Who did worse there: Onuoha with that terrible turnover, or Antuna for shooting straight at Toia to clear it off the line?
Wow, did we ever come out flat for the second half. Could have given up three in these five minutes, and there's one.
I wouldn't be surprised if we start over with the striker search this offseason. For whatever reason, Sam still hasn't gelled with the rest of the team. Off he goes in minute 57 for Baird.
I am not feeling a goal from us tonight. Then again, it isn't just tonight: we have two goals in almost five games (0-1 loss to Portland, 1-0 over San Jose, 1-3 loss to Minnesota, 0-0 tie at New England, 0-1 so far against LA in the 75th).
And there's an even better ball in from Toia, that either Baird or Kreilach absolutely had to convert.
Typically he’s very good. Tonight he’s letting GALs push and come in from behind to take the ball. Not shoulder tackles. Some were dangerous imo.
Only late after the Galaxy squandered a pile of chances; LAG should have had at least two more early in the second half, and we were never getting to four.
Don’t get the subs. I thought Sam was decent and hustled getting back on defense and can be dangerous at any time. Baird not so much. Then Savarino off for Bofo? Taking off the two best scorers for the two best snorers not a good move. Still have no idea what to do in the 18. Bonehead play costs RSL a point. Need a real coach.
Yeah I was super confused by the Sava sub. Why take off one of the only 3 guys who look like they're trying. I'm so tired of watching this team take it to the top of the 18 and then pass it out wide just to lose it or just stand around not moving while one guy is struggling in the corner. It feels like this teams lacks creativity and off ball movement.
Weird how they did the pregame thing, you could tell it made both sets of players a bit uncomfortable/out of routine. Also, why have all those guys there, run that movie, but not go down the list and say who is who? The first half was boring as hell. Maybe I expected more of this game than I should, but the lack of energy from both teams was astounding. So was the complete lack of atmosphere, even by our standards. Speaking of which, ******** all of the supporter groups. How does the 2009 team come to town and you not work together to do a cool tifo? That's just piss poor from a group that wants to claim they're anything different than another fan - they're proving they're not each and every game. The actual soccer: The front four of Johnson/Albert/Savarino/Kreilach just didn't work and has been so hit and miss this year it's hard to say it should be used again. Starting with Sam: I think his style of play completely contradicts what the three behind him are looking to do and it makes for some really awkward soccer. It's not anybody's fault besides Waibel and Freddy for not realizing this. Then moving to Kreilach: I'm really losing patience with his antics of falling down when the wind picks up. I also think, if he's going to play in the 9 or 10 spot, he has to be more involved in the game. I simply don't understand why he wasn't subbed and Sava was. Speaking of Sava, he was off but was still the focal point of the attack. For as much talent as we have, the game goes through him for better or worse. Last night it was for worse. His touch was heavy, his decision making slow, and his overall play was just not good enough. Rusnak is turning into the player we all don't want him to be. He's fine watching the game and disappearing for long stretches. There were moments last night where he slid into the 10 spot and really showed he could dictate the game, but then he would disappear again. I was really hoping we signed Javi to a 30 minute contract so we could sub in a 10 this team needs. I thought the middle two (KB and Everton) had the best nights of any RSL players. KB, in particular, was pulling off some absurd touches and passes that were certainly inspired by the old crew being in town. Everton is a bulldog with the energy we desperately need. It shouldn't be surprising that the Galaxy's second half adjustments were to find ways over these two as quick as possible. Because our back four were bad. Each player on the back line had a good moment or two, but each also had some real howlers and as a group they just weren't up for the task in the second half. We only conceded 2 but if the Galaxy had their finishing boots on it would have been 4 or 5. The gameplan of playing Zlatan really tight and then having the other 3 defenders account for the wave of LA players was understandable, but it came with the big flaw of Pavon being allowed to run 1v1 a ton. And we got burned for it. Herrera looked like a kid on the first goal. I'm still not sure how he just falls over. There isn't a foul there, at all, he just.. falls? And then Glad is glued to Zlatan so the shape of the back 4 is really off. Onuhoa is too slow to get across and Pavon tucks the ball in easily to the far post. On the second goal, it felt like time slowed down as Glad went to shield that ball off the field. It was obvious it didn't have enough pace on it to reach the endline but he was committed to it going out, but not willing to committ a foul or just play the ball away. From then on, the Galaxy weren't going to miss that chance again. The response was weak. If not for some bad defending (moving up as a group) on the corner, we never get a sniff of goal. Credit to Onuhoa for the well timed header, but that isn't something by design or something that felt like it was coming. That loss was especially painful because Minnesota came back and we didn't get level with Seattle. We now need help to have any chance of hosting a playoff game. Sunday is a must win to even be in consideration. The honoring of Javi was well done. His comments about not being able to say goodbye hopefully cut into the right people. Also having Santi, his son, standing there and realizing he's not going to be part of our academy should sting all the more.