While sitting back appreciating Gabriel Pec winning the Newcomer award and thinking that he reminded me of KaKa, I started to think man our current squad is a really special roster. I wonder if the current Galaxy squad could take the 2012 squad. I think that answer is no. But then again,...What do you all think? What is the best Galaxy squad and how would they match in battle? For example,... ------------------Saunders Franklin---Omar---------AJ------Dunivant -- Beckham--Juninho----Sarvas---Magee --- --------------Donovan---Keane - ------------------------VS - ----------------------DeJan - Paintsil----------Riqui Puig-------Pec - ----------------Delgado------Rues - Audi-----Yoshida------Garces--Yamane --------------------McCarthy THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE! LET THEM FIGHT!
Well the stats are all in favor of the current team. Fourth vs eighth in the supporters shield. This year's team gave up 3 more goals but scored 10 more.
I know right. This is why I am conflicted. I love DJ and the Killer P's but could they out score the Big 3 and Magic Mike when they get hot?
The greatest Galaxy team of all time, based on the stats, is actually the 2011 team.** Which won the balanced Shield and the MLS Cup. The only team to ever do that. Only minor changes between the 2012 and 2011 teams, but I'd say the 2011 team is the one to compare to all others. **Arguments can be made for the 2014 team, which was 3 points short of winning the Shield (which wasn't balanced) and also won MLS Cup.
Next we'll see after this season is all said and done, if we did a Galaxy Best XI, who would be on it? And would any of the current roster be on it? I'm leaning towards Puig, I don't think we've ever had a player like him. I might. My best Goalkeeper is a tossup between Saunders and Penedo. We only had Jaime for a short amount of time but the eye test just solidified him up there for me. As for our Backline That backline in 2011 was really good. I was thinking about replacing AJ for Berhalter or Van Damme but I think the CB working as a pair is arguably the best we've ever had. As for Fullbacks, can't beat Dunivant. Doesn't provide a lot going forward but boy can he lock down that left side. Sean makes up for it on the right side. Our midfield, Juninho as our DM works well because of the RW I have out there, and Puig to me at this point is a no brainer. I can't think of any other player like him we've ever had. Nobody can carry a ball into space that doesn't exist like Puig. I think also Pec can serve as our RW, having Juni there would help with the Brazilian element and Donovan on the LW is a no brainer. As for strikers I can't think of any better pure 9s we've ever had than King Keano and Zlatan. .................Penedo/Saunders Franklin...... Gonzalez.....AJ .....Dunivant .............Juninho ........ Puig Pec.............................................. Donovan ............ Keane ............. Zlatan As a bonus you could even swap Pec for Donovan And of course our Manager would be Bruce, and this 4-4-2 would easily fit his playstyle lol
TrickHog Rule One: You gotta win hardware to be in the all-time best XI. So no current players yet, and Zlatan doesn't make it. In a one forward lineup, Keane is King, with El Pescadito in second.
Agree with Keane vs. Zlatan. But not Ruiz. Carlos doesn’t even hold a candle to Zlatan. I get the argument that Zlatan never won us anything, but that’s likely more due to circumstance than skill.
Well, it depends on if you are listing Galaxy All Time Starting XI, or All Time Starting XI of Players who have played for the Galaxy. Zlatan and Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole and Marco Reus would probably be in the latter. But not the former. And I wouldn't list any player in the Galaxy All-Time without hardware -- we have too many great players and there needs to be a minimum requirement.
That's your rule, not mine. Zlatan was on this team during our darkest of times and the only reason we had a ray of hope because of him. If you win league wide accolades I think that puts you In contention for the list. Yes I was questionable about Puig so not winning any silverware or league wide accolade removes him, I get it. Both Pec and Zlatan won newcomer of the year awards.
Or you could say that Zlatan hogged the ball, didn't work well with his teammates and chased individual glory at the expense of team success. I don't know if that's really true - but we got no closer to winning hardware while he was with us, despite his immense talent, which has him not be the forward in my Galaxy All Time Starting XI.
