A win with authority, a clean sheet and we go into the WC break with our heads held relatively high. Almost better than the win against lafc. Hopefully Lleget is just a sprain-strain. Everybody enjoy the WC, see you on the other side. Go BRAZIL!
ok, just one more observation which does not please me to say. No RA and we win 3-0. I love the guy but we tend to go through him alot. This year he is not as effective and given his errant passes, crosses and the way he just holds on to the ball one too many touches and his penchant to try and go through the entire defense without much to show for it... in short, is he costing us games?
We weren't with Jona and Gio too. I agree Romain has been disappointing this year (minus his wonder goal against SJ), and even Pontius has better numbers, but he's not our biggest problem. For the first time this year, we played extended parts of the game with both Zlatan and Ola up top. This year we forced Ola to play wide because 1) we wanted to insert Gio or a CAM like Lletget, 2) a 4-4-2 with two real strikers is not common nowadays. I really want to see more of this 4-4-2, even if it means Gio on the bench. Something like this : Ola Zlatan Seba/Ema Jona Kitchen Alessandrini Cole Skjelvik Ciani/New CB New RB Bingham
Back from the game; I thought this was a good match. Looked like the players were really up for it. Could be RSL's just not as good as their place in the standings would indicate, but I felt several players had one of their best games of the season tonight, including Cole, Skjelvik, Ciani and Kitchen. Not sure what kind of pep talk Sigi gave these guys, but it seemed to help. Pontius is a bit of an unsung hero. Good decision-maker who plays honest on both sides of the ball but has some unexpected craft in his game; reminds me of (dare I say it) Magee. BJIV was a great spark coming in for Lletget. Not sure what to make of that yet, but we should remember how good he was at the tail end of last season. He'll be an asset to this team. To @El Futbolisimo's point, I always feel Romain over exerts himself when he could do more by playing smarter. He can slow the ball down and bring his team into the attack, but almost always goes charging forward, leaving a huge gap in midfield. That's a kneejerk reaction, but it's been my critique of him since he arrived. Somewhat one-dimensional, runs away from his teammates a lot of times and tries to do too much on his own.
SO no DP's and we win 3-0. WOW. Instead of a team that needs a DP to make it better, we are 3 DP's who don't fit and need a team to make them better. Fun game. Glad to see a convincing win, it's been a while. Never thought I would say it, but I like Ciani better every game. Pontius is quality. BJIV was a real spark for us.
Fun game to watch on the ol’ DVR. That oLA goal was the type of play I had expected to see a lot more already this season. Zlatan pulled both center backs with him, giving oLA a ton of space to work with and he buried it. Hope to see a lot more of that throughout the season....
Really impressed by Zlatan’s second goal. Watch the way he jumps and bodies off the defender in a way that’s not detectable enough to be a foul but is just as effective as a shove in the back would be and it gives him the little space he needs to head into the corner. A top class play and a subtle thing we don’t see a lot in mls.
I missed a lot of the game, but Sigi called this a 3-5-2 https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018...latan-ibrahimovic-he-notches-brace-galaxy-win So ------Kamara---Zlatan---- -------------Lletget--------- ------Kitchen---Carrasco---- Cole--------------------Pontius ----Skjelvik-Ciani-Romney-- There's a certain logic to it. *Kamara plays forward *Lots of defense *Ciani is more limited in what he has to do *Less pressure on Cole and he can get forward more *Jamieson can play more of a free role (for Lletget)
It's a limited formation, but the more I think about it the more I like it. The limitation is that there are really only three true attacking players. Some combination of Zlatan, Kamara, Lletget, Gio and Jamieson. But then again, Zlatan counts as two attacking players! MLS is full of central defenders and dmids (even if we have trouble finding them). The problem, as always, is finding wingbacks. Boateng can play there, but he will need to work on his defense. The right side is where the problem lies.
Yeah I noticed this during the game. Certainly made us more secure in the back which is job #1 if you want to be good. Ola was clearly the more defensive withdrawn forward (on left). Pontius was clearly the more attacking wingback (on right) so there was a certain balance to it. Hey I’ll sign up for “let’s grind out a boreing 0-0 draw at halftime and then win the game in the second half strategy...” We generally have the upper hand in second half’s this year. (Of course we are usually down by a few)
Absolutely solid three points. The Galaxy looked to be building steam in the first half, but the second half was well done overrunning the RSL back 4. We need that momentum earlier, and the insertion of BJIV was indeed a huge help for that (note: this is the exact role we've also seen Boateng play). MOTM Ibrahimovic who was at the heart of the majority of chances, drawing defenders all over the place, but the catalyst was BJIV. Zlatan has 7 goals and 3 assists in 11 games. Woo. But as someone noted earlier in the thread, his body language was SO DIFFERENT. Did anyone else notice this? Thumbs up for his teammates, less yelling, less looking pissed off. He overall looked more of a leader and team player - huge difference. I want that Zlatan! Great goal by Ola as well who did a lot of dirty work this game. Also kudos to Pontius for putting in an industrious effort on the right. Ciani is indeed getting better, and I can't believe I even typed that. 8 clearances in the six. One note: we were very, very lucky that Jorgen didn't get red carded off the pitch, which would have changed the entire game. He was the only one I would call poor for some overall bad decisions (he's getting weirdly aggressive of late, reminds me of Jelle when he would get frustrated. I'm kinda sad about the break - we have some momentum.
I hope Lletget is okay. He had one of his better games this year, even though I don't think he is an attacking mid.
I think Skejdkekladk was the worst player on the night for the Galaxy, which is troubling.... I also think that the 3-5-2-ish formation worked very well for us with that group of players. The problem really is that formation doesn't work well when you also have Alessandrini available. Not to mention Gio.... A guess an indictment on our FO when the formation that best suits the majority of our players doesn't work for 2 of our DPs....
I agree although it could work with Alessandrini in place of Pontius if Alessandrini could be convinced to play a more defensive role and not try to always go one on one the end line. IMO he's gotten pretty predictable. All in all though, you are right in that the team, may better without them. Personally, I don't think this game was a great barometer for the rest of the season. RSL may be the perfect opponent for the Galaxy, because they don't have a lot of pace, certainly not like Dallas.
Watching the game again and I think the yellow to Jorgen was the right call ad Baird was slightly going towards away from goal. I think if he was headed directly towards goal, it would have been a red. Also, that almost goal by Zlatan where Glad made the save was pretty scary in that he could have had his ankle or tibula broken when Zlatan stepped on his leg.
It makes me so happy to see BJ on the field AND playing well. So cool. It also make me happy to see Ibra happy. Love seeing Ciani get into it with the other team, again. Pontius is growing on me. Keep it up G’s! P.S. Thanks Ref!
Get rid of "Nutrition" and I would wear this top. Hahaha, maybe customize the back with the name "Four" and number "20".
No to the 4 20. While I realize this wasn't your intent, others celebrate that date for very evil reasons.
I'm guessing you've never smoked it? It could provide the FO with some imagination and new ideas which seem to be lacking. Down with Hitler, light up a spliffer!