I had been to all but 1 prior opener in all of LA Galaxy history, missed this game... Saturday at 1pm, really???? First i watched the tape of Friday in Portland, then Sunday in Orlando , then Sunday in Atlanta and THEN i watched this game. Looked really poor on TV. Day game really show the sections of empty seats. Does anyone feel the crowd count matched up with in person? I think we are falling behind in many ways, the roster is not what we have become use to , our stadium is slightly too large since we don't fill it. I would imagine Orlando, Portland and a few others would have liked a 27,000 + standing/hillside to 30,000 capacity. Our stadium seems a little plain now. I know we were MLS v1 stadium, but others are doing better. I can say that as I have now been to all 20 teams as a visitor and have Atlanta and Minny on schedule for this year. No stars to fill the seats, ticket prices are too high for the quality of the team on the field. I will really be interested in what LAFC does with their more modern, centrally located , transit accessible, slightly smaller and MUCH more motivated and involved ownership will do. LAG is just another AEG entity. Also going to be really interested in LA Chargers and what they do to the field and what changes/modifications they do to the stadium during their stay...
Watched the first half tonight. Honestly we didn't look that bad, it was certainly a fair 0-0 at that point. Every player had some good moments. I still feel like we can win!
I don't know. More wishful thinking than anything. Maybe work with the Galaxy to have the announcer make an announcement everytime it is chanted. Maybe have the SG groups take some sort of action on those people chanting it if it is coming from a known identifiable area. Or maybe actually have the Gs players prerecord a message directly not condoning this disgusting chant and play it before the game.
In my section, the kids were shouting "Churro".... So, one option is to pick a different word (better, sillier, whatever), and just say it louder. Another option is to come up with something entirely different. I recall seeing a pro game in the early 80s with a bunch of kids from Germany. Every time the GK punted or there was a goal kick, they would start with a similar pre-kick sound, and then when kick occurred they shouted something that sounded like BOOM, and then they whistled while the ball was in the air before shouting BOOM again when the ball landed or was headed or whatever. Other ideas.... Bottom line is that it is an uphill battle, but the only chance is to come up with something to replace it. Without a replacement, it probably continues.
There was one guy next to me up top that was saying culo. That's not as bad and I guess could work but, how do you tell people "don't say p@+0, say culo"?
First half was alright. Our defensive shape was good and we pressed well. Offensively we lacked something. Maybe with players arriving late through out preseason they arent used to playing with each other. Towards the end of the half I remember Curt ball, to players that weren't isolated. We generated better offense in the last 10 min when we got desperate and Dallas was tired. I know I shouldn't be surprised but how is Allesandrini not in better shape. He is coming off from mid European season. This really frustrates me. In his interviews he seems to know that this is a good opportunity and a lifeline for him but its still frustrating
I don't know. Was he playing? He did acknowledge when he arrived that he wasn't in full shape. I thought he was OK, would like to see some more composure, but I did like his turn and attack at times.
You are right looking it up, he played 6 games for 240 mins. He missed the start with a foot injury, played and then was not in the squad at the start of Dec. So I should be more patient
I'll say this we lost so it doesn't matter how it looked whether poor or promising! I'm hoping that the club begins to gel quickly because this season playoffs will not be down to decision day. I've a feeling that most seeds will be set way before that and the SS will be locked up, with only the wild cards as probable questions. Now out of all the action this opening weekend the one club that impressed me the most and that I fear will be a serious threat to everyone once they figure each other out is ATL United. Man they played some wonderful technical football and they had pace and patience. Obviously they lost due to their rookie time mismanagement mistakes but the potential is definitely there. Tata Martino will need to rethink his substitution strategy but I must admit I enjoyed watching they're match. On a personal note, watching most of the opening round matches and looking at the stadiums, the supporters and clubs I have to admit that it got me teary eyed. It took me back to before WC94 when my dad took me to watch in essence friendly kick abouts between clubs from Mexico, Central and South America etc. At that time as a young lad I always felt sad because I knew they where there for the short time and they returned to their own countries, stadiums and fans. Just watching this past weekend how football has grown and evolved with the fans, cities and players it really hit me that football is here and it's here forever! Our club, our league and our game.
I thought you could see him trying to combine with his teammates, but his passing was off, which probably has something do with 1-2 weeks of training he had with the team. I thought Pedro took to long to pass the ball, which just means he's going to have to learn and adjust to pace of the game in MLS. He seemed to pick up the urgency at the end of the game.
Would likely just incite those people doing the chant even more so though. It's just the way those people are.