I think if Zlatan was on a team closer in talent to himself I think it would be better. If he had a striker partner like Keane, wingers like Pec and Donovan feeding him, tell me we wouldn't be racking up goals like no tomorrow. By the same token then I'll keep Sarvas and Juninho together then.
Are we accounting for managers at the time? If so Bruce wipes the floor with Vanney. A straight 2011/12 vs 2024 I’m still going with 2011/2012 and over a three game series I don’t think it’s close. The core of that team had been together for 3 years by that point. Lots of cohesion the ‘24 team is still building. The 11/12 teams also had some old heads on the roster who knew how to play the “game”. I think back to that Seattle v LA playoff game where Seattle were on paper the better team, but Bruce had Landon and Beckham effectively playing as a second defensive line and counterpunched the whole night it was a tactical masterclass and incredibly disciplined performance from LD and David. Our current squad doesn’t have that; they’re very much an “our raw talent will beat yours 4-3”. Then there’s the back line in general. Other than Yoshida I take Omar, AJ and Dunny every single time. Now … our 2025 or 2026 team. That could be a different story.
Also why I don't like Bruce taking the SJ job. Those have been easy points to get the last couple of years and that's going to change....
And very good point -- that 2010-2014 Galaxy team was pretty incredible. Five years - 2 shields (the only two in a balanced table) and 3 MLS Cups, only failing to win hardware in 2013. And in 2014 finished second for the shield - sacrificing the shield in order to be healthy for the Cup run (which they won).
Although I will say. the story of this team has yet to be finished being written so let's see it play out ;-)
If Zlatan was on this current roster instead of DeJan or the 2011 roster instead of Keane or Landon we not only win the league but we do it with a higher record. He and Pavon were the reason we made it to the playoffs. Ibra was carrying the team like Messi and Suarez are carrying Miami.
This is where I am too. Beckham and Landon actually played defense. Plus as cold as Puig, he is not pin point Beckham pass good at a more consistent clip. I do think he will be though. I think Mike Magee, Sarvas and Juninho would struggle against Pec, Paintsil and DeJan though. But Keano is there and that dude didn't get slow until the end of his last season. I feel like both teams can score at will but ultimately that 2011 and 2012 team had a better defensive backline. The only way those defenses would struggle against the 2024 team is if you put Frankie Hejduk or Leonardo in the rotation. Maybe if we can ever see a Neal and Garces pairing for 90 minutes would I consider changing my opinion though. I feel like those 2 have the potential to give Omar and AJ a run for their money. Man I don't know. I need to go back and look up highlights of our win loss record when Vanney was running Toronto between 2014 to 2016 to see how Bruce and he coached against each other.
Disagree completely about the goalkeepers. Neither make my top 2 Don't see how you can rate either over 1) Hartman 2) Ricketts (in his first time with the Galaxy) Also choosing Pec over Beckham with a front 3 of Zlatan, Keane and Donovan seems negligent as a manager.
I wasn’t watching the Galaxy closely during Hartman’s time, but agree first-go-round Ricketts was our best goalkeeper since 2008. And even though I was a Peñedo fan (still think Bruce did him dirty) I would take McCarthy over him. Jaime was smart and quick but his small frame gave him less goal coverage than McCarthy, who is more likely to get to a shot going toward the corners or sneaking inside the posts. Neither were great on snagging corners though.
I would take the 2012 team over the current team. Imagine that the 2012 backline and midfield could contain the 2024 team better than the 2024s backline and midfield would against the 2012 attacking players. I think the precise and technical play of Magee, Donovan, Keano, and Becks along with the support of Juni and Marcelo would be too much.
I’m on the Hartman bandwagon for franchise goalkeeper. Both due to skill and his tenure with the team. Plus that Trickhog X factor of winning titles during his time playing with us. Fun discussion all!