I thought Aguirre actually did okay, although noone was really stellar on the day. He is definitely very tidy on the ball - better than Raveloson in that regard. And can make a good pass on the ground, although he is prone to bad turnovers just like the others. I think the challenge for him will be if he can handle the league physically - I don't know if he's fast or strong enough to be a two-way mid at the MLS level. His assist was sweet, though. We've been sorely lacking in midfielders making late runs into the box and then making the proper pass.
Thought Aguirre had a better second half both defensively and offensively from what I can remember. On the defensive side, he seemed more decisive in his play. On the offensive side, I recall him trying to thread in low percentage passes when he had better/safer options. Also, it might have been Mark, but I think Aguirre had a bad TO in the midfield that led to a counter when he tried a cute completely unnecessary flick pass.
Also agree Aguirre acquitted himself well. Obviously a tough game to "shine" in, but the fact that he didn't look out of place or like a weak link is pretty promising. He did try a few passes that didn't quite come off, but even though he didn't connect I was pretty impressed by his vision and gumption to even try those. With a few more reps, he might actually connect some of those. Most impressively he showed lots of composure on his assist on the 2nd goal.
Composure and made the late run into the box, something none of our other midfielders seems willing to do....
I’m likely in the minority here, but initially, I wasn’t happy he passed. Our players lack a killer instinct, and I wanted to see him take the shot. Luckily he has more vision than me and pulled off that pass.
Aguirre had already missed 2-3 shots. I was glad that he passed at the end. But, agree, we need more shooting if you’re in a good spot.
We need players who can read the game and make the highest percentage play. Sometimes that means taking the shot even in a crowd, other times (like this one) it means having the composure to see and then provide a perfect pass to a teammate with an even easier shot. The main thing is composure in and around the box, something our team sorely lacks. We have technically skilled midfielders - Grandsir, Delgado, Alvarez and Raveloson all complete 84-89% of their passes. But they lose their composure and vision when passing in and around the box and have only 7 assists combined (3,0,1 and 3 assists respectively). Our other two high minutes midfielders (>750 minutes) are Costa and Cabral. Cabral is a poor passer everywhere, with only a 79% completion rate despite most of his passes being fairly routine. He of course has 0 assists and 0 goals in his 882 minutes. We have another group of players who are calmer around the box - Vasquez and Kljestan. And to some extent Costa. Vasquez completes an impressive 90% of his passes overall and we've all seen him make nice chip passes and deliver quality through balls. But he only has 1 assist this season. Part of the reason is because he's only played 6 games worth of minutes. The other reason is discussed below. Kljestan is very similar - very accurate 87% completion rate and always calm in the final third. But again only 1 assist. Sacha however has an even better excuse - he has played only 2.5 games worth of minutes. If he were playing regularly his assist rate would translate to 10+ assists per season. Unfortunately he can't stay healthy. That leaves Costa as our last midfielder. He's actually played more minutes than both Grandsir and Victor. His 82% pass completion rate though is pretty poor, especially for a DP. But on the positive side he does try a lot of aggressive killer passes - a few early in the season were right on the money, others were all over the place. Inconsistent. He has only 2 assists in 760 minutes of play. And that brings us to problem 2. Not only do the lions share of our midfield minutes go to terrible final third passers, we also have almost no competent finishers to convert the rare good passes they do make. Yes Chich --despite his current slump -- is a great finisher and Dejan is very good as well. But as we know Vanney only plays 1 at a time. Unfortunately the rest of the team are as bad finishers as they are final third passers. Why, given their obvious technical skills in other areas? Well, it's because of the same reason they are poor final third passers - their panic increases exponentially the closer they get to the goal. Their lack of composure causes them to have tunnel vision, rush and/or mishit their shots, shoot straight at the keeper or a defender, sky gimmes and so on. And if it's Cabral, add in trip on their own feet. So that brings us back to Aguirre. His calm composure when creating that assist in the box was wildly refreshing to see. It was a sample size of only one, but it's been so long since we've seen anyone on this team do a play that actually looks like good soccer it makes you proud! That is where we are now - excited to see one pretty play from one of our bench warmers! PS - There is one exception to my characterization of the Galaxy roster: Raheem Edwards. This guy dribbles like a gangly newborn colt still unsure of his legs. But rather than shy away from the pressure when he gets closer to goal he absolutely thrives on it. When he gets upfield he will try anything and everything to create a goal for himself or a teammate. Remember this is a guy who is a poor passer overall - his 80% rate (with sometimes awful turnovers) is poor for a defender, because defender rates are inflated by repeated easy back passes to each other and the goalie. Nevertheless Raheem, from his left back defender position has twice as many assists as any other Galaxy player. Now I wouldn't call his final third play composed -- it's more full speed ahead, wild killer mode. IOW, it's a fine substitute, in my opinion.
Yeah, Raheem is so frustrating. Horrible one second, hustling and making something happen the next. I suppose it would be hard to play with him when he takes off on his wild jaunts. But, someone needs to. Of course, that leaves defensive coverage issues.
I think there's a common theme when Raheem is poor - his hearts not in it. He's been mostly very solid all season, but against USL side and when playing down a man to Minnesota, he had some very poor moments. I think he stops playing disciplined (maybe it's not deliberate) and starts trying to do too much and gives up on plays.
Aguirre definitely has solid decision making. I believe there were two other times in the game where he was setup for the shot and didn't hesitate and just ripped it - so he isn't afraid to shoot - whether he's a finisher or (more than likely) not. He's just clearly seeing a good pass as a higher percentage - and I think he has been involved in build up of two nice goals so clearly he might be right.
Raheem is a lot like Feltscher - great going forward, an undisciplined adventure on defense. And like I did with Feltscher I am going to shout the same recommendation into the wind - move him up to midfield. Does anyone here doubt that Edwards would be more effective in midfield than Cabral? On offense especially -- even as a defender he already has 10,000 X as many assists as Cabral this season. But also on midfield defense, breaking up plays and winning 50-50 battles he would be better than Kevin. If you doubt that would be the case then I'm going to have to ask you to give up you "Knowledgeable Fan" membership card. No need to mail it back, you can just throw it in the waste bin, alongside my "Most Humble Opinions" trophy.
Reynoso scored twice for Minnesota over the weekend to help them beat RSL 3-2. Imagine if we added a player like Reynoso to our squad?