P/I/P Game 27: L.A. Galaxy @ Seattle, SUNDAY 9/10/17, 6pm PT

Dang it! I wanted more.

 

Hmmm. I'm not even mad. We didn't embarrass ourselves against a much improved Seattle.

The only bummer is Gio looks like he's going to be a $6m training cone. I'd rather have Gerrard at this point. Don't @ me

 

Any other season and I feel like that draw was a loss. This year? Not a win for sure, but it feels okay. Thought the team overall had one of the better performances of the year (low bar i know).

Sigi and Dom have made a difference.

Sigi >>>>> Onalfo
JDS > Pedro
Zardes now > Zardes of 3 weeks ago.

 

Hahaha....

 

I'm starting to feel some hope again. we didn't look overmatched and even though I would have been happy with a point before the match, having played much of the game up a goal, I felt like we really should have won.... against the top team in the conference.... away. Looks like the team is playing with a little more belief now.

 

Amazing what better coaching can do over time. The team looks better every week. Results don't always reflect it but on field play does.

 

Jones looks like a whole new player under Sigi. JDS looks like he can be a real asset next season. JDS is slowly getting used to the league and getting confident. Too bad Gio is still anonymous even with a new manager. I wish we could get rid of Gio, but I think we're stuck with him especially since we have his brother.

 

So much better. So much.

Even though playoffs aren't going to happen my heart was in my throat because I cared. Exactly due to the Dan Loney post. It's great to see this team have a ton of heart.

Much better movement, and much better ball protection. We were undone by 1 bad play. It happens.

1. Gyasi Zardes with another goal - good for him, and man is he looking like he has some confidence back. He only had 5 missed passes, and he also had some stellar hold up play.
2. Romain Alessandrini = dreamy.
3. Agree that Boateng could have used his speed more (though Alonso should have been red carded for the elbow to Boateng's head, and hopefully will be suspended by the disco).
4. Jermaine Jones playing with discipline. Nice job veteran!
5. Diallo had joy up the right with Romain. Bummer that it was undone by the goal.
6. Jonathan Dos Santos has been great. His ability to keep the ball and stay calm under pressure has been excellent. Really really good stuff from him, and I'm looking forward to seeing him for a full season in 2018.
7. Backline managed to hold their own for a majority of the game, so much so that Clint Dempsey spent the majority of it whining (which continues to not be a good look on him).

Finally:

Dear Giovani,
You drive all of us Galaxy fans NUTS by keeping the ball too long and overdribbling. No the ref isn't going to give you the call for falling over, which you made even worse tonight by earning an absolutely stupid yellow card. Please stop playing hero ball and trying to go through 11 defenders. You have these things called teammates. Tonight you were by far the worst player on the pitch. Shape up or ship out.

Sincerely,
Berks

P.S. Your brother is great by the way, we're happy to keep him.

 

I can't wait to see Lletget with JDS and Alessandrini.

 

True, but Gio won't be providing much next week anyway against TFC.

 

Unfortunate result. I thought that was one of the best overall team performances of the year. We seemed so much more solid. Bodes well for next year.

 

I'm really bummed that we lost the lead, I really wanted the win - but overall it was a good effort. If this was the beginning of the season I would have some hope for the team coming together and making a go of it. Unfortunately, our season is effectively over and we're just winding down at this point.

I wasn't happy with the childish whining on the field from Alessandrini and Gio - and they obviously PO'd the ref. I'd really like to see more discipline from them. I'd like to blame Jones for his yellow and upcoming suspension, too, but I'm not sure what else he could do on that play. Not get beat, I suppose.

Add me to those delighted with Jonathan dos Santos - his ball control, movement and passing are great, and I hope it's just the tip of the iceberg as he gets used to the league and his teammates.

We really lack a playmaker still. None of our attackers are reliable in their final pass. The whole team is still a little off when it comes to combo play, but there were moments of goodness. Gio is MIA - I don't think he'll be a starter all next year if this continues. Gyasi had one of his best games, and looks so much better than before. Interesting what they were saying about Dom taking charge of the forwards and designed challenging drills like Gyasi had never seen before. I believe that Sigi is working on basic soccer touch, too, for Romney and Gyasi? I forget the details of that one.

Diallo is a bit of a cipher. He contributes on offense pretty well, and I like his physical presence, but he seems a liability on D. Cole did well. I didn't see who let Roman Torres loose on the right for his assist.

