I had a feeling we might turn our luck around in this match. Hopefully we can build on what went right, and learn from some of the negatives. The inexperience of our backline was getting exposed from very early on and they were a little slow to react to how RSL repeatedly kept getting behind. I thought Lletget had a fantastic game all around, and Jones was much improved from the last match. Unfortunately we're losing both now! Smith actually looks at home in the outside back position and should get more chances. His wing play lead to two good chances in the 2nd half, including the one leading to the goal. I guess it's no secret that I'm not fan of Alessandrini. I remember someone saying of Keane last season that he'd become a turnover machine, and sadly it seems that is the case with Lettuce. He can't really hold the ball up, he can't really pass, he can't...play...soccer. He was called for 3 handballs in this match. He overran the ball and lost it twice. I'm glad he got an assist, but realistically he should barely be starting, nevermind a DP.
Some thoughts: When they went down a man I wasn't even confident we could earn a draw so full credit to the team for the win. I think we learned that smith should start at right back before Garcia. Does literally everything better at rb then Garcia does. Romney sucks at left back. Like utterly terrible. Good on set pieces though. I'm not sure Diop is better then Rowe but I'm happy to give him games to find out. I don't rate Rowe that highly do I don't blame the coaches for searching for an upgrade. Wtf was Beckerman thinking? Suddenly, with the week off, there is the prospect of starting the following team in the next match: -------------Zardes----------- -------------Gio---------------- Lleget-----------------Lletuce handball --------Jones---Pedro-------- Cole----JVD----Steres---Smith -------------Diop--------------- That looks like a decent line up.
Boy, you guys weren't kidding. G2 at Galaxy prices. Happy for the win but I don't want it to hide the fact that we were absolutely terrible for 75 minutes of that game against one of the worst teams in the league. God awful stuff. If you haven't seen a G2 game under Onalfo, this is what it was like. His teams always play like no one knows each other and they're playing together for the first time. The lack of cohesion, the lack of anything that looked like soccer tonight was a but disheartening. I'm happy to have Zardes, Gio, and Cole back in two weeks, but it's quite evident Onalfo will be the thing that holds us back all year. On a positive note-- watch the 2nd goal and watch the boys celebrate. That goal meant a lot to them, and so did the win. Break will heal our players but might disrupt our momentum.
I think you guys will feel foolish for doubting and belittling Alessandrini. Also, for writing the Galaxy off before the season even gets started. They were never likely to win the MLS Cup this year for sure, but I see a team with potential to compete well, and is building with youth rather than hanging on with vets. Yes, a few additions to the roster would be welcome, but things aren't that bad.
I'm not entirely sold on Allesandrini nor do I think he's a lost cause. I think it's more a case of chemistry. They aren't used to each other's tendencies yet. And the switch with Lletget and Jones is more about Jones having zero positional discipline (he's never had it, he thinks he's an attacking midfielder with a skill set of a box to box), which is why he is terrible at a holding midfielder spot, while Lletget would be better at it not because he's a holding midfielder, but because he has positional discipline.
Highlight Time Folks I am glad we won. Our defense is still sketchy but there is hope in the attack compensating for it. On to the next game. PS. I love the new look of this website
Yeah, after all we are averaging almost 3 shots on goal. I'm sure that will improve once we start playing good teams on the road...
We looked terrible for the first 20 minutes, couldn't move the ball, defense was just backing up and letting them come, and Villareal ... he should have never been on the field tonight. Having the extra man helped certainly, but for the last 25 minutes we looked pretty good, considering who was on the field. For me Lleget, Pedro, Boetang, and Smith of the bench were are best players. Jones, Alessandriani, Diop, and McBean of the bench were doing their jobs. That defense, well Romeny and Garcia had moments both ways. Steres needs a partner to cover his mistakes and lack of speed (JVD). But Diallo, WTF!! I thought we finally traded Leonardo, now we got another one. He is slow (thinking and moving), he passes like he took lessons from our GM (to soft and not on target), and his defending well he needs another few seasons with Los Dos. Romney should have moved to centerback and Smith could have come on for Diallo. But I'm sure our clueless leader knows something we don't I never thought I would be wishing for Cole to be back to bring us some stability : / I can't wait till we can put some regular players back into the lineup. But I loved the result !! Come on you Galaxy !!
Chemistry and fitness. I don't think the guy was close to fit when he got here. Another note: all the goals scored again to us so far have been pretty damn good.
