P/I/P Final Reg Season Game: LA Galaxy v. Sporting KC, 10/25/2015 at 4:00 PM PD/6PM CDT ESPN

Grant Wahl ‏@GrantWahl 3h3 hours ago
Seattle in MLS playoffs vs LA Galaxy:

2010: Eliminated by LA
2012: Eliminated by LA
2014: Eliminated by LA
2015: 1-game knockout Wed in SEA

 

just had to look this up- by my calculations, this is a small table of the bottom feeders of the league from when our slide started on august 28
orlando 5 / 2 / 1 = 16 points
san jose 3 / 3 / 3 = 12 points
skc 3 / 5 / 2 = 11 points
houston 3 / 4 / 1 = 10 points
philly 3 / 4 / 1 = 10 points
rsl 3 / 5 / 0 = 9 points
nycfc 3 / 5 / 0 = 9 points
colorado 2 / 6 / 1 = 7 points
LA 1 / 4 / 3 = 6 points
chicago 1 / 7 / 1 = 4 points

we've actually been the worst team IN THE LEAGUE ....except for chicago.... since the end of august

 

We are not the favorites going into this game (we shouldn't be, and we shouldn't be HARD). Everyone predicting a Seattle win (guess if we give you a 4th time?????).

That better be pinned on the LA locker room wall, and forced in their faces for Wednesday.

 

If you pick just a couple of weeks beforehand it's SKC. I wouldn't really focus on being "last" because you can jimmy that by just going back a couple of games.

However, it shows our form....and the impact imo of Gerrard in our midfield.

 

You guys have really analyzed this well. Everything to came here to type has already been said.

If Gerard plays a moment more then 60 minutes on Wednesday we will lose. I'd prefer to see him for about 25.

 

By the way, I'm seriously considering watching the entire game on mute. That might actually enable me to avoid hurling.

 

Looks like my pay-as-you-go ticket plan is going to save me money this year.

 

We sacrificed the CCL for THIS???????????? Maybe an easy win would have been better for confidence (much needed) then resting the starters and sufferig more heartbreak.

 

Chalkboard observations:

1) It wasn't a mirage, AJ actually got up the pitch a few times. Hoping he can do this against Seattle as that involves another weapon in our offense. He still isn't nearly as involved as Gargan, but I would much rather he play than Gargan.

2) To demonstrate Gerrard's flagging after 60 minutes:

• From minute 66 to 84 Gerrard touches the ball a total of once. And it's a bad cross. Once in 18 minutes. Now you might say this is because of boot ball. However, I can tell you Juninho touches the ball so many times in this same time span I can't even count, there are so many touches.
• From minute 66 on, Gerrard has 4 total touches.
• He burns out, and burns out badly costing this team.

3) Juni is a hero. His heat map basically takes up almost the entire middle 1/3. We would be screwed without him. He does have some uncharacteristic bad passing that he will need to clean up on Wednesday. I'm going to stay it now (someone said it above) - our chances on Wednesday begin and end with him.

4) Gyasi with some bad touches in the final 18.

5) Sebastian with some terrible decisions in the final third tonight. Let me put it to you this way: his final third is almost all red.

6) Our final 18 decision-making was HORRIBLE, but we were in the final third A LOT.

• Three bad touches from Gyasi, 1 good, 1 Shot off target, 1 SOnT
• Four bad touches from Lletget, 1 good, 1 shot blocked
• 1 bad touch from Gerrard, 1 Shot off target, 2 SOnT
• 2 key passes from Keane, 1 Shot blocked, 1 goal
• Gio - multiple corners, 1 bad pass, 1 shot off target
• Overall our final third is a sea of red. We were just not very good in front of net, and with the amount of chances we had, we should have been.
• 6 key passes (2 from Gio), 1 assist (Gio)
• Final third passing accuracy SKC = 67%, LA = 52% That says it all right there.

7) Rogers got up the pitch never. That kills us on the left.

8) Gio had one of his better games, but can still clean things up. Too many bad passes in the final third as well.

9) Omar had 19 interceptions (!). That is by FAR the biggest on the backline. He and AJ did get beat by a great pass by Benny. Not pinning the offside goal on anyone because they stepped up perfectly.

10) Set piece defending - the 2nd ball - still drives me nuts. How are we so bad at this?

