Another week, another nationally-televised match. And another road-game to the Pacific NW and a crappy turf field. Can Vanney and the Gs keep the magic going? Join us here for all the pre/in/post game discussion and debate.... Let's Go Galaxy!!
So do you guys think we go 5-3-2? Seems to me the only losers in that formation are Grandsir (maybe needs more settling time anyway). For a road game having that extra stability in the back could help. I was really impressed on how we dominated the game defensively after the move last week. Maybe from the start? I'd be especially for it if Cabral was 100% fit which is probably not the case.
I wouldn't mind starting with the same XI from the Austin game either. They generated several changes with Harvey shoring up the defense. That said, if he's injured as @Skevin posted, then maybe the 5-3-2 is best. Also loving the nationally televised games. Crazy that I haven't watched one on ESPN+ yet.
I don't have pref regarding formation. Whatever works is my philosophy right now. The team has players in the back who are getting their bearings still and/or don't have a huge set of skills for formations to be that effective one way or another. You have to be able to execute these things with relative precision to be effective. I don't think we are there yet. Yet. With the french connection still to be felt in full effect I just want rake in all the points we can by hook or by crook. Once the foreign legion is here and on the ball we can perhaps start having fun with tactics. Portland should be a better game for gaging the team. Diego Chara is still hurt I believe but his bro Yimmi is nothing to sneeze at and making goals. Attinella just went under the knife to repair his hip injury so we have the upper hand with Mr. Bond. Anybody know how Blanco is playing if at all? I have not seen him. I don't think they have an answer for Chicharito. Ebobisse is not an answer. Our teams are similar at this point otherwise. Both with sketchy defenses so it should be a goal fest. 2-2 or 2-3, something like this. GO GALAXY!!!
It's very flexible if the team can run it right. None of the teams I've followed closely have used 3 CB formations very often, so I'm looking forward to seeing more of it and learning more about it. I counted Portland among the Western powers, but they are pretty fallible right now. They're 2-0-3 right now and have only put in 5 goals. I think a result is very possible for this one.
Corner of the Galaxy was arguing for the 4-5-1 to get Grandsir and Cabral on the wings. Is Harvey hurt? I would start him over Saldana in Portland.
I have no issues with these jerseys: https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-...s-with-twitter-for-unique-jersey-swap-honorin But, there are only two colors so every MLS game this week is going to look the same in the highlights.
I didn't follow the Galaxy very closely before 2007, but started watching a little in 2002. Didn't the Galaxy run a 5-3-2 or 3-5-2 under Sigi when they won the cup in 2002 that year, with Marshall, Lalas and Califf as the back 3?
Yes, we started the season in a 4-4-2, but it became apparent that Cien didn't have the legs any more to be a 2-way player, so we eventually switched to the 3-5-2 (or really a 3-4-1-2) that gave Cien the freedom to create on offense with 2 central mids behind him. Plus with those 3 very strong and mobile centerbacks, it gave our wingers more freedom to bomb into attack. Once we did that tactical change, we started racking up the wins, becoming the hottest team in the league -- winning both the shield and the cup and losing in the final of the USOC. This believe this is how we lined up to start the 2002 MLS Cup: --------------Ruiz-------Moreno --------------------Cien EZ-----Victorine------Elliot-----Cobi ---Marshall-----Lalas-----Califf -----------------Hartman
Thanks for the feedback. If I can go OT for a moment, it seems the Galaxy FO, dismantled this team pretty quickly, trading players in many cases for draft choices. Was this something forced on the Galaxy by the salary cap, much like the cap forced Bruce to trade Franklin and Rickets?
For the first 10 years of the league, or so, it seemed like a requirement for all successful teams to have to dismantle its team each post season due to the salary cap and reasonable player expectations of raises or new contracts.
I've been looking at our salary structure (maybe a post later) and we seem to have some flexibility going forward. It wouldn't surprise me if both Vasquez and Kleijstan are gone next year (with Alvarez and Harvey as replacements?) and two more academy players are signed. I'm assuming Gonzalez is gone and is funding our current French connection. After that, it gets more difficult if we keep 3 DPs. Most of our starters are relatively young and so we wouldn't want to get rid of them, and you have to drop a lot of backup players to save much money. Grandsir is the obvious candidate (of course, let's given him more than 5 games) but I think we're locked into him for some time.
