No vela in the 18 for LAFC today. Perhaps rested for Thursday? I hate watch their games in espaniol so didn’t catch the explanation. Minnesota is killing them in n the counter so far. Two late goals to make it 3-1 at half. Quintero is one of my favorite mls players to watch. What a baller. LAFC’s defense is fragile. It’s been all right this year because overall they’ve out possessed their opponents and that has protected their fragile backline. Ciman the only real quality they have back there.
They rested Vela, Walker Zimmerman, and Beitashour and their depth has never been one of their strengths. So, while Ciman has dropped off quite a bit (particularly after not making Belgium's WC squad) and they have mostly masked their defensive issues this year by out-possessing opponents, I don't expect we'll see the same LAFC team on Thursday.
http://cornerofthegalaxy.com/2018/0...-pumping-the-derby-brakes-and-injury-updates/ Team reaching peak health. Apparently Lleget and Jamison is available for Thursday and Rolf could be back within a week.
Any idea what a best 11 looks like if everyone is healthy? Do we play 4 in the back as we clearly intended or do we stay in this weird 3-5-2?
Great to hear about Lledget although this may not be the best comeback game for him. Jamieson has shown his inexperience of late and Rolf is going to be a process. Orlando may be the better match for them.Now this is close i am starting to get antsy. Ibra is right that it is a youthful derby and I am not at the point where come final whistle on thursday I want to see Zlatan with arm raised, sword in hand, with Vela's severed head in the other hand turning to the crowd. That will come with time I suppose. A simple W will do this time.
Now that this image is in my head ... I can't seem to read the rest of your post. Go Galaxy! and yes ... I am indeed entertained!
Maybe Lletget and Jamieson are on the bench this game but I wouldn't expect them to start. Maybe Lletget is ready for Sunday to start to help with the short turnaround between games.
The 3-5-2 seems to allow Gio to roam free and still provide cover. I say we stick with that. I would hope that Gio and Jona are motivated to play well against Vela. I mean, they’ve been good since returning. But, we’re gonna need even more. The Ibra & Ola Show is just getting started. I will be there. LET’S GO!!!
The betting line has us as pretty heavy underdogs. I don't know, I'm feeling strangely confident about this match.
I don’t know, I think this team can do it, but I feel like the most likely outcome is a loss. Which of course means nothing with this team.
I would guess the starting lineup depends partly on who has recovered well from the short turnaround. Could see Alessandrini get the start in place of either Gio or Pontius, who have both played a lot of minutes the past 2 games, with Cole back in that left wingback spot... The real question for me is does Perry Kitchen replace Carrasco - who I think does a better job of defending and closing down space than Kitchen....
First off, congrats to Mama Berksy! I missed last week's match because I was in the hospital with my own freshly-minted baby girl, who blessed us the night before! This will be the first game we get the chance to watch together, so I'm counting on that for added luck (otherwise, I'd have definitely been at this match live). Berks will have to tell me how she got her little one to sit still that long! All in all, last week was great: a new baby, WC Final, Galaxy extend their streak and LAFC get blown out.
Next, the game: for starters our winning streak has put us in good position for the playoffs. We're in 4th, but more importantly we've got the 5th highest PPG right now at 1.55, our own highest PPG since April and are in a pretty good place with 9 wins, same as SKC. So we've made up ground for that string of losses and have even a little bit of cushion. Luckily, results around the league also went our way last week and we have a pretty soft schedule down the stretch. The toughest team we'll face before the playoffs is SKC. So I think we are in good position to make the playoffs, even with this team playing the way it currently is. If we can improve, we are in even better shape. As for this match, I think it will be balls-to-the-wall. LAFC will have something to prove after losing so dramatically to us and we should be up for it, too, and brimming with confidence from recent results. After their blowout, LAFC actually has more goals against than we do currently do, so I could see this being a high-scoring affair more so than a cagey 1-0 or 1-1. They will try to possess the ball to protect their leaky defense; we should concede space, be defensively compact and let them bring the game to us, knowing that any long ball to Zlatan is a potential goal. We are perfectly set-up for this and there isn't a player in MLS I'd want to have more in a match like this than Zlatan. Bradley may try to switch things up, but I don't think he has the personnel. We'll see. Handed these scrubs their first loss. Let's now hand them their first home loss.
I was saying the same thing this past Monday to my co-workers..."what a weeknd! Galaxy win! LAFC got crushed! Son scored 7 goals in his game. Pretty... pretty... pretty... good.