I second that, the PK takers should be the ones with confidence, not the ones with rust in their joints
What exactly are you trying to do with this analysis? Honestly don't think we have enough game time to judge anything just yet as you'll rapidly see from the below. (I'm removing CCL from this analysis and keeping to just league play for sake of apples to apples): Without - Chicago (W) - Magee's hattrick Chivas (D) - Leo's brainfart leaving us with 10 men Colorado (W) - Magee PK TFC (D) - Leo's bad back pass (LD actually played 30 minutes in this game, but was minimal, so I gave this a pass) RSL (W) - with the JV squad With - FCD (L) - John late header SKC (W) - LD with goal and assist Houston (L) There just isn't a lot of info except to say Mike Magee is the one that has stepped up. But we knew that already.
Good evening Gents and Ladies; I'd like to credit my new best friend Mr. Cadaver for correctly appraising any team that Dominic Kinnear manages. I'm not gloating, and I'm truly happy that we took this one, but I'm really wondering about Landon. It seems to me that he was given far more leeway with his sabatical than would have been given to any other player in MLS or any other league. Can you imagine Fergie or Mourhino going along with one of their best player taking an extended non injury break? His performance has really been below par since he rejoined the Galaxy, which leads me to believe that it is playing games with his head. I don't believe that Talley has ever made a save off of a penalty kick, and Donovan is the first. That's really got to get to him. Anyway - best wishes for the rest of the season, and I hope that we meet once again in the 2013 MLS Cup at BBVA Compass Stadium. p.s. I have a feeling that Mourinho will keep Frank
Adam Serrano @LAGalaxyInsider1h Bruce Arena seems to indicate that Landon Donovan won't be taking penalty kicks after going 0-2 in two 1-0 losses. #lagalaxy #mls #lavhou Expand Reply Retweet Favorite More
thank you for the info, I'm just curious to see if a few guys stepped up without Donovan and then decided that now that Donovan is back I don't need to do as much. I also wanted to get some numbers to see if their was a huge difference between what others did with and without Donovan. because lets face it among fans, the Galaxy is all about Donovan, be it the fanboys or the haters and I'd just like to see the stats before I decide to pick a side.
Really don't think it's that. Our losses have been other factors this year. Two missed PKs definitely don't help though.
It's a problem. When he plays on the Galaxy against my team, I want him to fail. But when he plays for my country, I want him to succeed. I don't know what is going on with him, but his extended break is a problem that not only effects your team, but also our national team, I know for a fact that it is very unusual for a team manager (coach) to allow a high profile player such as Landon the kind of leeway that he has had this preseason. To put it in perspective, I worked over 32 years before I retired, putting in more than 40 hour weeks, with time off for vacation and illness. Landon puts in about 3 hours a day in training 4 days a week, a few hours on game day. If I had expressed to management that I needed some extra time off and wasn't sure if I was going to return - I'd have been out on my ear. If Landon's head is not in MLS then he needs to retire because his continued presence causes a disservice to your team and the USMNT.
And so the revenge of the runners up continues. 4 out of 17 wins for reigning champs in the next regular season rematch. That was some serious 2006/2007 hail mary, bullshit out there. What really ********ed me off was the complete lack of hustle in the last 10-15 minutes to get the ball back in play after it had gone out for a throw or free kick followed up by a hurried & botched hopeful ball.
You could tell early we were either flat or disjointed. It wasn't happening. Thought we might scrape through with the pk, but...welp. I never remember Landon doing that stutter before. And didn't he always go low hard and left? I could be wrong. Sean was really terrible. For the first time I can remember, AJ got eaten alive by the 2 big forwards. Usually he can at least hold his own but he was getting killed. Zardes has a chance to be nice. Rugg smells of Barrett to me (not the finishing, just overall "average semi-big MLS forward" smell.) At least I got a bobblehead. And 2 MLS cups.
First of all, to boil down any professional athlete's time to this bolded sentence is false and you should know better. In particular to someone who has made fitness a career like LD. I am not going to rehash this retirement thing over because it's been done ad nauseum in other threads. Since he's been back LD has been in the game, emotional, and looks the happiest we've seen him in ages. You'll also note he is vice-captain as selected by the team. I would like to remind everyone that in league play I believe this was Landon's THIRD 90 minute game. Third. So can we quit overreacting to 1 game now?
