PBP: P/I/P: #05 - LA Galaxy @ FC DAllas; 4/13/13; 4:30 PM PST

Discussion in 'LA Galaxy' started by profiled, Apr 11, 2013.

  1. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not quite. I'm not ready to give up the dynamic duo yet. But he gets more and more touches on the ball at RM. So....tradeoffs.
     
    generaladmissision18 repped this.
  2. skydog

    skydog Member+

    Aug 1, 1999
    Durham, NC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    The loss was 90% on Leo. Under no pressure flubs a simple clearance and compounds his error by grabbing the forward by the shoulder ensuring both a pk and an ejection. Our chances of winning or tying dropped significantly when we went to 10 for last thirty-four minutes because from then on we played a single forward lineup. We were less dangerous from then on and they were able to push up more.

    Great fake out by Cudi. Starts his "feint to his right and cutback to left" move early so shooter can read it. Sure enough shooter sees he was just faking a dive to his right so puts the ball there.
    Oops... he didn't expect the "Cudi double-fake-out"!

    The final goal was NOT on Omar even 1%. Omar's job was to stay with his man until the ball was headed toward goal. At that point he needs to be ready for the ball to bounce out or be punched out (which it does if it hits 3" higher or 3" lower) so he can clear it or close down any Dallas player the ball pops to. Besides even if he made the bizarre decision to continue running with John he would have been running straight into his own goal with the ball bouncing on the line. All he could have done at that point is score an own goal or maybe trip George John and hope Cudi could save another penalty. Omar had another great game. Unfortunately it looks he has now decided he would rather play midfield! :eek:

    Landon has lost all confidence. Doesn't believe he could score in a whorehouse. Hope he finds it (the confidence, that is). I thought he played better last night but I was surprised to see these stats: successful passes - 33, unsuccessful passes - 23! :(

    Cochrane - liked his play a lot for all the reasons others have stated. Very aware player - saved us from giving up a rebound goal on their pk. One caveat - I did see him get manhandled kind of easily a few times on defense. He will have to get stronger or smarter tactically or else that will be a liability.

    Villarreal - played pretty well. Needs to read the game better and pass more. I didn't like his dive in the box and (sorry folks) was kind of glad we didn't score the unearned pk. I HATE diving, even if it is my own player.

    McBean - some nice stuff. Needs to find ways to get more involved in play.

    Clark - I could tell he was trying harder, realizing that his starter position is teetering. Took one nice shot. Still not good enough.

    AJ - Great on defense, clueless when he gets forward. Fiery little move there trying to bait the Dallas player to retaliate and get ejected.

    Juni - Had a better game than most of his recent ones. I've been reading all of this great praise for Juni in recent weeks, but he has made so many unforced turnovers (misaimed passes, getting stripped in midfield) that I don't think he has been that great. But he did his job helping protect the back four last night.

    Sarvas - Works soooooooo hard to press our opponents. Still needs to learn to use positioning as a tool so he isn't always chasing the play. Not many ideas going forward yet again.

    Garcia - Unnecessarily gave away corner that ended up costing us the game. Overall (not just b/c of that play - he was unlucky that that one mistake ends up costing a goal) he's not good enough to play at this level, even as a sub.

    Keane - Didn't play and his importance to the team was shown by how non-dangerous we were without him.

    Beer throwing Dallas neanderthall - Great game. Should be honored with a month vacation in the local slammer.
     
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  3. JBZTV

    JBZTV Member+

    May 10, 2009
    Yuck. But expected yuck under the circumstances. Starting to really like the idea of Lampard. Don't think Juni and Sarvas offer enough going forward. If its not going to come from there, it has to come from the wings, and we don't have the personnel for that. And set piece service this year hasn't been great. Obviously we're used to watching one of the best ever, but still.

    I've always viewed Landon in a "where do we need him most" light. I think at the moment we need to keep playing the kid strikers, and we need some service from the midfield. So I say back he goes.
     
