Whatever else you say about this team, you can't tune them out early. We have found a way to come back in multiple games. I give them credit for a lot of team fortitude. We could have won that game - but also LAFC could have run away with it. I like the creative lineups and formations from the coaches. I like the taking chances when we're down. On the players, I think I am just playing confirmation bias in my head at this point. I could barely see Cole (on D), Kitchen or Gio do anything right on the field. My husband saw every bad thing Romney did. But, honestly, Cole on that first goal - that would not have happened if Romney was playing right back. Ridiculous.
In the play that led to Vela's goal, you can see Jorgen pushing Cole to go after Dio at the corner and then turning around and telling Ciani to watch Vela. Jorgen was the only one with any sense of urgency then.
Vela (what a player) mentioned this in the post game conference and I think he makes a valid point-- that 4-3 win was a huge win because of the psychological factor. Once it was 2-1, LAFC crumbled. They'll always have that in the back of their mind and it was reinforced today.
This is one of the things I love about this game. One minute I'm cursing the ground that our FO walks on, the next I'm delirious. Thank you Chivas USA.
Most LAFC fans were very mild. Worst thing that happened to my group was someone pretended to jump us and said “go back to Carson” before walking away.
I thought Romney had a very solid game under difficult circumstances. I’m pretty over kitchen at this point. I thought RA might be pulled at halftime so credit for Sigi not to be as dumb as me cause RA on his left side changed the game for us in second half. Really looked like it wouldn’t be our night so huge credit for that last 20.
If this team had this tenacity to finish games earlier on we might be in second place. Even those games vs DC and SJ. Well, no point in dwelling in the past, the second half of the season looks better than I thought it would.
I agree, great game from Romney, one of the unsung heroes of the season. He's making a case for DOTY (though the bar is not high). But this game is a good reminder our defense is too fragile against good teams. We have two roster spots open, we should go for two CB right now.
It should also be said that players making debuts in the "El Trafico" (how do we change that awful name?) have worked out very well for us.
I forgot to mention Kamara is worth every penny. Dude's scoring at an impressive rate despite not always playing his best position, and his goals are often decisive. He could have been angry about Zlatan arrival, but he put his head down and did what he does best : scoring goals. I love him. As I said earlier, top priorities are defenders (one strong CB to replace Ciani and maybe a quick one to compete with Skjelvik), but DM is also a concern. I'm not sure Kitchen is better than Carrasco, we should give the latter his chance to figure out who's better.
By a result of 2-2, last night's contest ended in a draw, therefore STILL #MLSTitleBelt Champions, @LAGalaxy! They will defend the Belt against @OrlandoCitySC Sunday, July 29 at 9:30 PM ET.— MLS Title Belt (@MLSTitleBelt) July 27, 2018
Finally have some time to post about last night now that I'm at work. What a cute stadium. It's new and shiny but, freakin tiny. Seemed too cramped, especially the concourses. The seats are cheap and flimsy and the arm rests are not ergonomically comfortable. Getting there was pretty easy as I didn't have to worry about parking. I parked at the Harbor Gateway Transit Center and took the Silver Line Bus there. Stops right at 37th and its like a block or two walk. I thought there'd be more G fans there though. On the way up, there were more lafc fans, which was ironic seeing people come from that far south. Even more, way more, after the game. I didn't see any fighting except during the match when something was going on above/behind me in 212. I've seen some videos online of fights but the only thing even said to me, as I made the whole trip by myself and met my cousin at the seats, was from the banc staff. I walked right past the north side of the stadium where a bunch of lafc fans were and was going to enter there before one staff member sees me walking nearby the fray of frat boys and goes "goin' that way? you trippin." To which I replied "Nah, you are" and kept walking without a word being said to me until another staff member closer to the gate wouldn't let me enter there. He said G fans had to enter through the Southeast gate. Their fans are a vast majority of young people and like animals it seems. If you show the least bit of fear, they'll pounce on it. F that S. As for the game, the usual S. Play like crap for most of the game and turn it on late. Almost too late for a result. GIO HAS TO GO. Ciani, too. One more round to go 8/24.
I thought I’d be more impressed by the stadium. It’s a pretty standard mls stadium. The concourse food and beer options were really mediocre. Best thing that can be said about it is the steeper grade of stands. Sitting in 216 we felt closer to the touch line then my comparable seats at the Stub in the 200s. The location is nice too. Enjoyed having food and drink at a local usc adjacent bar before the match and chatting with fans from both sides. I was impressed by the amount of Galaxy fans that I saw.
Watching the Spanish telecast and I distinctly heard the “LA Galaxy clap-clap-clap” chant after Kamara’s goal.
Congrats to the team for staying in it and fighting to the last minute. I think we have the psychological edge on LAFC, as we have to feel like we can always come back and get a result. They have now squandered two leads against us. Good result, but obviously we saw lots of issues. Some of our defenders are individually poor, but also they seem disorganized and lacking chemistry. For instance, we don't really defend as a unit and it's like certain players don't know their defensive assignments. I don't really see the benefit of the 3-5-2, as it seems to mismatch our personnel. Our CBs are individually poor, so why use a formation where they are the centerpiece? Our outside backs are relatively slow (or in the case of Romain, lax defenders) so why use a formation that requires the fullbacks to do so much work? Gio just sucks in CM -- I know people will say he sucks in any position, but he is particularly poor as a CM; he has poor movement and ability to see the game well from this position, doesn't see options quickly enough and usually passes back. Kitchen, also, is not a ball-playing CM which I think you need there also. Good result against the odds. Still not sure what Sigi's doing.
I saw people in dark jerseys celebrating when we scored then I realized they were wearing the galaxy away jerseys. Seemed even from the amount of lafc fans I saw during our march game.
FWIW, I thought the first goal was primarily Cole's fault with Skjelvik taking secondary responsibility, as he was just ball watching and made no effort to get on the cross.
Unfortunately, the 4-4-2 mismatches our personnel as well. But if we ever need to play a 2-2-6 we are set.
I've generally been enthused by Cole's play and on-field leadership. Having said that, if we continue to play 3 in the back Cole needs to be on the bench. He just doesn't have the wheels anymore to run as a wing-back.
"To be honest, this stadium is too small for me. When 20,000 whistle at you, it's like I'm training." - @Ibra_official pic.twitter.com/C0zuEEU8zI— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) July 27, 2018 Epic. Troll. I think Zlatan’s point about the difference between the number of chances in MLS and Europe was probably the most astute observation over the differences between the leagues. Obviously not universally true, but as a general take I think it’s probably the most fair and accurate assessment.
Maybe it was color saturation from my 4K TV, but it looked like the Galaxy uniforms were stained with green paint smears and not grass stains. I could also see numerous brown patches on the field that became more obvious as the match went on. Did the LAFC groundskeepers paint dead grass green to make it look better for ESPN? How bush league . . .