Rewatched the first half this morning. I wonder if Onalfo just threw the 11 best on the field to see what they could do before instilling tactics. Are we a pressing team? If so, when and where. When the ball turns over, do we break quickly. This is what I noticed as the most glaring lack of tactics( or I just don't like what we did), was when we pressed and got the ball back, we immediately slowed the game down with 5 yard passes laterally and back. I'm asking, is that because we have no attack from our fullbacks? Using a basketball term, we always went into a half court offense. Jelle was always looking for a quick counter with a dink over the top, but guys weren't making runs or the pass was inaccurate. Are these our tactics?? Agreed Pedro and Alessandrini need time to adjust. A lot of unforced passing errors really stymied our attack nipping any development and flow. That should improve as guys get more accustomed to each other and the league. Personally I'd like to see Pedro as the dedicated D Mid and push Jones and Gio up the pitch. It still makes you scratch your head why we dropped Juni and Sarvas. Anyways, Gio was dropping way too deep IMO and for what its worth, Garcia was open all day long in the offensive third and he rarely got the ball passed to him. I miss AJD and if RR is done, that is a big hole to fill and the brginning of a very long season. With the current make up of players, 3-5-2 might make more sense. Drop Garcia and get Ema on the pitch.
One other area of concern for me, is that teams in the Western Conference all improved their teams adding pieces to their starting 11 and we are starting over with a ton of injuries to start the season.
Welcome All to the New Season of Highlight Time Folks I have been busy this off season but I have been following the moves in the team. I am hoping that our defense isn't as suspect as I think it is and am hoping we can fill that last DP spot with a worthy name such as a Rooney or Ibra or Javier Hernandez. I am hoping for a good year. On to the next game. Let's work out the kinks and the chemistry and hope Curt is worthy of being our new Master and Commander!
Not the best performance from the D, Mids, forwards or even GK, but it was always probably too much to ask that this new group gel immediately. Considering Dallas is one of the strongest teams in MLS, I saw enough positives to keep the hope. The Galaxy did dominate possession and did generate some good chances, though not as many as we all hope for. Probably not fair to single out individuals to blame for the loss, but seeing how that is what we do here, I will give my two cents. First chance on goal by Dallas (3') probably doesn't happen with an experienced RB like Rogers or AJ. Garcia still learning the ropes blew the offside trap and kept the Dallas player onside for a breakaway through ball. I originally thought Garcia had the biggest responsibility for the first goal against, and I still think he did turn over possession that led to the counter, but then both Jelle and Rowe could have done more to stop the goal. Jelle gave up way too much ground in apparent fear of getting burned (shades of Meyer) and I think a top GK at the top of his game can make that save. But on the other hand, it was a fantastic play and shot by Dallas. Similarly the second Dallas goal was an amazingly high quality play to maneuver into the box and a wonderful shot. Got to give them credit where due. Garcia did get burned a bit on that one however. So about Garcia at RB. He is definitely not a finished product at RB, but I am OK with sticking with him for now, considering we have no one else. He did get forward a few times and put in some decent crosses, but they went right to the center of the box, where only Dallas players were present. Perhaps that is something they can work on to improve the odds of a Galaxy player getting on the end of the crosses. So for me, the defense remains the biggest concern. I think the front 6 will be solid once they have a dozen games under their belt. Adding in Gyasi and getting Cole back will help. The possibility of bringing in a high level DP up front this summer makes me very optimistic about this team's potential. Let's keep in mind that the final game last year was against Dallas and was the same result. I like to think that we are in a better position now than we were then, with a much bigger upside once this team gels and grows. Last year's team was on its last legs and hanging on to past glories. This team, it feels there is nowhere to go but up.
I felt better after the game than before. I expected nothing but doom, with one against-the-run-of-play goal. I think, as stated above, once we can gel we will improve. As somone else stated, we will have legs to press and be in games till the end. So, I'm upgrading from doom to disappointment.
It's obviously very early, but I gotta question some of Onolfo's decisions. The line-up was exactly what I think any of the fans would have picked, but the subs where strange. Why take off McBean for Lassiter if our plan was to just hit the ball really deep and hope for flick ons? It seems McBean would have been the ideal candidate for that. Lletget to right back was also strange. I would have completely agreed with going to a 3-5-2 which is that it seemed we were doing with that sub, but Lletget was clearly in the right back spot. Also we need to go get a defender asap. Steres is just an ok mls defender. Having Van Damme next to him makes Steres look a lot better than he is. This isn't me taking a shot at Steres, it is just the truth. Romney is clearly not a full back. Garcia is slow, and small. Neither of which work for a right back.
Off the field development from yesterday's game: return of "puuuuutooo" chants. Not cool, not at all.
Haven't watched the game yet - was in the desert (flowers are superb). I will watch as soon as MLS Live lifts their blackout, dammit. Since twitter spoiled the result for me, I'm here reading all your comments. I understand a rebuilding year, and I'm prepared to wait for the team to gel. What I don't get, at all, is to rebuild without rebuilding from the back forward. Defense absolutely has to be first. If it isn't there is going to be some major pain. I know we've had a couple of injuries, but the depth is inexcusable, especially since the AJ trade happened after Rogers' surgery. It's Onalfo's choice and it's his funeral. I guess Pete has a say in it as well. We really need some defenders. What if one of these guys goes down? Which they will. Already watched the Houston Seattle game. Without giving away the result, Houston looks like how you do rebuilding.
This team needs fullbacks badly. They need a new starting RB and a back up LB. Romney is not good enough at LB, but he could be a good CB. I would give Romney the start at CB instead of Steres. Steres has shown over and over, he shouldn't be a starting CB.
One of the things that bugged me about Alessandrini is how often he dove looking for a call. He'll be adjusting that right quick after arriving from Europe. Not how it works over here, bucko. EDIT: Excepting Romney's lovely ballerina fall of course.
Another thing I was disappointed in Alessandrini was his crosses. They were pitiful. The announcers on Sky Sports were ripping into Onalfo. They said he gave ZERO direction from the sideline; spent the entire time jawing and complaining to the referee. And then the subs were a headscratcher. And sorry, when I see him on the sideline - can't help but think Uncle Joey is at the helm.
One of the things I disliked most about Alessandrini is how often he looked immediately to shoot. There were three times (all three of his shots) where he basically just put his head down and shot the ball, even though all three times were inopportune times to shoot and he had much better options.
To me that is the mark of a player that doesn't respect/believe in his teammates. Thinks its up to him to score.
Expected Goals data provided by @OptaPro from Week 1 is live on https://t.co/f243RQ5hMv. https://t.co/6HbEnMwkao— Ben Baer (@BenBaer89) March 6, 2017 We had better quality shots...
It could be that he was just trying to make a good impression on new teammates/fans...or maybe it's just his game to go it alone. We'll know soon enough, but I suspect the later.
It's a big part of his game but I also see a player who lacks confidence and tries to force his luck.
Didn't see the whole match, but in the span I did watch I saw several plays where Alessandrini's final product was a really poor / speculative shot or a straight-up dive. Didn't bring the calmness, speed of thought or ideas I expect from DP level players (or even, say, Baggio Husidic) and, on the contrary, usually looked overmatched / desperate against MLS competition. Hoping it's just lack of a preseason or something.