Western Conference is indeed all over the map - on a ppg basis we have 5 of the top 6 teams and 4 of the bottom 6. Right now the only team from the East that looks like it would be competitive with the top WC teams is Toronto. Speaking of WC teams I watched about 2/3 of the LAFC-SEA game and this Vela dude ain’t too bad. Scoring, playmaking and workrate all top notch. He is (almost) to LAFC what Almiron was to ATL. Only weakness I saw in Chivas II was their defense getting really pulled out of position on SEA’s goal.
The weakness I see in both LAFC and Seattle is the same as ours -- defense. Even when Chad Marshall is back I don't think he's the Chad Marshall of the past, nor is Romaine Torres, and LAFC has a decent but not stellar defense, they just usually overwhelm opponents and don't face much defensive pressure. I think once Polenta and Gonzalez click, we might have the best central-d tandem of the elite West teams. Now, fullback is another story altogether....
West too. It's very early still but look at SKC and Portland. They do not look like the teams from last year. Then Houston and Minnesota look better than last year. It might be my bias, but I think the west will be a run away title race between us and LAFC. Seattle is decent, but they are lacking in certain areas to make them a title contender. FC dallas is the same way, but they are organized, and have talent.
I’ll trust this more after we get some good road wins. We will also have to stay healthy, especially at forward. Meaning Zlatan will have stay healthy. Not a lot of natural scorers on this team.
The team looked decent in the game where Antuna played forward. They high pressed more, but don't remember who they played against. But they were poor against Dallas, which I don't think Ibra played.
I'd love to see the Galaxy get up a couple of goals sometime so that GBS can pull Ibra to get some rest, and we can experiment some with an Ibra-less lineup and try to recreate the Minnesota game success. It'd be good for Ibra's health and longevity and it'd help us better manage any periods where we are forced to play without Ibra.
Watching a few minutes of the NYCFC v ORL (not sure why exc maybe Nani) and it’s like watching a bad rec pickup game - players tripping over their own feet, Keystone Kops defender mistakes in front of goal getting cancelled out by complete whiffs by attacking player. On one play in ORL box an NYCFC mis-hits a pass to center off his shin, ORL defender swings to clear upfield but only catches enough to send it spinning like a top backwards toward his own goal, gk Rowe overruns it and somehow nutmegs himself, and has to turn around and dive toward his own goal to make the save. To be honest, as an MLS fan it’s embarrassing to watch. The tiny NYC faux soccer field doesn’t help.
Ah parity, salary cap, lack of football savy appointments on staff by most clubs not all but most. I mean who wants to go all in for 50-90k a year? Especially when you are an acl, knee injury or achilles tendon injury away from collecting unemployment? Your supposed to be a professional athlete not a city employee. But it's the hand we've been dealt as MLS supporters, maybe in 20 more years we can catch up to Europe in pay and quality.
Agree completely with your point - in general we get what we pay for. But don't make us sound even worse than we actually are. Last season 46 MLS players made over a million/yr, average was $337k and the median was $140k. It's true that the league minimum is $55k (for reserve roster players) but we seldom see those guys on the field. In fact only two MLS players were paid the minimum last season. This is a long-winded way of saying probably 90% of the players I just watched were getting $100k-300k/yr and probably a couple stars making $500k+. Of course that still makes your point - MLS pay is still really, really low. But MLS fans are no longer watching many $50-$90k players! https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-mls-salaries-20180511-story.html https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/9qwaxl/players_salaries_charted_from_highest_to_lowest/
Oh my god, do yourself a favor and watch the condensed game of NE vs KC (assuming the condensed game captures the madness.) It’s a Boldemefo Toledo and VAR classic. It includes: -8 ish goals -2 red cards - VAR allowing a super clear offside goal to stand - Toledo using VAR to award a dubious pk on a handball in the box. (So much less obvious then one he denied earlier in the season when NY was at Orlando) -Toledo swallowing his whistle on fouls for one team and calling everything on the other. -one of the best goalie saves I’ve ever seen. Truly an MLS masterpiece last night. Lol Decent western conference results yesterday for the Galaxy although not thrilled to see Portland picking up wins on their Homeresque road odyssey to start the year.
LAFC sich a little rat bastard team. Act all cocky all the time but five all over the ground at every opportunity. That red card incident 100% due to LAFC actions. Atuesta running up to Roldan (not even involved in the incident) getting right in his face instigating an instinctual reaction and rolling all over the ground looking for a red. That is the LAFC culture. All of them (Rossi is the worst) looking to con the refs into free kicks and cards. At some point the league has to wise up right?
You have to be a real shit team to make me feel any kind of sympathy for Seattle … congratulations LAFC
It seems to me that if all Red cards are subject to both VAR and Discipline Committee review, those reviews should include the play immediately before the incident drawing the card. IMO, Atuesta should have received a yellow card for simulation at a minimum. The D.C. should also review all yellow cards given for simulation and hand out additional suspensions as appropriate. Finally, the D.C. should look at issuing suspensions for provocation. In this case, Atuesta should get a 2 game suspension.
Atuesta deserves some punishment for that. Fooling a ref to give a red should have the player who fooled the ref receive double the punishment.