What are they going to do with Keano and Gerrard? Lethal service and finishing good luck MLS we at LA Galaxy mean business!
I'm fully prepared to eat these words, but if I had to choose between keeping Zardes or Lleget in 2016, I'd take Lleget. That pass to Rafa for Gio's goal was Keane-esque. Hell, if he keeps this level of performance I wouldn't be opposed to giving him a DP contract.
On the downside, both Garcia and Väyrynen couldn't complete a pass to save their lives. My general dislike of Garcia is well documented but he played awfully today. To be honest, things could/should have been a lot sharper. Lots of poor choices in passes and movements. Still, the gap in quality between our reserves and them was really striking. With the attacking/wing options we have now, I wouldn't be overly upset about Zardes being sold abroad (obviously provided there is a good bid put in). I love the guy but he's a lot more replaceable than Lletget. Plus, selling Zardes would net us some serious allocation money which could go toward helping pay down Omar next year.
I would argue we now have the most complete lineup in MLS history. Every single non-defense player in our starting XI has the potential to do something special. It's absolutely amazing!
I didn't see the match live... but according to the chalkboard, Garcia was very tidy with the ball, completing 42/49 passes, with all but one of his incompletions being attacking passes into the final third. That's not bad for a guy playing left back (Gargan was only 34/44 on the night). Mika looks to have been 59/68, with two key passes and a couple of give-aways in the middle third. Lletget was the best player on the ball, going 30/33 with two key passes and an assist. BTW, here are some highlights: It looks to me like Gio was even with the ball on his goal, but it's very close.
I remember earlier this season when I was excited to see Nacho and Villarreal play together. Kinda crazy to think we'll see Lleget, Gerrard, Keane and Gyasi link up on Sunday.
I know it's been said by everyone in here, but those refs were horrible!!! I still can't believe he didn't card their GK. From where I was sitting, the AR called the foul, and it looked like the 4th official told the AR that was a card. They were an embarrassment of a crew.
Lletget is a difference maker. Putting him on one wing, Gyasi on the other, with Gio and Robbie up top supported by Gerrard= TONS OF GOALS
It's interesting to see those stats, but my memory of the game has Väyrynen attempting to switch the field/play over the top far too often and every single one would be cut out fairly easily. Essentially trying to be Beckham circa 2009 but with a completion rate that would make Ryan Leaf blush. As for Garcia, maybe "couldn't complete a pass to save his life is harsh", but saying he completed 42/49 passes isn't a good representation of his game today. 20 of those successful passes were in our half, and almost all his completed passes in the attacking half are short lateral passes or back passes. He attempted 7 forward passes in the attacking half, of which only 3 were successful. He killed at least a few build-ups with a poor cross/pass. So when he's making a short lateral pass to a team mate who has shown in space, or turning around and passing back, that doesn't really impress me much. Granted, that's exactly what Garcia is supposed to do given that I don't trust him in the attacking third, but he was poor in attack today. I'd also like to point out his poor crossing, which doesn't show up in the passes completed but certainly affected my opinion of his game today. Granted, this doesn't tell us anything we don't already know, namely that Garcia isn't an attacking player. So I guess you can say he was tidy on the ball in the same was that Pete Vagenas was.