Speaking of Torres, why was that a red? Even if it was a foul - Chad Marshall was right there. I don't see how it was DOGSO.

Romney and Steres are hanging in there pretty well.

I wonder what changes we will see in the off season?

 

Pretty awesome that we're all still watching. Tell us a lot about the changes and the fact that we're looking forward to next year.

Sigi seems like he's making the right choices. Hell, even BJIV has looked better.

 

You're right - watching the games is not nearly as painful as it was. Even last year, with Arena, our performances were terribly boring.

I still miss Donovan so much, though. We don't have enough speed, and we don't have the assist-style passing. I'm hoping we can add some dynamism to this team next year. Alessandrini dribbling through 3 or 4 guys is fun for awhile, but it looks so accidental most of the time, and I'd like some combinations, please.

 

I'd love to see Lletget in Gio's role, but that likely will never happen.

 

Hands-down the best performance and probably the best match of the season. Holy crap what an entertaining game this was. Great battles everywhere on the pitch and great coaching on display from both sides. We still seem haunted by injuries and suspensions, but lots of good takeaways from this one:

Alessandrini: What can you say? The dude was simply fantastic and Seattle simply didn't have an answer for him. He was unstoppable on the wing, which opened everything else up for us and set-up the goal. A terrific all-around performance.

Zardes: Got another goal, which is fantastic and also played with confidence all around the box. Nice tidy touches on Seattle's black top; held the ball up well, provided an outlet. Had a nice 1-2 with Gio that didn't quite a come off, but he's showing his confidence and ideas -- this is the Zardes we know and love. It sounds like a hot-take, but by end of season most will agree with me: he is much better running underneath and creating than Gio.

Boateng: Had a terrific game on both sides of the ball. People get on Boateng for his crossing but I think that's probably a little overblown. He's a very good decision-maker in the final third for his age.

Is it possible Schmeltzer targeted the predictable Boateng sub to push Roman Torres up as an extra attacker? Even under the best circumstances a run like that can create confusion between the LM and LB as to who should pick up the extra man, but in this case Zardes had just swapped to that position from forward. Maybe Torres himself recognized the opportunity and pushed up; he's a very smart player.

Gio & Jona: Jona Dos Santos had a miraculous 14 recoveries in this match. Unfortunately, most of the other stuff he does well doesn't necessarily show on the stat sheet, but his ability to get on the ball, break the press and find an outlet really makes us an entirely different and formidable team. He was the key to us being so dominant in this match and had the great drive leading to the goal.

Gio contributed to team defensive and helped knit the field together, but I think most of us would agree he probably had an underwhelming performance offensively.

Jones: When Jones plays like this, I wish we could have him in this form for another year. He played well everywhere on the pitch but I love the mental game he put on Dempsey and how he sold the DOGSO (I don't think there's much in it, but Jones forces the contact and Torres doesn't help himself by bringing his arm up across Jones' back for some unknown reason, which looked exactly like the pull-downs Dempsey and Jones exchanged earlier). Just the right amount of nasty for a match like this.

Sigi & Dom: So, some specific themes I noticed in this match:

-The team press/swarm reminded me of 2014. We consistently won 2nd balls and bedeviled players like Alonso, Roldan and Dempsey who stabilize the midfield for Seattle. Every time the ball was poked away, Jona was on it to start the transition.

-I was really amazed at how consistently Galaxy players were able to make an outlet pass out of the back under pressure.

-After Gyasi's goal, I counted at least two opportunities when we could've dumped a cross in but instead passed it back, eventually all the way to Rowe, who booted it into Seattle's half, where we usually won the 2nd ball again. Part of the plan?

Anyway, good match!

 

Here's the one thing that I found surprising:

6 minutes of extra time and we didn't give up the 2nd goal.

 

That's why I'm optimistic more than ever that Sigi and Dom can get something out of Gio. They've flipped Zardes and JJ. Gio should be next on that list. If we can get the Gio of the Mexican National Team.. well, we'll still miss the playoffs, but next year! Next year will be fun.

 

What I liked about the goal was that everyone was doing the things we pay them for. JDS moving the ball around. Alessandrini doing something creative. Zardes finishing.

It's only two games, but if Zardes can get it together, it makes our offseason a whole lot easier.

 

I liked Dom's demeanor with the guys, too. Seems like a real "player's" coach.