  4. Ghosting

    Ghosting Member+

    Aug 20, 2004
    Pendleton, OR
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It seems that I'm in the minority here, but I thought Sarvas was a HUGE liability going forward. He killed many attacks by trying to do too much on his own. He would beat a guy on the dribble and take two or three more touches rather than move the ball quickly. He also was taking shots when he had better options. I was VERY frustrated with him, and I felt like it completely disrupted our attack. That said, he was a beast as a ball-winner. I just hope someone works with him and tells him to quit trying to do so much with the ball.

    As much as I want to like Leonardo, I think he needs to get buried on the bench. He's good for at least one golden scoring opportunity for our opponents every match. Meyer or AJ are both better options.

    Cochran looked great out there. Both he and Gaul are capable LBs. Nice to have that depth.

    As others have said, Clark is just horrible. I wanted to like him as well... but at this point he's worthless in the attack. At the moment on on-board with replacing him with LD and letting Villareal, McBean, and Keane rotate up top. Donovan and Magee on the flanks make us the most dangerous, and Villareal and McBean are fearless sin front of goal, so lets take advantage of them.

    In both of the last two matches, Donovan has had more activity on the chalkboard than any other player on our squad. He's working hard and staying engaged. However, he's not being selfish enough. The high rate of unsuccessful passes is to be expected when you are playing forward and trying high-risk/high-reward plays in the attacking third, so I don't have a problem with that. You could see him trying to recreate the magic that he had with Keane last season... only his touch and timing is not quite there, and Keane isn't on the field to work with.

    The missed PK is a "MEH..." It's a matter of probabilities. He still has the best conversion rate in the league (historically speaking). For those of you who say his confidence is shot... Just remember that when he missed the PK that would have won us the MLS cup, the next PK he took was against Ghana in the World Cup. I think he'll be fine. :)
     
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  5. phoenixhazard

    phoenixhazard Member+

    Oct 26, 2010
    Seattle, WA
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Donovan's missed penalty didn't surprise me, he still doesn't look anywhere near game sharp to me. Magee should've taken the penalty. The goal against us was crap, Omar lost John
     
  6. Geneva

    Geneva LA for Life

    Feb 5, 2003
    Southern Cal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Berks, the problem with Landon up top is that he doesn't want to shoot!!
     
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  7. ssanchez

    ssanchez Member

    Oct 15, 2000
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You are probably right, I didn't go back and check but have no reason to doubt your validity.
     
  8. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    But this has been LD for ages. And it was the same last year. Keane shot for him. I think someone from last week's game said it best, he feels rusty, so he might not be trusting himself fully right now. It's a fair thought.

    But Colin Clark is so bad I hear everyone on wanting to move LD into midfield. It's just that every time he's forced to defend rather than being in the attack - argh.
     
  9. The Beautiful Gamer

    The Beautiful Gamer BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 26, 2008
    Minneapolis, MN
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States


    Highlight Time Folks
     
  10. skydog

    skydog Member+

    Aug 1, 1999
    Durham, NC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    I disagree. I'll repeat what I said earlier: "The final goal was NOT on Omar even 1%. Omar's job was to stay with his man until the ball was headed toward goal. At that point he needs to be ready for the ball to bounce out or be punched out (which it does if it hits 3" higher or 3" lower) so he can clear it or close down any Dallas player the ball pops to. Besides even if he made the bizarre decision to continue running with John he would have been running straight into his own goal with the ball bouncing on the line. All he could have done at that point is score an own goal or maybe trip George John and hope Cudi could save another penalty. Omar had another great game."
     
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  11. Geneva

    Geneva LA for Life

    Feb 5, 2003
    Southern Cal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I hear you. If I was Bruce I would tell Landon - you want to work on defense less? You want to be up front and score goals? Then you must shoot a minimum of XXX shots per game. Create for yourself and have a go. Otherwise it's the midfield for you, bub.

    "But this has been LD for ages." Precisely, exactly. He can create for Keane from the midfield. Magee can go ahead and be his strike partner and take all the PK's and get the golden boot this year. Forwards need to shoot. I love LD but I've finally had it and given up on him as a shooter. He looks to create every time, which is something we need, so let him.
     
  12. skydog

    skydog Member+

    Aug 1, 1999
    Durham, NC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Yes LD has always been had a tendency to want everything to be perfect before he shoots. But not like in the last 2 or 3 games. A couple of games ago he had the ball with no one between him and the goalie - LD always would attack that setup in the past, this time he pulls up just short of the the 18 and starts looking for someone to pass to.

