Official: 2019 LA Galaxy II Season

Lineup against Timbers 2 :

Our XI for #LAvPOR pic.twitter.com/Q2Bkt8Z34G

— LA Galaxy II (@LAGalaxyII) March 31, 2019

 

Five minutes in and Zubak misses a PK, drawn by Cuello.

 

3-2 win, deserved success for Los Dos. Everything was far from perfect, especially on the defensive side. Portland struggled to generate much chances but scored following two plays with a lack from agressiveness from the G2 defenders.

THA scored two goals following two set pieces and was a nightmare to defend, that's not new... But he's one of the players to blame on the first goal and was too easily beaten on a second play (shot saved by Lopes). He's not far from the MLS bench level but still needs to improve IMO. Credit when it's due, Shultz had a solid game defensively.

I like Harvey's athlecism and he's the best DM we have, but he needs to be more focused on tracking the runners, and not throwing himself too fast because it left the defense exposed too many times.

Acheampong had another goal and I think this 8 position fits him well, but my opinion has not changed : often too many touches, and he's trying too hard things sometimes.

Terrible game from Zubak, who missed a PK and wasted a couple of solid chances. I didn't notice but despite being tall (6 foot 2), he's poor in the air.

Best player on the field was Cuello, generating a lot of chances, combining a few times with Acheampong (nothing impressive but it's too rare with this team), drawing a PK, and being deadly on set pieces (two assists for THA but also a free kick on the crossbar in the last minutes). It could be a good news if he can also play on a wing because we may be short on wingers with Alessandrini's hamstring issues and Antuna being Zlatan's backup.

 

Highlights :

 

Thank you for the highlights. That was a great performance against a team which was first of the Western Conference. Pressing was solid and limited them to very few chances (both Tulsa goals came from set pieces).

Zubak
Koreniuk Vera Tchilao
Walker Harvey
Fiddes Gallagher THA Shultz
Vom Steeg
​

Fiddes was the worst player on the field for G2, conceding a PK in the first half (sent over the crossbar) and losing his man on both goals. THA was our best defender, quiet but solid game from him.

The difference in our midfield provided by the arrivals of Walker and Harvey is easy to see. Both are physical players and bring defensive stability. There's room for progress but the team is much more balanced with them.

Still not a fan of Vera, who's good at combining in tight spaces, but not physical enough and too easy to disposess. His vision is poor, on this side of the game Acheampong is much better. Tchilao had an OK game, and had the possibility to create dangerous chances but final ball was lacking most of the time.

Good games from both Zubak and Koreniuk, two goals and one assist each. Koreniuk didn't touch the ball much (Tchilao was more active on the right side) but was lethal. Steps in the right direction for both after difficult starts.

Game at San Antonio (Jamieson's club) on Saturday. I believe Bradford scored a goal last week.

 

2-0 loss at San Antonio. A tale of two halves for G2 : the first where they didn't exist and were bad on defense, and the second where they got the majority of the possession without creating dangerous situations (0 SOG). To be fair, San Antonio defense was impressive.

Nobody stood out. THA and Vom Steeg were ridiculous on the second goal. Traore had a very mediocre game by his standards and still needs to learn to play simpler and succeed to do these simple things.

Koreniuk and Tchilao were non-existent in the first half. Both were better in the second, especially the latter, but didn't manage to create dangerous opportunities.

Zubak did some interesting things before being subbed out at halftime : solid runs behind the defense, good hold up plays, and very quick passing. Unfortunately, no real chances created for him.

The almost only positive was Iloski's cameo, his first minutes for the team. He looked very active with quick and effective passing. Wouldn't mind to see him start in place of Vera in this 4-3-3.

Jamieson had an opportunistic goal (and didn't forget to celebrate), but otherwise barely saw the ball. I still think he would have been more useful to the first team than Zubak this year.

 

4-4 draw against Rio Grande Valley FC earlier this week. Entertaining and bizarre game with seven goals scored after the 74th minute. G2 had an amazing first half with some of the best soccer I've seen from them in the last two years, but completely fell off in the last minutes when almost all defensive players made mistakes.

Starting XI was :

Koreniuk F. Lopez Tchilao
Jose Hernandez - Iloski
Walker
Traore Gallagher DePuy Shultz
Romero
​

Brian Iloski, for his first start, had a great game. The former Academy player was outstanding in his movements, and his passing was top class. He was rewarded with two assists. I clearly want to see more of him, it was maybe the best Galaxy performance from a G2 CM since Alex Mendez.

Koreniuk was also very good. Calm with the ball and more and more involved, scored two goals. Not a spectacular player but deadly in front of the goal. 4 goals and 2 assists in 540 minutes so far.

Traore had a beautiful goal in the first half, litteraly after getting through the entire opposite defense. You must see it. He was subbed out for no particular reason as far as I know, maybe a start on Sunday against RSL?

Walker, as the whole team, was great in the first 75 minutes, but looked out of gas in the end. I liked him in this DM role, he was a little bit better than Harvey. Interesting to follow. Same old story for Tchilao, can get in dangerous spots but final ball is still a problem. Cuello would probably bring more to this team but he's needed for the first team right now.

Once again, I liked what I saw from DePuy. Agressive, wins a lot of balls, dominant in the air, and a goal scored from a corner kick. I would like to see more from him, so far he's been better than Gallagher IMO. Message to Mike Munoz : a THA - DePuy pairing please.

Romero had a solid game except for two minutes where he made two mistakes with his hands. Shultz was great (and what a long ball on the second goal) but a slip from him helped RGV FC to score their second goal.

Next game on Monday against Las Vegas.

Highlights and full game (if you have time watch the whole match, very good things from Koreniuk, Iloski, Walker and Traore especially in the first half) :

 

Game against Las Vegas in a few minutes. Salivating lineup. IIRC, Zubak scored four goals against them last year.

 

Boring game where Las Vegas dominated most of the play. Los Dos struggled to create dangerous chances, resulting in zero SOG. Very disappointing.

Vom Steeg was our best player, with a few good saves. THA and Romney were good too, and it's reassuring to get a clean sheet with these first team players in defense.

lloski didn't make any impact which was surprising after his great showing last week. Cuello wasn't a lot better. His speed and his lack of physical play make me wonder if he can make it to the higher level.

Zubak was abysmal. Tchilao didn't create anything dangerous, and got a stupid second yellow card. Koreniuk was our best offensive player and aside from a few good plays in the first half, he was almost invisible. He's not the type of player who will create something from nothing (like Alvarez for example), he's more of a finisher.

Now that we have a more talented team capable of playing good soccer (sometimes), Frank Lopez's play (run and press all game long, take a shot as soon as you can and never put your head up) is often out of context.

Next game is at home against Austin Bold FC on Saturday.