Official: 2021 LA Galaxy II Season

2-1 loss at Oakland which is a terrible result given the opponent. Oakland has won only two games this season, and both games were against Los Dos.

It's not usual for me to point to a player, but this loss is a lot on Owein Lambe's shoulders. G2 were leading and in control, and Lambe ridiculously lost the ball at the top of his own box, then made a DOGSO foul, and drew a red card. Oakland scored two quick goals after. Too bad because they are a really bad and shaky team, and Los Dos were on par with them with a man down.

Lambe officially gets my vote for the most overused player this year. Bawa is better as a RB, and I rather see the new Honduran, or Gonzalez or Essengue, at the DM position.

Otherwise, not much to say. Not the best game from Aguirre. Harvey played the second half as a DM, and I prefer him there. Neal made his return and played a few minutes. Possibly Rémi Cabral's best game for G2, but calm down, it wasn't that good.

Credit to Jorge Hernandez for scoring another freekick (three this year, which is impressive and very cool after Cuevas scored four last year), but still too many touches, too complicated... But he's showing up. Perez was better than him last year but Johnny has been terrible this year.

Next game for G2 is in two weeks at Las Vegas (a.k.a. LAFC 2).

 

Big game tonight, as Los Dos face LAFC B team at Las Vegas (7:30 p.m.) !

 

Good and deserved win for G2, who stay alive in the playoffs race. Still weak on the defensive side, Los Dos outplayed Las Vegas in the second half but were close to concede a draw. Credit to them for pushing on after the equalizer just before stoppage-time. The last goal, first on the season from Rémi Cabral, was ugly as hell, but hat off to the team for not giving up.



Carlos Harvey had an awesome game, literally bossing the midfield and had a ton of recoveries. He made the last goal possible after fighting in the air with the opposite GK. Great game, but too bad one of his pass was easily read by a Las Vegas player, which lead to their first goal.

Another player who had a great game was Jesus Vazquez (MVP of this game, and his best game of the season if you ask me), he did a couple of last-second saves which were crucial.

Jalen Neal had a few rough moments dealing with Danny Musovski. Not a bad game but he will need the G2 minutes. Danny Acosta did OK, his crossing was superb.

Very good game from Jorge Hernandez. Credit to Davila who, unsurprisingly, when he doesn't have to play much defense (like he had to do during the last game against Las Vegas, where he was horrid), can play through his strength : the quality of his passing. He was subbed off at HT and replaced by Aguirre who had another solid performance, playing almost as a 8 and drew a PK.

First goal was scored by Judd after a cross by Drack, the Denver connection worked again. Judd is the best pure striker G2 have had in a long time, he will benefit from another year in G2 but as a third option he will be perfect for the first team next year. Dunbar's finishing was atrocious.

I will not be there for the next three games, recaps will come later. Next game is at home against Sacramento, who is fighting with us for a playoff spot.

 

And I can't resist to give you the action of the night :

THAT PASS THOUGH 😱@carlosharvey03 delivers a beautiful pass to @ambitiouschiri who nearly scores. pic.twitter.com/cuD6sATalN

— LA Galaxy II (@LAGalaxyII) August 28, 2021

Almost everything was perfect : the pass from Harvey, the nutmeg by Judd, and the run by Aguirre. His finishing is an area to improve though.

 

I'm back from my holidays and watching the replays of the three Los Dos games I missed. First was a 3-3 draw at home against Sacramento on September, 1st.



Los Dos came back from a 2-0 deficit to a 3-2 advantage with five minutes to play, but conceded a second penalty in the last seconds after a foul by Vazquez (who had a great game otherwise, but Vazquez will never erase the big mistake he does almost every game). Once again, offensive is clicking, but you can't count on our defense. As I write these lines, G2 have the fifth best offense in the USL, but the fourth worst defense (31 teams).

Preston Judd was the easy MOTM, scoring two goals and drawing a PK. His movement is great, way more clever than every striker I've seen in a G2 uniform for the last four-five years. Picazo had a great sub appearance. I'm not sure he's good enough for MLS, but clearly deserves a look from other USL clubs.

Tough game for the HG players, who briefly shined but struggled to do the right choices most of the game : Perez had a beautiful assist but could have done better otherwise, Dunbar had a superb counter (though I wonder if he has lost a bit of speed since last year) with a shot saved off the line but was a turnover machine, and Neal was very easily beaten on Sacramento second goal.

With Vazquez and Neal mistakes, and Drack conceding an early PK (Drack struggled to bring back his composure after), Bawa was once again our best defender.

 

4-2 loss at San Diego on September, 4th. Our defense sucks. You are down 2-0 at HT, start well the second half and finally score (Koreniuk with the solid finish, as it's often the case)... And then concede a goal within the next minute.