    My read is this. LD is a perfectionist. His first two times to come into games this year he got an immediate chance to score and missed narrowly both times. A fair assessment of those misses would be - who cares, no forward is 100%, and damn that was close! But in Donovan's mind those misses were 'failures' and when viewed that way they breed a lack of confidence.

    That's why LD has always been a reluctant forward. Most good forwards are a) selfish, b) enamored of themselves, and c) remember their successes much more than their failures. They could miss a wide open net and not give a rats ass about those misses 10 minutes later. But Donovan's mind isn't constructed that way, it's the mind of a perfectionist. That's why his assists are picture perfect AND why he doesn't want to shoot unless he's sure he'll score.

    Bruce needs to get in his ear and tell him that even though it may not feel right to him for the teams sake he needs to be more selfish, shoot whenever he gets half a chance, and be aggressive at all times. And to quit worrying about the misses. In fact if I were his coach I would task him with missing at least 5 shots in the next game. And tell him that if he doesn't take 5 shots that miss I will bench him the next game. And then I would follow through.

    This would give him permission to be less than perfect - actually it would be seen as something to shoot for (so to speak) rather than something to avoid.
     
  13. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    With that said, he did score quite a bit last year right? "every time" is an exaggeration with 9 goals and a hat trick on the national team. He tends to be very *efficient* when shooting. I'm not ready to conclude he's done at forward until he's playing regularly with Robbie. Remember, at times last year on the wing he was disconnected from Keane. It's just too early right now, and I'm not willing to give up on the tandem that was so great for us last year - even without Beckham in the lineup. I don't understand how that's suddenly changed. Not like we had great wingers last year either (minus the Magee of course). It could also be that because of the inclusion of Colin Clark Magee is being forced out right, which isn't a great place for him either.

    And with one PK miss from Landon, Magee shouldn't be taking the PKs (it would be Robbie before him any way). That doesn't change. At a 34/38 rate in MLS (and I believe close to a 100% rate for the National Team) the person responsible for taking PKs on the Galaxy should remain Landon Donovan. He's as money as you get.

    I'm open to putting him at RM. I don't think it's as cut and dry as folks are making it out to be.
     
  14. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yup, that's what I mean by "efficient." Been this way on the national team too (though I haven't seen him take a long distance shot in ages, which he used to do a lot).

    I'd be willing to try this out. Not sure about the benching bit, but the thought is sound. He is one of the best finishers out there. You don't get to 120+ goals in MLS and 49 on the national team if you're a crappy finisher.

    That's why I'm not set on moving him to midfield yet.

    You know the other thing? I wonder when Robbie's not out there if he's conflicted about his role (subconsciously?). Look at what Ghosting said about him being the most active player on the pitch. It's like he wants to score and assist at the same time and those things war with one another. In the FCD game it was becoming rather apparent that LA wasn't scoring if he didn't pull something out of his ass. And once Villareal came on (who is a player more similar to Robbie than McBean), something clicked. LD could once again feed his wily parter and push towards goal rather than trying to be CM/RM/FW all at once. I don't even know if I'm saying this to make sense, but sometimes LD and Robbie have to play two jobs, and it's easier when they are both out there for one of them to be creator and the other striker and switch. Not so easy when you have a target forward upfront.
     
  15. Geneva

    Geneva LA for Life

    Feb 5, 2003
    Southern Cal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Berks, why should we wait for Robbie before we decide if LD can be a productive forward? Anybody, in theory, should look good with Robbie Keane as a strike partner. I know that theory is different from practice, but we know Magee will be fine up there, and we can be pretty confident in Villareal and McBean, too. In the Dallas game, LD was the star forward, no Robbie. He needed to shoot. There's no excuse.

    I was being facetious about the PK's - I'm not really angry at LD or anything. I just want to stop waiting and hoping for his basic nature to change. He's a facilitator at heart, not a goal scorer.

    I'm impressed that he could play two 90 minute games, and look stronger in the last 30 minutes than ever.

