My guess would be summer of 2015 when Gio first arrived and we were beating teams 5-0 for a good month or so.
I really thought we would lose that game 0-2. I thought Antuna as a forward was a major mistake but credit to GBS for coming up with that. Where did he come up with that?? GBS adjusted well from last weeks loss. This was a more dynamic and more confident team than I’ve seen in a while. Does anyone feel bad for Steres? I think he has been in the best form of his career and yet he’s hitting the bench soon. Looks like Giancarlo Gonzalez is on his way this week. Antuna showed why he’s highly rated. Maybe he needed a few games to adjust. Galaxy wins always make my weekend better
My three takeaways: 1) We bossed the midfield. Even if was against a weak team that gave us a lot of space, we still executed. When our player had the ball, there was always someone to pass it to, they made the pass to right person, and that person controlled the ball and moved it forward. By MLS standards, that was quality. In better leagues, the players can do that even if they are pressed and I'm not sure our players can. But I'll still take it. 2) I'm still in the Zlatan makes us better camp. Our system is built around moving the ball to the side and then crossing in. But with Antuna and Boateng up front, most of those opportunities are going to be wasted. Antuna worked hard and I liked what I saw but he's not a forward for a team controlling possession and that's who we were yesterday. 3) Our defense makes me sad. In the end, our players are just not good enough. But if we drop back into a defensive shell, it will take away from our possession game. I guess the only thing to do is to hold on and hope we can pick up some players during the summer.
On the buildup to the second goal, every field player had a touch on the ball except Antuna, who made the run that dragged a defender and created the passing lane for Boateng’s excellent pass to Feltscher.
Wrong question. How does that system fit with Zlatan. Kidding aside it’s not ideal, but it can work. Spurs play a similar style and when Kane went down injured & Son was off on national team duty Llorente took up the role of center forward. Like Zlatan he isn’t very mobile, doesn’t track back on defense or press, but is quite good latching on to crosses. Unlike Zlatan he’s not a great goal scorer.
[73Bruin's post was in Roster Moves but thought more appropriate to respond here] That has always been a strength of his and he was particularly effective this game. My only criticism of his offense was that he needs to drop the "balloon cross" from the repertoire. Of course its always been his play on the other end of the field that has been the problem. Fortunately for us (and him) Minnesota doesn't seem to have a left winger/forward to run at Feltscher so he didn't have much to do defensively. Most of their attacks and all of their crosses (literally 100%) came from Skjoiuk's side of the field.
Svevlikhgfuvdsh had a strong game other then being 100% at fault for goal #2 (smh). The defense all year has been solid in the overall sense of the word. We’re not being carved up or even being put under ungodly pressure like in recent years. However none of that matters if you make a catostrophic error each match to gift a goal to the other team.
Our defensive problems this game were the result of three issues: 1. Bingham is not a keeper you can rely on. 2. Skjiouk was undisciplined defensively and made costly mistakes toward end of game. 3. Polenta was letting himself get pulled out of the center of the field. The first problem probably can't be fixed without a roster addition. I'm not sure but I don't think any of backups are any better. The second problem was frustrating because moving Skjiuik out of the middle of the defense has helped and I thought he had a very solid first 70+ minutes. I was prepared to start spelling his name properly because he earned it. But then he lost concentration and gave the ball away, and let them back into the game. I noticed the third problem three different times in the game, one of which ended up costing us - after Skjouk turned over the ball we had this: So many mistakes here. We have five players all pulled out to our left side while leaving Steres with a 3 on 1 in the center of the box. Also Feltscher is slow to react and has already let his guy get past him. This is poor defensive balance, poor awareness of where opponents are and poor communication. Its not just one players fault. Polenta should have been aware of what was happening in the center of the box and should have stayed home and barked orders at JDS and Lletget to pick up the dribbler. When that didn't happen Steres should have yelled for Polenta to come back to help him (Steres had done that earlier in the game). JDS and Lletget should have coordinated their efforts with at least one of them staying central near the top of the box. Feltscher should have stayed goal side so he could be first to any cross coming in and possibly clear the ball that came off the post. Earlier in the game there were two other clearly dangerous occasions with Polenta getting pulled too wide. Fortunately Minnesota didn't take advantage. We just better communication and for Steres and Polenta to stay more connected, especially when we have a late lead that we are just trying to maintain.
That was the most enjoyable [to watch] play from the Galaxy I've seen since the heady days of LandoRoboBecks
I thought Polenta stayed home more in this game. I don’t know why GBS put in Araujo and had him play up top. We needed to see out the game and adding a defender (or mid) was the right move. But, what the heck?
Few coaches do. It's always "we just need to play quicker/be sharper with the ball/be better with the final pass/stay compact/not get stretched out." Every halftime interview is some mixture of these phrases.
I noticed that as well. It could be because we were never behind or because GBS talked to him about it. Also he was up in the box on corner kicks (and almost scored!) but since Minnesota never punished us with a quick counter he didn't get called out for doing it.
I call it like I saw it. It was bad in the 1st half. The reason you were probably deceived into thinking it was good was because of the pace.
Yeah he is struggling a bit, kinda reminds me of foreign guys that go to england and have to do interviews. The predominant words are "I feel good, I feel happy".
I guess the last few years have been so dire, you have forgotten we used to have a very good team and did that many times. Sort of like Cobi on the air when he said the Galaxy have never strung so many passes together before scoring a goal.
I agree fully with your first point. For point 2), I think the biggest reason we controlled possession was because of Antuna's play. And for 3), I thought the defense played well except for 2 mistakes. But Bingham let is a soft goal and then Skjelvik made a careless mistake. Hopefully correctable.
So is Zlatan the lone striker, or could he sort of play underneath Antuna in a 4-4-2? Because I loved the pressure Antuna brought with his endless running. Or do they put Antuna back on the wing? I guess they would have to in order to keep the 3 man midfield that was so effective.
I noticed that poor defensive shape on the 2nd goal too, and was thinking about pinning the blame on Polenta, because he was covering no one. However, I think it's harsh to blame the back line, as they were already in offensive attack mode because Skjelvik was in full possession of the ball and leading a counterattack, until he stumbled over that gopher hole, that is. Once your team has possession, the entire team (save the GK) needs to immediately change its focus to offense. In other works, you don't keep marking players when your team has possession; you try to get open for a pass.
Of course the other explanation is that as we get older the brain changes. I should go eat a jellyfish.
Antuna's pressure was great and rushed Minnesota's gk and defenders which helped us win back possession. Plus his own possession game is improving as he settles in. But the possession improvement is not just due to Antuna, nor is it just due to the Zlatan not being on the field. The acquisition and integration of Corona is another significant reason for our improved possession and composure in the midfield. In the post game show two or three players spontaneously brought up the addition of Corona when asked about why our possession looked so much better. Now that he's had over a week to practice with the team and GBS has begun to figure out better how to use him and Antuna we are starting to reap the benefits of these additions. This was a home game against a team that didn't exploit our weaknesses so its still too early to see what we are really made of, but it looks more promising than it did a couple weeks ago!
What happens when Ibra gets back and the team is once again obliged to play to him? Does what we saw in that first half go away or does Guillermo try to integrate that pace with Ibra's slower style of play? Will Guillermo talk this out with the team and Ibra, adopt a new approach and can the team execute effectively or was this thing just a one-of?