Junior Gonzalez tried something new in a midweek game by starting Bawa, who was on a good run, in central defense, next to Ferkranus. It didn't work but I don't blame him. Bawa was horrid as hell, as was Lambe (though a nice cross on Koreniuk's goal). Very unusual passivity for Bawa, but I'm not surprised by his weaknesses on positioning and clearances. I'm sorry to repeat it but Vom Steeg is such a neutral keeper... Soon 50 games for Los Dos and I have the impression he has been decisive something like 5 times?

Hernandez was out of the rythm of the game. Saldana looked very confident. First minutes for the new Honduran DM Gerson Chavez and he looked OK.

Second goal of the season for Rémi Cabral at the end of the game, good job to redirect a botched cross by Davila. I was about to praise Dunbar's defensive performance (and remember his best play of the season was after pressing LAFC's defense during the first El Trafico), but he was not agressive enough on San Diego's third goal.

 

I just finished the 3-4 home loss against Phoenix, which took place six days ago. Another nightmare game : G2 lead two times (1-0 then 2-1), were down 2-3 at the 85th minute, scored an equalizing goal at 11 against 10... And then conceded an own goal in stoppage time with a man advantage. You can't do anything with this "defense".



Eric Lopez got a rare start and had a mixed game. He conceded a goal after missing coming off his line (which has always been his weakness), and another after a save he could have done a little bit better. But he also finished the game with 9 saves and kept the team alive in the second half. My opinion has not changed : the guy is very talented, he needs playing time to work on his weaknesses (there's room for improvement). Stop playing mediocre keepers above him ! That said, there is an interesting thing : he was on the bench against Houston, so maybe he's now third on the GK depth chart?

Defense was horrid, not much to say, nothing to save there.

Good game from Hernandez, Dunbar made a solid entrance too. Very good finish from Perez on the game-tying goal.

But the man who should get credit is Rémi Cabral. He was found in very good spots and the finishing boots were on. Best game of the season for him with a goal and an assist, although consistency is an issue (he's very similar to his brother in every area of the game).

On the bad news front, Kai Koreniuk, after assisting on the game-tying goal, walked out with what seemed a severe knee injury.

Next game is tomorrow at Oakland (7 p.m.). The race for the playoffs is almost over.

 

Game at Oakland is starting in a few seconds.

Your Starting XI in the Bay 🌁#OAKvLA | #LosDos pic.twitter.com/zXkGGjnqja

— LA Galaxy II (@LAGalaxyII) September 19, 2021

 

1-0 win, goal by Davila on a PK. Good performance overall. Recap tomorrow.

 

Solid win from Los Dos, for the first time in a long, long time. They were barely threatened by Oakland and the defense looked calmed and composed, getting a first shutout in a while. Overall G2 looked often better than Oakland during the four games they played against the expansion side.

Los Dos played more of a 4-4-2 (instead of the classic 4-3-3 above) with Judd and Zubak paired up top, Perez as a RW and Aguirre as a LW.

As I said, all the defenders had good games, but the best was Jalen Neal, a typical performance from him : good sense of anticipation, calm with the ball. Reassuring. Danny Acosta had an OK game, making a few great tackles but... Losing the ball immediately after.

Aguirre had a very solid game defensively, making tackles and blocks all game long, but lacked consistency on his passing and shooting. Zubak has not changed, sometimes a good run, but he's not that fast and you can't count on his finishing.

The interesting game came from Johnny Perez, who was by far the most dangerous G2 player (and he drew the PK). Technically gifted and fast as hell, his two biggest weaknesses remain his lack of physicality and his selfishness (which he's slowly correcting TBH). Judd and Zubak could have killed him after he chose to shoot on the GK although they were wide open in the first half.

Next game at Sacramento on Sunday. Sacramento is having a very bad season and have the same number of points than Los Dos.

 

With how the results went last night, Los Dos could be back in the playoffs picture (just one point shy of the red line) with a win tonight. They play at Sacramento at 2 PM.

They have a hard schedule next though, with home games against the two best teams in the Conference (Phoenix and San Diego), then they go six games with only two at home.

 

After the terrible game at Austin, finally a good news... For the second week in a row, a win on the road, against a team fighting with us for a playoff spot, and a shutout. That's great. Are Los Dos back on track at the best moment? This week will be crucial.

MOTM was Jalen Neal. Not flashy but no mistake, a few blocks, very serious, and a goal (thanks to the keeper). After a long injury and a few games to get rythm, Neal could be back after his strong 2020 season. And to respond to @Benny Dargle, I think it's the first time EVER he started with Ferkranus (at least at the USL level).

