Were you referring to the goal keeping or the announcing? IMHO, Mark Rogandino has always been head and shoulders better than Ramses Sandoval. And as bad as those guys or Jim Watson at his most uniformed have been, I don't think I have ever heard a worse, less prepared announcer on a national or regional broadcast than Unimas's analyst, Luis Tapia.
Assistant Refs are supposed to support the offense when it's close. The problem is if they see it as offside they will raise the flag whether it's close or not because they don't have time to calculate or ask themselves if the play is too close to call. They have to make a split second decision. As a result it's like you said, they err on the side of the defense more often. And you're right on about too much gray area, the offside rule needs tweaking to make it more black/white. The goalie shouldn't be part of offside, there should only have to be 1 outfield player between attacker and goal to be onside, this would make it easier for assistant refs to call. And maybe there should have to be actual space between attacker and defender for offside to occur. That way the attacker can lean forward and/or drag his foot even with the defender to stay onside. I'm glad we have replay now, it's a step in the right direction.
Who else was he going to sub in but G2 players, given our injuries and suspensions? Or would you have just kept Zardes and Garcia in until the end and gone for the respectable 2-1 loss?
Actually, I'm just thinking out loud, but I'm not sure instant replay will help (maybe, but will need to see). If the instant replay only results in goals from close offside calls being pulled back (like in the Chile Confed Cup game today), then it's a step in the wrong direction. If it somehow leads ARs not making as many calls and letting play continue on knowing they can defer to the video replay instead of making a call, then it could be good. Just not confident that will happen. I ARed a fair amount, and found it pretty easy to make a straight offside call, no matter how close it was. Simple rule, if it's so close that you are not absolutely sure it is offside, then don't call it; that makes it pretty easy. But I think many ARs have the mindset of wanting to wave the flag to show they are alert and doing their job; they don't want to be accused of missing a big call.
I was with you until "if a goal is needed, sub McInerney in." JackMac hasn't shown anything except the ability to get a yellow card all season. I would much rather have one of the kids get the time.
I disagree with a number of your points. First, I think Cole played well. On the second goal, Cole picked an attacker coming up the middle and Ema failed to get back.
Please tell me this is a cruel joke. Facing the same scoring opportunities, Rowe concededs 0.2 goals on average. Diop has quickness and I think he could be good... someday..., but beyond that his hands are terrible (he never catches a shot), his decision making is inconsistent (we still get one "oh sh*t!" moment every other game), at least this time his distribution improved to ordinary.
Whose doing that pressuring? If it's coming from within AEG, then our FO needs to sit down with them and go over how youth development works. If it's coming from our FO, then whoever is mandating that needs to be fired. It is rare for any reserve team to provide the volume of back-up players that they're currently expecting. Furthermore, using them as such, before they are truly ready to make the transition, can ruin the player in many respects. I actually see some talent in Nathan Smith but it's his tactical game and decision making that's currently wanting. He should be getting that truly nailed down with G2 before he moves up. Doing it this way, makes him look like a damp squip and will lead whichever under-educated dolts that are pressuring this approach to believe that G2 isn't worth the investment. Also, while I'm very much a defender of how MLS is set up, this single entity closed system IMO puts the onus on D1 clubs to facilitate local youth development, at least as an umbrella for the highest level. It would be a crime for the wealth of talent that exists in SoCal to be neglected because the Galaxy or AEG decide it's "not worth it".
100% incorrect. Cole did not pick up an attacker coming up the middle or anywhere else. Cole is the white blur at the top trailing the play by 15 yards or so. The fact that the attacker was soooo wide open when he received the ball was on Cole, Ema has nothing to do with this play. You may be thinking about the previous play when the same attacker got off a dangerous shot from inside the box but skied it. I think Cole was marking an insider attacker on that one.
