LA Galaxy vs Chicago Fire — Coachella Invitational Preseason | Feb 8, 12 PM CT

Maybe I should not have joined at the half. Fire down 2-1 and it is not looking pretty right now.

 

Zinck assist to Mueller!

 

Looks like it might be another 68 goals for, 60 goals against season…

 

I can't believe this. I leave the room and the Fire score.

 

Go away! Quick!

 

I'm gone now that Portland has a 3rd. Fire getting beaten with speed. Barroso is the only Fire player who can keep up with Antony. I was surprised earlier how much faster Barroso was than Glasgow when they were both chasing him.

 

Thank you! 3-3.

 

Hope Elliott is ok…landed hard after being pushed in the back while in the air…

Insult to injury, they score and take the W…multiple Fire players PISSED and there’s a little curfuffel afterwards.

 

Only two comments- 1) Mueller play has been a major surprise to me. Hope it continues. His name must be in hat for backup minutes. and 2) No evidence of any improvement in team defense,
despite Mbokazi integrating rapidly so far.
Unfortunately the negative impact of 2) is many times the positive of 1). Could be a rough first half of season.

 

FWIW, I think the last minute Gutman scratch impacted the defense...MHS was moved back to play that role...which added some unfamiliarity for Mbokazi and Saletros.

Would have been interesting (to me) to leave MHS up and play Dean, Mbokazi, or Radejovic at LWB...but not sure who all played in the morning 'closed door' game that was mentioned but not with details.

Thought they played decent defense in the first half and whatever adjustments were made at half favored Portland.

I'm not surprised by Mueller's play. I've mention a few times how hungry he has looked, posting some of his work outs on his IG account. That said, I actually don't think he's full speed yet...the fitness and touch is there, but the burst of speed and polish that he's capable of is still to come...and it should.

Also, regarding the loss, have to take into consideration both DPs did not play...I'm not worried about a 'rough first half of the season'...unless the injury bug becomes an issue.

 

Was my summary of entire preseason, not just this match.

 

Austin starters played 60 minutes, I believe.
Still my observation of year so far.
Plenty of time left for clearly needed improvement.

 

The 4-2-3-1 has worked better than the 5-2-3/3-4-3, in particular defensively

 

Three more thoughts/observations…
1) davilla showed much improved turns, poise and line breaking passes. Still needs to tighten up the connection with the back line.
2) Barroso was in the best form I’ve seen…sure seems to have locked down the starting position. Speed helps.
3) Altough Mueller played well, it’s hard to see him getting minutes unless Bamba, Cuypers or Zinck are injured….or! GGG decides to start preparing/trialing for a 2 striker formation…for when we sign our 3rd DP. Could be interesting to see…

 

I had the sound off so couldn’t hear names but the camera angle was so bad I couldn’t tell what garbage was going on. It was a bit like watching ice hockey. When the people bunch up in front of goal, just watch the net to see if a ball rolled in.

 

Saletros and Davilla found a grove with the 4-2-3-1 that provided a lot of cover for the 2CBs and they were also both very effective moving the ball between the lines. I suspect we will see more of that, until Franco comes back.

 

Numerous comments above on the poor defending. Most of you seem confident things will smooth out when the games matter. I'm not so sure. I see a lot of problems with general off the ball spacing & field balance, whether on offense or defense. Mbokazi is living up to billing, but was poor on the first goal. Dje was lazy getting back on one of the goals. Only the speed of Barroso prevented a goal on the breakaway, but he's had some other issues this preseason. There's some serious work to be done.

Fortunately, they get to ease into the season the first 4 games against teams at or below their level. After that the next 6 games feature Philly, Nashville, Atlanta, and Cincy x2. By Mother's Day we'll know a lot about whether or not this defense can hang with the top echelon of the Eastern Conference.

EDIT: All three players I singled out are young and should learn from their mistakes. But all 3 occupy premium roster spots & we should expect improvement and fewer of these mistakes.

 

CB + CDM shape/connection is the key to the season

 

Aaaaaaaand having no serious injuries.

 

Re: Mueller. It would be highly unusual not to need quality backup front row minutes during the entire 2026 season. Injuries, late game sub, rest for starters, etc.
He is obviously competing for those, not a starting position.