Another player who had a strong game was Vom Steeg, making great stops after great stops. Los Dos were luckier than last week to get the shutout, but Justin was a big reason why. Taylor Davila has been better during the last couple of games, playing with more agressiveness. The middle of the pitch is no more a free space for the opposite team.

Dunbar scored his first goal of the season on a counter in the dying minutes. Good for him, but another disappointing performance from Dunbar who's been terrible in the final third all year long (and he missed a sitter just after his goal). The counter was perfect : Neal blocking the Sacramento player next to the line, ball recovered in the middle of the pitch by the two bulldogs of the midfield, Gonzalez and Aguirre, Aguirre with good vision and a quick pass to Hernandez who sent a perfect cross to Dunbar to the far post for the easy tap-in. Brillant!

Two home games this week : against Phoenix on Wednesday and against San Diego on Saturday. We shall see what this team is made of.

 

3-0 win against the team with the most points in USL. Yes, Los Dos played with a man advantage in the second half and Phoenix looked shorthanded, but that's still a good performance. A few interesting points :

- with the win, Los Dos are back in the final playoff spot in their division. Battle with Tacoma, Oakland and Sacramento will be tough though.
- the last G2 win against Phoenix was on September 1, 2016. More than five years! Since this last win, Los Dos had lost their last 13 games against Phoenix.
- our reserve team got his third clean sheet in a row. I wasn't able to remember when was the last time they got three shutouts. I made some research and the answer is simple : it has never happened in the entire G2 history. Remember the team was created in 2014...



Neal and Ferkranus were paired once again and they were great. Curiously, Ferkranus was quietly better than Neal, who made two avoidable mistakes, just to make up for them and recover the ball seconds after. Comparison is easy but I'm getting AJ - Omar vibes from these two. I don't care if they're young, they're probably our best CB duo. Vom Steeg very good once again.

I don't see what Danilo Acosta is made off. When he was signed here, word was is a very good player with off-the-field issues. It's simple, I don't see any blatant quality in him. He advances the ball well, decent cross (kudos to him, first goal came from a deflected cross with a laughable mistake by the keeper) but that's all, and he has a tendancy to let players get behind him. And he didn't seem to hustle that much. If I have to guess, he knows his time with the club is over.

Atrocious game from Dunbar once again. Perez, lively as usual, a little bit selfish as usual, but a very good cross on Judd's goal. Real danger inside the box. Hernandez scored a goal to end an up-and-down night from him.

Rémi Cabral had a Cabral's game. He made three very good runs behind the defense, wasted one with a bad finish and the next with a poor first touch, and the third lead to the red card after a DOGSO foul. Very much like his twin brother, you want to scratch your head and sometimes, a decisive play.

Next game is on Saturday (7:30 PM) against Landon's San Diego. Another hard game but Los Dos are hot.

 

I wrote a mistake : Los Dos indeed got three shutouts in a row twice in their history, if you count the USOC and the USL playoffs :

- between May 25, 2014 and June 1, 2014 (two USL games and a USOC game).
- between September 19, 2015 and October 3, 2015 (one USL game and two playoffs game).

They never got 4 though, so there is work to do !

Thank to Galaxy History to correct me on Twitter. Galaxy fans are amazing !

 

3-0 home loss against San Diego. Fortunately, other results came Los Dos way and they are still in a playoff position.

This loss is on Junior Gonzalez. The switch of formation was a mistake, Hernandez, who's usually the heart of our offense, played too high and was invisible in the second half. It resulted (or maybe it was the plan) to long balls to Cabral or Perez but never worked. Starting Cabral instead of Judd who was rested on Wednesday was a bad idea.

Los Dos got most of the ball in the second half after the return of the 4-3-3, but San Diego's defense was very regrouped, limiting the influences of Perez and Hernandez (though they still hold the ball too long sometimes).

Neal was the best player on the field for G2, until the 80th minute on a play when he slipped, lost the ball, and caused a PK. Ferkranus looks better next to him.

Not the best game from Aguirre, who had many turnovers while trying to be too pretty. Acosta was not effective in the final third, no way he's still with the Galaxy next year so give his minutes to Drack.

Harvey looked motivated but that was too much for the referee, who was close to give him a second yellow. This indiscipline remains a problem for the Panamanian international. Dunbar was horrid (once again), notably wasting a golden opportunity in the first minutes of the second half.

Next game is on Friday, on the road against the worst team in the Conference, Las Vegas (a.k.a. LAFC B).

 

In two hours, very important game in the playoff race at Las Vegas, LAFC's second team. They currently are dead last in the Conference, so win is the only option.