the open guy on their 2nd and 3rd goals. I don't know if Bingham was unlucky or if he clears balls right back to opponents regularly. Until those bing-bang goals I thought he was playing well. I worry about the Skjelvik/Steres centerback pairing. Both seem to prone to wandering out of position and making mistakes. Plus Skjelvik and Steres are both listed at 6'0" and 170lbs - that would be the smallest cb pairing we've had in years. I would rather see Romney in there - his positioning is much more solid than Steres. He also is taller and more physical. In the 2nd half our outside mids also needed to help out the defense. It seemed it was 7 on 3 at times. As far as the trialists - I thought Cato looked fine but it was a very small sample. And I liked the few minutes I saw from Boucher.
Moving to the midfield: JDS has been disappointing to me this preseason. I thought he might finally show his quality this year but so far he's been very meh -- not involved enough on either side of the ball, and just so-so with his passing. Kitchen - Has been a pleasant surprise. Had a good first half, kind of invisible second half. Ema - A good game for him. He looked more like his old self - was much more dangerous. And surprisingly he made a few beautiful passes. But he needed to track back with runners and help the defense more in the 2nd half. Allessandrini - Worked harder than anyone else on the field but what else is new? One of our best players, now he just has to get his finishing touch back. Like Ema he could have helped more defensively by tracking runners in the 2nd half. Gio - Good for much of the first half. Then gifted SJ a goal and did little work in the 2nd. What else is new?
Steres isn't 6 feet tall. So if he and Skjelvik look the same height on the field, then we will definitely have an undersized CB pairing. Darn work and filmmaking is getting in the way of watching Galaxy games, so thanks everyone for the analysis and discussion.
Forwards: Ok, only one forward and his name is Kamara and he is a finisher! Just what we needed. Great game from him.
I didn't see Lleget, did he play at all? I was half-watching, half-doing other stuff most of the game.
I can't go into the 2018 season confident that we'll make the playoffs without a better defensive unit. I think we need defensive depth and a forward behind Ola in the depth chart. Surprised there haven't been more rumors about defensive prospects. Gotta think that if a schmuck like me is worried, Sigi is too.
A closed door scrimmage against Vancouver Wednesday. My assumption is that Sigi wants to stretch the regulars out to 90 minutes or close to it this weekend and therefore the closed door scrimmage is a way to make sure the other players are getting similar work, while still playing in a sufficiently competitive environment that he can start to make some roster decisions.
Game against Vancouver right now. LA Galaxy Starting XI: Vom Steeg; Cato, Steres, Hilliard-Arce, Romney; Carrasco; Lletget, Husidic, Buscher, Pontius; Lassiter Bench: Bingham, Sylvestre, Klimenta, Ciani, Feltscher, Shultz, Skjelvik, Cole, Kitchen, Pedro, J. dos Santos, G. dos Santos, Boateng, Mendez, Alessandrini, Kamara Cato, Buescher, Vom Steeg, Shultz and Mendez still trialing with the club. Ciani on the bench, meaning he'll likely start on Saturday and in the opener.
I like it that VomSteeg is getting minutes. Interesting that Mendez is here but not Alvarez or Llanez. Pedro is pretty clearly third string, but I guess we suspected that.
33' - GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLL!Ibini with a cross from the right is headed home by Blondell. Ibini's third assist and Blondell's third goal of the 2018 preseason— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) February 21, 2018 Joao Pedro has replaced Buescher for us. I think Alvarez is with U17 Mexico.
46' SUBSTITUTIONS: Emrah Klimenta and Michael Ciani replace Cordell Cato and Daniel Steres, respectively. 63' VANCOUVER GOAL: Kei Kamara with the finish to put the visitors up. Sigi Schmid about to bring in his first choice team.
FT - #VWFC defeat LA Galaxy 2-0 in a closed-door scrimmage at StubHub Center. Goals from @ABlondell17 and @keikamara. Highlights will be available later this afternoon— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) February 21, 2018 I know it's only preseason, but that's three losses against MLS teams. Our two wins came against USL opposition and NYCFC B-team.
It certainly would be nice if Hillard-Arce could progress quickly, since it looks like we haven't really solved our defensive problems yet Adam Serrano@LAGalaxyInsider 11m11 minutes ago Sigi Schmid said after the scrimmage defeat to Vancouver that he was concerned with the team's recent defensive lapses but lauded the improvement of Tomas Hilliard-Arce who started the contest. Adam Serrano @LAGalaxyInsider 8m8 minutes ago "He learns pretty quickly. When you’re a young player, you’re going to make some mistakes because there are going to be new situations for you and the game is going to be quicker. I like about him is that he learns quickly and adjusts quickly." - Sigi on THA
I'm pinning most of my hope for our defense on Hilliard-Arce turning into solid centerback basically immediately. There's no player currently on our defensive line I'm happy about starting.