No doubt he'll need time to fully adjust, but there are some things he does that really don't have anything to do with chemistry or fitness. Like failing constantly to beat his man on the dribble, overrunning the ball, making poorly weighted passes, putting his head down and taking improbable shots instead of looking for the passing option. He's going to get time to see if he can adjust but in the meantime I don't think we can just explain all of it away with just a lack of familiarity with the rest of the team.
Why wasn’t he fit? Was he injured at Marseille? Ligue 1 is mid-season and even if he weren’t a regular starter he should have been training right?
I would tend to agree that all players on a team get a certain amount of physical training and should have a base level of fitness, but I don't think that you can assume that all players get equal time on drills or get as fit as possible. I know that in some other sports (e.g. American Football, basketball) subs often get a lot less time to participate in drills. I recall veteran substitutes in the NBA talking about having to carve out extra time to stay fit. My observations of youth soccer in the US showed similar tendencies. Is this different in professional soccer, especially when players are in the disfavor ot the coach/manager? I would imagine that skill work that requires multiple players (like passing through defenses) is in particular hard to get. So far, I would rate Romain's initial work as disappointing (with the one handball being especially worrisome), but I think its too early to write him off as a complete waste.
.@RealSaltLake has fired head coach Jeff Cassar three matches into the #MLS season https://t.co/4sKF0k8usU #RSL pic.twitter.com/NyXZ3IWarv— The Salt Lake Tribune (@sltrib) March 20, 2017
Good - saved the RSL fans and bench from having to watch a sideline aneurysm in real time. I know I said heart attack earlier.... hmmm.... tough call, could go either way. But the way his face is bugging out I'm now going with aneurysm avoided. Wonder how he reacts when his newspaper is late?
I believe he was injured for a good chunk of this season. I know one of the reason he wasn't getting playing time in Marseille was because of injuries, and I believe one of the reports when we signed him mentioned he was just coming back from an injury. I think his issue may have to do more with confidence. He's probably stressing too much on contributing instead of just playing. I'm hoping the 2 assists will help him get some confidence and maybe solve some of the issues he's had so far.
He was out injured from Aug to Oct then came back for 5 games (216mins) then was in the dog house with the coach (He had also got in with another coach before and the supporters). The next 7 games he was not in the squad, 1 he made the bench but did not play and made a 24 min appearance before being sold to us. http://www.transfermarkt.com/romain-alessandrini/leistungsdaten/spieler/98334 http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-galaxy-20170225-story.html Certainly not in game shape. Plus he should be give some time to adapt to new team, league, country. He seems to know that this is a new fresh start after burning his bridge at his child hood dream club. Hopefully that fuels him
From the LA piece: The Galaxy’s interest was so sincere, they sent technical director Jovan Kirovski to France to meet with the player and his representatives four times, according to Alessandrini’s agent. “They didn’t just call,” Yvan Le Mee said. “They showed up.” They also paid Marseille a $1.75-milllion transfer fee and offered Alessandrini a three-year, $6-million designated player contract. And to underscore his importance, when Alessandrini arrived for his first training session last Monday, they handed him Keane’s No. 7 jersey. Article doesn't say it but I'm guessing Kirovski was behind the big push for us to get this guy. Think I read that Jovan was our European scout, right? Whoever it was pushing the acquisition - $7.75 million for 3 years is a lot of "lettuce" for a guy with a fairly lackluster resume. I just can't believe that we couldn't have found a much more talented midfielder or forward from Central/South America or say Africa with an offer of $2mil/yr and life in LA.
I think part of the appeal of someone like Romain is that he isn't using MLS as a stepping stone, he's using MLS as a 2nd chance. Similar to Giovinco in that regard. I imagine he's not looking to make a big move back to Europe. Most South American players use MLS as a stepping stone to Europe. Coming here is about increasing their international profile with a goal of leaving MLS and playing in Europe. Signing Romain means he'll ideally be around for a couple years (assuming things go well), which makes going foward easier to plan. People really are jumping on the gun about offloading Romain, or calling him a flop. It's been 3 games, we need to cut him some slack. It took David Beckham 2 years to even care.
Didn't get to see the game because I was at the FREE Garth Brooks concert at SXSW in Austin - but yay, we won! Gonna go back and read the thread and see how we played. [Also, let's see - that's one coach fired (Cassar/RSL) and one refund (Seattle). Am I missing anything? We are becoming legendary! Don't Mess With the Galaxy]