    What I want really want to do is line up Magee and Landon at the two outside mids. They can switch with each other and run the offense. Two strikers can run in front of them, and Juninho and Sarvas can control the middle and distribute to LD and Magee. Franklin and Dunivant can join the offense when warranted. Maybe we could score some goals that way - I'll bet we would.
     
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  16. The Cadaver

    The Cadaver It's very quiet here.

    Oct 24, 2000
    La Cañada, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's probably why his misses are so memorable. Every time he goes to the spot, visions of the Cup game against RSL and the miss in the Superliga match go flashing through my mind. I'm sure it's irrational, but those are the ones that are permanently imprinted, not any of the ones where he came through.
     
  17. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Because he was a productive forward last year, an extremely productive one. He and Robbie were the two most productive forwards in MLS (the one being Wondo of course), and that was as a result of both of them, not just Robbie. Remember, Landon set up 50% of Robbie's goals.

    Anyone? Let's all remember Edson Buddle. And McBean hasn't looked so hot up there with Robbie either. I don't think Robbie plays well with a target forward.

    And when Robbie doesn't play with LD, Robbie gets frustrated.

    There's no excuse for not shooting. But there is an excuse for not moving him from the FW spot yet pending other personnel decisions. I think there are some valid reasons to leave him put.

    Will be interesting to see where he gets played next week. Want him going at Corelin and Besler? Or Myers?
     
  18. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's because they are so much more painful!
     
  19. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Could this not be more quintessential Bruce? From Dallas News. I love how short and snotty these quotes are.

    LA Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena
    Do you think your team was tired after the midweek match?
    No.
    What do you think of the penalty kick called against Leo?
    Well if I didn’t think it was a great call, I probably didn’t think it was a great card right?
    How did Landon come through?
    Okay. It’s going to take him a couple of months to get going. He’s behind the group, but he’s done remarkably well. Having him back with very little preparation, he’s doing alright. He’s obviously got to play better and he’ll get fitter. As he gets fitter, he’ll play better.
    On the end result
    Obviously not, we lost the game, right? I’m not happy losing a game. A game is a possibility of us getting three points, let alone zero points. I’m not at all pleased with the end result.
    About the overall effort
    I think the effort was pretty good, but I think that we need some players that can think a little bit better during the last 10 minutes of the game.
     
  20. ssanchez

    ssanchez Member

    Oct 15, 2000
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    this is what I think also but its fairly obvious that it has been errors by Leo causing this. If you know you are breaking down in the last 10 minutes and you know who is being exposed, why not address it?
     
  21. jmaestro

    jmaestro Member+

    Mar 27, 2008
    Bakersfield
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    These quotes are officially the silver lining from the game for me. Awesome. Pissed off, laconic, sarcastic Bruce is the BEST.
     
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  22. TommyMack

    TommyMack Member

    Jan 24, 2002
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well, at least Dallas celebrates their goals with the most unique method I've seen in MLS.

    tm
     
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  23. MPNumber9

    MPNumber9 Member+

    Oct 10, 2010
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I noticed that, too. Very Landon-like move to draw defenders and pass the ball at the last moment like that.
     
  24. MPNumber9

    MPNumber9 Member+

    Oct 10, 2010
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I like Landon up top, too (and, more importantly, he seems to prefer playing there) but without Beckham we're really lacking creativity in the midfield. I debated with myself over whether I thought he should start on the wings in the 2nd leg against Monterrey, in fact. Even in hindsight I'm still not sure. Things are reversed from last season, when we had a deficit of strikers and a stronger midfield.
     
  25. respite_cdd

    respite_cdd BigSoccer Supporter

    Feb 12, 2009
    Harrison, NJ
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Bruce is out of his mind if he's questioning the penalty/red card. Did the guy go down easily (insert your own similes of questionable taste here.)? Sure, but the ref had been calling that all game. Leonardo had two hands on him. Unacceptable. And once the ref blew the whistle, it had to be a red card - stopping a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

    And yes, Omar was completely ball-watching on that goal. But if we had another defender in there, whatsisface isn't open for the tap-in. So it was as much Leonardo's fault as Omar's.

    Really, really not sold on Leonardo at CB. AJ and Omar together are far more than the sum of their parts. Get Omar the 3rd DP, keep him next to AJ, and we're good for a while.
     
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