You know who we missed tonight? That guy who we had a few seasons back.. Travis? Travis Beckman? Beckham? He was really good at corners and whipping in crosses. I'm not going to bother getting too upset over this one. Last week our young players beat RSL's young players but Houston's experienced vets were a different story. That being said-- our vets let us down. Donovan's 2nd missed pk of the season. Houston's goal caught our entire defense napping, but in particular I think Franklin was awful. Too many giveaways, too many turnovers, too many bad passes and was just standing there watching Driver run right by and score. I hate when these guys resort to crosses. We're 100% capable of breaking teams down with our short passing game. It reeked of desperation when a little patience would have helped. No clear MOTM tonight, but for me the goat of the match was Franklin but I'll let him speak for himself: Sean Franklin @SFranklin538m“Don't wish it were easier. Wish you were better.” Tough game tonight. Too experienced to play like that. Gotta get it right next game. Amen, Sean. Lets move on to the next one.
The first half looked great. It seemed like we dominated possession and it would only be a matter of time until we scored. During that first half, there were times were I thought we'd win 2-0 or 3-0. When halftime came, I was a bit worried that we hadn't scored yet. I tweeted that Houston scoring first on a counter seemed like a decent possibility...and that we'd be in bad shape if that happened (just like what we did to RSL last week). It turns out that happened...we didn't look as flustered as RSL did, but we dropped points in what should have been a win or at least a draw.
To everybody complaining about the ref, think about this. The ref actually saw each and every additional possible PK call. He just decided out of kindness that he wouldn't further embarrass Landon so he let them go. So here's my personal highlight. Remember how before the game the field guy was making a big deal about scarfs up? Well, because it was so cold and damp I had knotted my LAG scarf around my neck. So when the PK came and we all put scarfs up, I grabbed my scarf ends and lifted so hard and high that I flipped myself up into the second deck. Luckily I landed in a section where there was nobody sitting so I didn't hurt anyone when I landed. Hey, I'm doing my best to cheer people up.
Also, anyone notice that ballboy that took forever to throw the ball to our own team? I saw Juni kinda yell at him to hurry it up. My sister was at the game and said that the ballboy would spin the ball when he threw it, and that would cause it to bounce away. Apparently, people in the stands were also a little frustrated with the kid.
No problem. Losses/draws: Chivas 1-1, TFC 2-2, Houston 1-0 Rationale: 1. Leonardo (boy, has he been buried by Bruce since eh? Where'd he go?) 2. Lack of final pass/finishing 3. Sometimes midfield getting overrun/tired 4. 2 missed PKs 5. Keane injury 6. Craptastic corners negating Omar's aerial ability Based on games played the only team that's really ahead of us right now is FCD.
I said the same thing. Also, I didn't see him do the usual ritual before he kicked it. This was like watching yesterday's CLB v. NYRB again for me. Missed stutter step pk. Team that dominates loses one-nil at home on a goal against the run of play. Deja vu
I think this is the first time I've seen a Zardes interview As expected, Mike comments about the refs. And he says that Landon is more than capable of taking PKs. Interesting comments by LD about PKs. Also, he references the Dan Kennedy red card today and thinks that Tally Hall should've been sent off.
No. Landon Donovan was an integral part of the United States Mens National Team. He abrogated that role at the end of the 2012 MLS season when he decided to swan around on some kind of f'ing sabbatical to find himself, to determine it his head was in it, and decided whether or not he would deign to offer his services to the Galaxy and the USMNT. For whatever reason, the powers that be in the Galaxy acceded to his wishes and he missed a significant part of your preseason and regular season. He is neither game fit, not is his head in it. He consumes a considerable amount of the $$$ that the Gals have dedicated to DP's and Klinnsman has hinted that he is going to have to work very hard to get a place on my USMNTeam. His gallivanting around during the off season and preseason is simply unacceptable for a professional. Robbie Keene needs to get the Captains armband and slap LandyCakes up alongside the head.
You know what? The one team in this area that did something right this weekend: the LA Blues. And it was a scoreless draw. Another example of why I think days like Cinco De Mayo are garbage: they're just another excuse to lose your inhibitions for days on end.
You have no understanding of mental illness, this team or Landon Donovan. Whose "gallivanting" included taking time to do charity work, getting back in touch with the game that he loves, and potentially recovering from mental illness. Since Landon has been back he's been nothing but classy, humble, hard working and just happy to play some soccer. Maybe Jurgen could take some notes. MY USMNT could still use him. Three shots on goal in three games. Phew, that offense sure is rocking. Glad Jurgen's taking the hard line that he applies to very few other players on this team. For someone who didn't want to troll you're doing a great job of it. Or maybe you're still bitter about those two MLS Cup losses Landon helped you guys earn.