One-liner: We were doomed buy some miserable finishing and choices in the final third. After writing this long piece, here's what Bruce said (other than being mad about the offsides call):

“I think our finishing could have been a little bit better, and we could have been cleaner in the final third of the field. Both teams had chances.... We had a few plays where if we're a little cleaner, we should get another couple goals in this game. That part of it, which is our strength, we didn't do particularly well tonight...."

Yup.

 

We are now eliminated from the MLS PLayoffs and from CCL thanks to two men - Bruce Arena and Steven Gerrard.

 

WOW. GREAT ANALYSIS. Sorry for the cap locks. Some of those stats are simply amazing. The game Wednesday will begin and end with how well Juni/Gerrard play. It's that simple and its been telegraphed for months. Its like having dress rehearsals go wrong for weeks but hoping the final performance will be flawless. Sorry to be so negative-- it's how I cope!

On the Omar stuff-- I thought he played better. He was more aggressive and played with more conviction. I blame the 2nd KC goal more on Gyasi and Juni (really though after seeing your stats, I can see how much Juni did) not applying enough pressure on Benny. It was a phenomenal pass, but he had too much time to pick his play. I thought Gyasi would take the professional foul and set KC up for a free kick.

 

Pretty much. And our finishing.

A couple of other notes that I forgot:
a) SKC had more key passes than we did to be clear. However, in the box their attack is pretty much Dom Dwyer in the middle trying to poach in and the Feilhaber pass, with another couple of served in balls from Nagamura. In contrast, we have multiple players all over the final 18 trying to walk the ball in and it's a frigging sea of red. We have 12 (12!) touches in the box and only three are productive. ARGH.

b) Lletget should have gone down in the 2nd half when he was pulled back by an SKC defender on a clear breakaway. Was likely DOGSO and a red card. It was one of those occasions I was baffled why he *didn't* go down. He was clean through, but the final pass was a bad one. Sigh.

 

They need to start giving the ball more to Keane & Giovani. I want to see Giovani in Donovan's role.

Keane is a machine, as usual. Gotta feed it.

 

According to whoscored, Giovani has assisted 5 times to Keane. That's good for 2nd in assist to goal scorer category.

Finlay to Kamara is 1st in assist to goal scorer category.

NOTE: Although, Finlay has 6 assists to Kamara, Finlay needed to play 34 MLS games (2791 minutes) to achieve those assists to his goal scorer. In comparison, Giovani has played 10 MLS games (805 minutes).

 

I think he's started to get a bit of a rep. He earned a few PKs early on going down easily. He went down under a few challenges early in this match and got nothing. He probably figured he wasn't going to get soft calls and played on.

 

On the plus side, it will only take us one game to knock Seattle out of the playoffs this year.

 

That's an interesting stat. Everyone could see how comfortable Gio was with the ball at his feet and a little bit of space in the middle. The problem was that the "forwards" in front of him were Keane and Gerrard making runs from the middle. Since Gerrard also has defensive responsibilities (and is old) there's a limit on how many runs he can make. Lletget and Zardes also have to play farther back limiting their effectiveness.

 

While overall I'm not optimistic about the playoffs, I'm not convinced Seattle will be the club to put us out. It would be so typical of the Flounders for them to lose that match.

 

Some of you guys are talking about Gerrard doing better next season? Yikes. JPA/Cudicini treatment for Gerrard now. Anything else is going to be an embarrassment to everyone involved. Let's face it -- if you watched the EPL last season and the WC in 2014, you know Gerrard's a bit of a liability. We all hoped -- probably stupidly, in retrospect -- that MLS would be enough of a step down that it wouldn't be a serious problem. Welp, we all have a little egg on our faces. But no need to double-down on a bad decision. If he isn't shipped off in the off-season, I'll be furious. JPA/Cudicini treatment for Gerrard.

 

I don't think LAG is willing to take the marketing hit that dropping Gerrard would involve. BUT, there is some chance that Gerrard will be realistic about this and retire honorably now.

 

Excellent analysis, Berks, even by your standards. I noticed quite a few of the same things. My comments in blue below.

I will be. Well not pacing around your living room and looking through your fingers, but you know what I mean. Go Galaxy!

 

My hopes for the season have been re-arranged. We don't have a title team. On paper we do, but on the field we don't. The midfield mix has to get fixed, we need a keeper. This isn't our year.

So my hope is we knock Seattle out. If we do that, OK, fine, whatever happens after that happens. If we don't knock Seattle out, then the entire year will have been one giant cluster, from league to CCL to Open Cup.

 

^
I think he'll be around for another season, unfortunately.