So, after listening to the most recent Corner of the Galaxy podcast, both Guesman and and Baxter were pumping sunshine about the game. One of the things that particularly irked me was their instance that moving Lletget wasn't just a good move but that it worked and basically a 3 man back line and Lletget was pretty much another midfielder. There is a lot about how they characterized the game (and indeed this teams a whole) which I disagree with but this in particular was something that I cannot let slide. So I, being the cantankerous pedant I am, decided I would go back and look at every single attack the Galaxy had from the time that Lletget was moved to rightback to see who was right. It so happens that I had some free time and I have MLS Live so I fired it up and dove in. Here are my conclusions for the ~25 minutes Lletget played right back: Lletget was a fullback, not an "extra midfielder". Not even a particularly attacking fullback at that as he played very conservatively. Lletget was far less attack minded than Romney, who was further forward on basically every attack and was actively looking to be involved in the attack as opposed to Lletget who hung back even when the attack was on his side and didn't even attempt to impose himself going forward. More attacks came down the left than down the right. No significant attacks, and very few insignificant attacks, happened directly from Lletget's move to right back. None of the attacking plays Lletget made couldn't have been done by adequately by Rafa or Smith. Moving Lletget to right back completely removed him from the game. Here are my written descriptions of the attacks that happened while Lletget was at right back. Some of the "attacks" are kind of iffy but I tried to include anything that was an attempt at an attack that got past half line. Forgive any spelling errors, I put this together rather quickly: 70:36 – Lletget moved to right back as Rafa is pulled for Boateng. 71:47 – Start of buildup play from the back, Steres brings the ball past midfield right in the center of the field. Jelle is the only Galaxy player behind half, with Steres, Pedro, Romney and Lletget all in line with each other far behind the midfielders and forwards with 4 Dallas players between our disjointed line. Steres launches the ball wide left to Boateng who collects with no one else around him. Romney and Lletget still in line with each other (Lletget flared out far right), about 20 yards behind the ball. Boateng dribbles down the line and gets a cross off at about 71:55 with McBean, Alessandrini and Gio in the box. Lletget is about 35 yards behind the play, again, about in line with Romney. He doesn’t even attempt to get into the box. Dallas’s clearance comes out to him 30 yards from goal and he immediately passes the ball laterally to Pedro who switches the ball wide left to Romney (who is further forward than Lletget), who puts in a half decent cross which is punched away by Seitz. Lletget, gathers the punch about 25 yards from goal and again plays it laterally to Pedro (though Van Damme steps in and receives it). The attack ends with a bad pass by Van Damme attempting to play in Boateng behind. 74:41 – Start of another attack with Jelle looking to play in Boateng long but decides better of it and squares it to Steres, Romney about 20 yards higher up the pitch than Lletget at this point. Steres passes to Lletget at the half line and on the right touchline, Romney still 20 yards higher on the left side touchline. The next few seconds basically are Steres, Jones and Pedro passing the ball irrelevantly behind the half line with Jelle flared far left. Finally, they cross half-line about 75:18 when Jelle finds some space, about 50 yards from goal. Romney is very high up the field and Jelle tries to chip him in behind the defender. Lletget gets into the box while Romney is able to get the ball to Boateng whose bad touch lead him to not be able to get a cross off and the ball goes out for a goal kick. Romney was higher than Lletget the entire time and wasn’t involved in the play. 76:20 – Long ball played into Jones on the right touchline about 35 yards from the end line who chests the ball down for Lletget. Meanwhile, Romney is sprinting up the left touchline. Lletget settles as he runs forward past Jones and tries to pass the ball back to him but it’s intercepted. The ball gets passed back to Seitz who has a poor clearance fall to Jones who finds Lletget at the edge of the area but again he makes a bad pass and Dallas intercepts and clears (into a dangerous chance where Jelle saves our ass). Romney is back when this happens. 77:02 – Lletget dribbles deep and unabated into Dallas’ end, passing the ball wide to Alessandrini who is about 5 yards wide of the 18. Alessandrini cuts inside and tries to pass the ball but it’s right into the defender. Lletget can't continue forward without being offside and did tried to move inside but there were no passing lanes available for him to receive the ball once Alessandrini cut inward. The ball bobbles out to Jones who heads it to Pedro, who ends the sequence ends with a terrible attempt at goal from distance. 77:30 – Jose comes on for McBean. 79:38 – Start of an attack down the center, Romney is further up the field than Lletget. Boateng receives the ball and makes a bad pass. Attack over, but again, Romney is higher up the field than Lletget. 81:45 – Steres passes the ball wide to Lletget in the Galaxy half. At this point, both Romney and Lletget are at the same distance up the field. Lletget passes the ball to Villarreal just past half-line, first times it to Jones. Lletget attempts to overlap Villarreal but stops and lets Villarreal go forward as he hangs behind the play while Jones and Villarreal play together before Villarreal gets fouled. He’s walking behind the play. The ensuing free kick, he isn’t anywhere near the box. The free kick goes out for a throw and the ball gets back to Lletget, who is 40 yards from goal while 8 Galaxy players are ahead of him. He squares the ball laterally to Pedro, who clips the ball into the box which comes to nothing. 