Between injuries, suspensions and call-ups, I think we've reach the point where we're just too depleted to expect better results / performances than this. What MLS midfield is going to get bossed-up by Rafa Garcia and Joao Pedro? A tie is a fair result, I think, especially the way we got it. One of the things I complained about in the last couple seasons under Bruce is that once the team went down, it never looked like they'd get back in the game. While it sucks to have to come from behind twice, this team has the fight they had on the road, just not the talent. Losing Gio and JVD in addition to the others is too much. Unfortunately didn't get to see this one in person, but here are my TV kneejerks: Alessandrini: MOTM for me with a goal and assist, but generally created almost the only danger there was (excepting his free kicks). His assist on Boateng's goal was the pass of the match for me. Boateng: Had a lot to do on his goal and finished very nicely. Nice to see him get to go the whole match; he earned it. Pedro: Didn't create much danger going forward, but I thought he put in an excellent shift in an over-matched midfield. I checked the stats to back up what I saw and sure enough Pedro had more tackles and recoveries than any other midfielder on the field the other night. Zardes: I didn't think he played poorly in this match. He had a nice combination with Alessandrini that nearly put him thru 1v1 with the keeper. Having said that, I think going out for Lassiter when he did was the right move. JackMac: Pretty invisible, but I'm not sure he was set-up to succeed. Putting three attacking mids behind him to was a good idea, but we never controlled midfield or enjoyed enough possession in the final third. His best moment was a great combination that released Boateng/Cole? to get a cross in. I think this is his bread-and-butter, so if we're not playing the ball on the ground a lot in the final third, he won't be very useful. Ironically, I think this is the same for Zardes. He looks better when he can combine with players around him. Arellano: Went 90 in his debut and...looked okay? That is, I don't remember him having any huge gaffes, which is a compliment for a defender. Maybe someone else watched him more closely. But a good prospect. Edit: Cole: I have to say I thought Cole played well. You see what having a savvy vet like Beasley adds to your squad (he got the better of Zardes a couple times) and Cole definitely brings that. He's very important in matches like this when some other big names are gone. Not only can he make difference-making plays on either end of the field (he had another point-blank clearance I believe) but he's also around winning possession and drawing fouls. I like his play a lot. Onalfo: Another good match for me. I might've started McBean over JackMac, but I think the approach given our injuries was the right move. Perhaps he shouldn't have started Diop, but how many of us would have promoted Kempin over Diop after one (albeit very good) Open Cup performance? Also liked the subs and sub pattern. For me, this season there is the pre-Chicago Galaxy and post-Chicago Galaxy. The post-Chicago Galaxy are unbeaten and have scored 14 goals in 6 matches all comps.
Indeed I was even though I don't understand a lot of Spanish. There's no SAP button on my remote for some reason but I suppose I'm spared from the UniMas' English commentary.
I was disappointed in Zardes, I think he is way underperforming. Beasley completely shut him down in this game. I don't recall him ever trying to take someone on in this game, or creating anything special. He looks very ordinary out there and our expectations for him have to be much higher. Does he even have an attempted shot on goal this year? I really don't know why this is, it almost appears to be a mental issue at this point. I am hoping Bruce takes him to the Gold Cup and he rediscovers who he is. But based on performance, I would be surprised if he gets called into the final roster.
Yes, I agree, he shouldn't make the GC roster based on recent play. It's like he forgot how to play attacking soccer. He just has zero anticipation. He starts his runs after the ball is kicked, and by then it is too late. I think he will eventually come around, once he realizes he has to make some meaningful changes in how he approaches the game. I saw massive talent in his very first game for that Galaxy, that seems non-existent now.
Not that this explains away Zardes' performance this season, but at least for Saturday night, it has been revealed that he was battling a stomach bug and wasn't 100% physically.
It's interesting. It seems that Curt is really hellbent on playing his guys. What the heck happened to Raul, Jose, and Rowe???
it was pretty brutal watching us trying to find a pass out of the back. we recycled the ball to diop so many times. was there really no plan for when Houston dropped off our 2 centerbacks besides pass to Garcia who must be under the personal tutelage of our GM? where would we be without Allesandrini? what a great season he is having.
I just don’t think he’s the same player without two better players on the pitch at the same time. You look at his stats. Code: Year: GP | GS 2013: 27 | 4 2014: 32 | 16 2015: 29 | 6 2016: 19 | 6 2013 - Donovan was on sabbatical for a third of the year 2014 - Landon and Robbie were arguably at the height of their partnership 2015 - No Landon 2016 - No Landon Zardes to me is the new Mike Magee. He’s a solid player who’s good for 5-10 goals per season. He’s not the type of player you start the game expecting to score and it’s probably unfair to expect that of him. In Galaxy history I can think of only a few players who you expected them to score every time they started and season after season: Ruiz, Landon, Keane – that’s pretty rarified company.
In addition to Rowe being out injured for 6-8 weeks, Raul was also apparently injured, which is why he didn't play in the Open Cup game, the GII game, or the game against Houston:
My memory is a bit hazy, but my original rant was in reference to earlier in the year when Rowe just lost starting spot to Diop.