I am not sure I agree. While the salary numbers for Coulibaly and Raveloson haven't been published. It looks like someone at the Galaxy has been doing a great job of number crunching and roster building. By my analysis, they have a lot of GAM left for Coulibaly and Raveloson (and possibly a U22) plus whatever cap and TAM they recover from Gonzalez and another roster change. They didn't waste any TAM on transfer fees (unlike the scouting mistake that was Joao Pedro). The only transfer fee they paid (per Transfermarkt) was for Cabral who is a DP and his transfer fee doesn't count. Some of our youngest players (e.g. Perez 18 and Araujo 20) seem to qualify as U22 Initiative players and others are HG which takes them out of the budget calculations for a long while). In two years, some of the senior roster players may be aging out or taking reduced salaries (assuming they are still with the club): Villafana will be 34, Steres 33, Lletget 31, Fisher 32. Personally, I don't expect JDS to be a DP if he returns next year (at age 32), but if he returns I expect him to be a TAM player, which leaves off-budget money for an impactful DP. Most importantly, while it is true that TAM will go down in future years, it appears that GAM and the salary cap will increase at a faster rate potentially by over $1.175mm from 2021 to 2023 and by another $628K by the end of the CBA in 2024.
This. I love me some JDS, and he was my favorite player in at least one of those dismal years I'm trying to forget, but unfortunately it's clear age and injuries are taking their toll - there's no way you can justify having him on a DP salary next year.
Yes, I don't get the point of making all the MLS teams wear the same bland colors for a weekend. Zero team identity using these lame shirts. Maybe it would be a bit better if just one team wore these special shirts at a time. At least the dark shirts have a splash of color in them. The others are completely bland.
I would say Gonzalez is gone, keep Vasquez for at least one more year, as he is good value even as a part-timer, and dos Santos shouldn't be re-signed (at least as a DP) and replace him with a blockbuster DP.
Jona's best seasons for being on the field were 2017 and 2019. In those seasons, he only missed 1 game each due to injury. In 2018, he missed 6 games due to injury and more than half of another. That doesn't include missing 5 games for internationals. Last year was the worst considering the reduced schedule, GBS limited his minutes for most of the season. He only played 2 full games and 4 more where he played 60 minutes or more. In 2017, he was a demon on the field playing all over the pitch. He has shown signs of that this year, but he's in his 30's and the mileage shows.
The problem with switching JDS to TAM from being a DP is that it makes the budget situation worse. It frees up a DP spot, which is good, but that new DP will take up the salary space of JDS and now we need to find more TAM money for JDS along with whatever salary he gets. I think that TAM money could have better uses, although maybe we have enough that we can carry him for a year.
You are right if the Galaxy and JDS don't agree on a salary cut or one that hits anywhere close to the TAM player maximum. If he accepts a 3 yr contract at $1mm per, then I think the Galaxy can make it work. In between those two, and it become very gray the higher it gets. However, it seems there is a trick that can work at least for 2022. It is my understanding that Cabral will still be a young DP next year. If they bring in a second young DP, that would save the Galaxy almost $500K in cap space that year. Over $500k if he is a mid year signing. They could then switch JDS midyear from a DP to TAM player. Note: this is a one time thing as Cabral would not be a young DP in 2023. If he leaves after 2022, then this kicks the can further down the road.
Spending the morning getting a new car (2020 Mazda CX-5) to replace a vehicle that was wrecked by an idiot driver. Here's to car payments you don't plan for and hoping the Galaxy Win lifts my mood!
Wow - 538 has us only 24% win, 56% to lose and 21% to draw. Boo 538! They also have our SPI at a lowly 35, which would make us 20th out of 27 teams in overall quality. I know they don't have a "coach Vanney" factor - that has to be worth a few points of SPI! I could dismiss 538 as being slow on their algorithm updates but the Bovada sports books also has us as big dogs: LAG +300, POR -133, draw +280 (translates to LAG 23%, POR 53%, draw 24%). And sports betting takes everything into account. At least everything known to the bettors. And, to a lesser extent, everything known to the line makers. I guess the lesson to remember is that playing on the road is hard. Playing on the road and on turf is even harder. Especially since the visiting team has a big playing surface experience deficit. (However, turf favors the speedy. Time for Cabral to shine??) If I were to make my own personal "Fromunda* formula" prediction I would go with: LAG 40%, POR 30%, draw 30%. Oh well - the probability of one of them will be 100% in about 3 hours. Let's hope for another W! *Fromunda = from under my ass!
Wow, that's an all offense lineup! Strange. GDS is the only midfielder who will drop back, meaning our outside backs have a good chance of getting overwhelmed. Good luck to GDS, the back 4 and Bond! They will need it - I could see this easily being a 4 to 6 goal game. In our favor, Portland has struggled to score so far this season, with only 6 goals far. They also have a poor defense - like us, they have allowed 8 goals in 5 games. So maybe it will be 3-2 or 4-2 in our favor? Common opponent comparison: POR lost only 2-1 to SEA. But, unlike us, they were playing at home.