My impressions exactly. Each of the parts of that squad worked well together. And as far as Gio - as talented as he is I wish he wasn't coming back. Without him we are a more dynamic team. In this game we had several dangerous attacks up the middle, including counter-attacks and cuts to the inside by both Alessandrini and Ema. If Gio were there just walking around and occupying space or over-dribbling in the middle of our attack he would just have been molasses in our gears.
We won by multiple goals. There was a food truck selling bacon-wrapped hot dogs legitimately. I posted this during the game... Who are you and what have you done with the real LA Galaxy? pic.twitter.com/iZ1lpIE3Mx— Harry (@barroldinho1) September 3, 2017
Couple of random thoughts about the game: 1. What the hell does Boateng have to do to get respect? Mlssoccer.com has an article titled "Jones, Alessandrini set tone as LA Galaxy grab long-awaited home win." The article has five paragraphs about Jones good play and chance creation and Romain's pk and assist. But Boateng? He is mentioned alongside of Romain as LA's "speedy option." Reading it you would never know that Ema not only scored our second goal but also created the 1st goal by using his speed and dribbling ability to get behind the defense and make a dangerous cross toward Zardes. Ema's abilities and execution created the danger that COL (specifically MacMath) couldn't handle and ultimately earned us a pk. Even on this thread Ema is the invisible man on the 1st goal - there are comments on Jamieson's pass (which was great), Zardes presence and run toward the ball (which was great) and Romains pk (which was great). But no recognition that was primarily Ema's goal. Is it that we are so used to seeing Ema's speed/dribbling skills that they are just taken for granted? 2. That being said Jones and Alessandrini played great. Jones was good on defense, good at getting the ball going forward. I give both Jones and Sigi credit for that improvement. In the 2nd half as Jones got tired he made a couple of his old mistakes (going to ground hard, pushing too far forward) but overall a great performance and by far his best in a Galaxy uniform. And Alessandrini clearly has recovered from the injury that was slowing him down. He has the speed and quickness he started the season with. 3. So happy for Zardes to get that goal. You could see his body language completely change after that. He even started to show some of his old pace after that confidence boost. Hard to believe scoring a goal could make you faster but I swear he was. And he started making positive contributions all over the field. At one point he ran deep into our box and made a crucial clearance for us. 4. We still need a taller or more athletic cb to pair with Romney and help control the airspace in front of the goal. COL are bad so Steres didn't get exposed too badly but at one point his mark easily out jumped him and got off an open header that luckily went over the crossbar. Also Romney needs to learn how to close down forwards at the top edge of the box better. He is falling for little cutbacks and opponents have gotten off clean shots against him several time recently (a couple of those ended up being goals that cost Rowe his starting job). COL juked him out bad once and got off a dangerous shot. What he needs to work on - part of it is being more physical, part of it is shading forwards so they are forced to the outside and not allowed to cut to the center. 5. Loved the organization and chemistry of the team. Again wish we didn't have Gio coming back to sap the teams energy. His brother would be fine if he took Pedro's spot, but we know that probably won't happen, so that's another issue.
To me Ema has simply been our second best player this season, far behind Alessandrini of course. Maybe there could be an argument between Ema and Cole, but they are above anyone else.
While we're giving props, I've gotta give a shout out to Jones. It's been a rough season, but if he can stay healthy and string together some solid performances as a true #6, I could see many people here wanting to resign him next season (at a reasonable salary).
Highlight Time Folks!! I am so happy for this team. Playing with actual passion and discipline. Has predicted Zardes got his groove back. Romaine and Boateng still have a great season. Jones and Pedro actually being effective. I love it. I know it's Colorado but with the season we have had there is no reason to think that the Rapids wouldn't have done like every other team and stomped us into the ground. Take this win and remember the future. The Galaxy Will Rise Again!!
not sure if it was visible on TV, but especially in the first half, Gyasi & BJIV made a ton of runs... would be interesting to see what would've happened if we had more people capable of threading a longer pass in. as it stands, Jones is kind of the only one with the passing range to hit those. if we get in behind a few times, that ought to open up space for allesandrini & gio, which is probably what we want anyhow.
Gyasi made a few nice runs into the box that I could see on the tele, but Romain or Ema just either missed it, took too long, went for the shot, or just misplayed the ball. But it was promising to see from him.
Very good performance from the squad. Colorado's not a great team obviously, but we're also missing two DPs and clearly struggling to find a winning formula, so this was not a given. I think this is the culmination of consistent marginal improvement; the team has played really well at times but has been - I hate to say -- unlucky to end up depleted with red cards. So definitely some stuff to build on. Gyasi had a grown man performance in the target forward position. It's not his natural fit, but it's the role his team has asked him to play and he did in one game pretty much everything you'd look for in a 9, winning aerials, holding up, scoring. Granted, it's Colorado -- for context, McBean scored a brace against them in DSG Park -- but a goal is a goal. And a roll is a roll. And if we don't score no goals, we don't eat no rolls (kudos to the nerd who IDs that one). I'm glad Boateng got rewarded with another goal. He consistently gets behind and causes danger, so its nice he gets on the scoresheet again. Cole had another quietly fantastic game, IMO as did Pedro and Jones.
So I looked it up--- With 8 games to go, we only have to win 4 more games than either Dallas or Houston, and we are in the playoffs... (Okay, back to reality now....)
It has been 6 matches since Sigi took over W1-T1-L4 and Jones has played in 4 of them W1-T1-L2 and has played the #6 in all 4. Sigi has singled out Jones for praise in 3 of the 4 and loudly complained about the lack of leadership in the midfield in the two that Jones missed after almost ripping off his big toe 10 minutes into his last match. The defensive stats for the CMs in those 6 matches are quite telling with Jones producing big defensive numbers and Pedro producing almost nothing on the defensive or offensive sides of the ball.
Now for an off-the-wall opinion- watching this game, I really felt for the rapids fans. I mean we suck: to the tune of one point from the last ten games, and barely able to score a goal for the last 5. It's disheartening to have a team that is hopeless. I was feeling that hopelessness to the core and I know they are too... and then to have the one team that MAYBE you can get points off of, lose by three and look completely inept at it... hoo boy. No fan base deserves that!* For any rapids fans trolling the forum here: I hope it improves for you. I hope it improves for us more, but still, you deserve better. *Well, maybe san jose's fan base deserves it. ok, yeah, they totally deserve it.