84:07 – Steres passes the ball to Lletget wide right about 20 yards behind half line. Romney is already in the attacking half of the field at this point, the only Galaxy players who are in our half are Rowe, Lletget, Van Damme, Steres and Pedro. Gio comes very deep and is played the ball. He passes to Pedro as the attack gets past the half line. Romney is more than 20 yards past the half line as Lletget passes it. The ball gets circulated to Lletget wide right, about 15 yards past half-line (Romney is another 10 yards further forward than that on the left). Lletget passes wide to Villarreal and immediately switches off of attack. He doesn’t attempt to get into space or get forward. Jose passes the ball centrally toward Jones. Jones and Villarreal do some work and Alessandrini drops in to try and gain better control of the ball. The whole time, Lletget is 10-15 yards behind the play static and not attempting to get forward and be involved. Results in a foul 85:20 – Alessandrini out, Lassiter in. 85:30 – Ensuing free kick, Lletget is the furthest Galaxy player back. Not involved at all in the play. Results in a dangerous Dallas counterattack that we were fortunate to not be punished on. 86:02 – Quick counter attack comes out wide right to Lassiter. Lassiter screws it up but neither fullback is anywhere to be seen, though Van Damme got into the box. 87:12 – Galaxy win the ball back at the half line, Lletget not far from where the counter started, ahead of Romney. Boateng receives the ball in the center of the field and starts dribbling forward. He passes the ball to Gio and there are 5 Galaxy players sprinting to be involved, Boateng, Gio, Lassiter, Villarreal and Jones. Pedro is a bit behind the play but still moving forward in support. Lletget is at half line walking forward. Not even close to being involved in the play, even in support. Romney is far behind the play but sprinting up the left. Gio chooses the wrong pass and Dallas gains control. Lletget never even attempted to get involved in the attack but Romney had sprinted to be involved in the play and had caught up with it. 87:48 – Ball played to Romney wide left about 5 yards behind half line. He’s higher up the field than Lletget. Leave the ball for Van Damme and moves up the field. Ball ends up with Jones as he crosses half line in the center circle. Romney very high up the field and Lletget makes a run up the right and Jones opts not to play him in (though due to the screen I can’t see exactly what sort of run he made or where the defenders were). Ball gets switched out left, Romney still very high up the field. Around 88:23 we see that both Romney and Lletget are pushed high up the field and are both in line with each other and the front line of offense. Ball gets played out wide right to Lletget. No one for support, he dribbles and tries to cross but it’s blocked by Dallas. Throw goes backward, results in a switch of the field but then comes back to Villarreal on the right, Lletget makes and underlapping run but isn’t played to. Not that Romney is just as high as Lletget is at this point. Jose tries an ambitious cross which results in a Dallas clearance. It falls to Pedro who plays it wide to Romney who plays it to Jelle who gets the cross in to Lassiter which he misses. 89:56 – Jelle stays up high. Steres starts an attack deep, playing the ball wide to Romney about 5 yards behind half-line, with Lletget being about 10 yards behind that. Romney puts in a long cross from half line. Jelle nearly gets a touch after an awkward bounce but Seitz controls. 91:36 – Steres plays a long ball to Lassiter wide right. Dallas defender kicks it out for a throw deep in Dallas’ half. Lletget receives the throw in and puts in a cross from about 30 yards from the end line. Romney gets into the box for the cross. The cross is cleared but it recirculated to Lletget about 40 yards from the end line and he puts in another cross. Seitz easily claims it. 93:12 – Rowe plays the ball quickly left to Romney about who dribbles until about 5 yards from half line and plays a long ball forward. Van Damme flicks the ball on but Dallas clears into touch. Romney throws the ball into the box, Lletget hanging out centrally, about 25 yards from goal. Lassiter gets a shot off but it’s deflected for a corner. Lletget is the deepest Galaxy player on the ensuing corner, the ball comes back out to him from about 40 yards from goal and he tries to chip the ball into the box but it’s headed away. Boateng receives the clearance and puts in another cross, Lletget still the deepest player on the field. 94:20 – Everyone stays forward except Lletget and Rowe hits a long ball into the box. Lletget still stays back. Last attack of the game.
It's obviously a very serious injury if the lad is not even training yet. I am guessing some doctor really f'd up.
There you go, using facts to ruin a perfectly good podcast.... Seriously, this is an amazing and useful analysis. I suspect you put more work into this than Baxter did in his story, much less the podcast. Wish I could rep it more than once.
Hopefully Lletget will figure out how to play more offensively at RB next time, or Onalfo will have to find someone else more tactically astute or physically capable that can do the job in that situation.
Or maybe when you are trailing and take out a defender you could just play with one less defender and an extra attacker. Just an idea.
It almost makes you wonder if Lletget had any idea he was going to be asked to play RB, or whether this was a spur-of-the-moment brainstorm from our fearless leader.
It’s an interesting idea, Lleget in defense, given how thin we are at the back, not a proper right back, but a wingback in a 3-5-2 or a 3-2-3-1 formation. If Emma can learn to defend (and cross) he and Lleget would make a pretty good wingback combo. Pre Summer DP signing Code: Zardes Romain Gio BJIV/Mendiola/Villarreal Husidic/Joao/Jones Emma Lleget Romney - Jelle - Steres Post Summer DP signing Code: Hernandez Romain Gio Zardes Husidic/Joao/Jones Emma Lleget Romney - Jelle - Steres