"..in the rear of Roberto Carlos." I believe that was his direct quote as the color guy when describing what LA needed to do to get some attack going. Christian was awful as the PBP, fawning over Real every 2 seconds. Pando was a joke, Hartman looked nervous, Cobi looked old. Kirovski actually started okay, then faded. Nagamura and Herculez(when he finally got the ball) actually did some decent things. But that quote was just classic.
Not a bad showing by the Gals. I was very afraid for them during the first 30 minutes until they got over ther jitters and played ball. Jovan, Nagamura (sp?)Albright and Vagenas seemed to find their feet the quickest and actually tried to play good soccer. Their is such a huge gap in class though and it's good for the team to see that level of football. Even pre-season Real football is a meaningful step up from the average MLS side. Christian Miles is a good announcer but the excessive praise of the galacticos wore thin on me.
The Gals didn't embarass themselves, which is hugely positive. They pressured the Real Madrid goal on several occasions, and were able to do so even while looking nervous and star-struck at times. Further, both of RM's goals could be classified as LA defensive errors: on the first, the entire Galaxy defense was caught ball-watching at the far post while Owen dashed into the open, and on the second, Soldado was given a sick amount of space -- way too much. It was also a totally saveable ball by Hartman, but he got a bit slow to react. What struck me for the first time this season was the utter lack of starpower on the Galaxy in Donovan's absence. NE, FCD, or DCU would have been more appealing opponents for Real, personality-wise. Donovan would have added A LOT. Nagamura had 3 good looks at the goal from long range -- if he could have kept them down it would have added a lot of excitement to the game. Kirovski was easily the Galaxy's best player in the 1st half, too bad he couldn't keep it up. Ya gotta love Herculez's spunk. Pando needs a lesson in humility. Punk. Where was Vagenas?? Props to Sampson for giving the yougsters some time on the field at the end of the game. Very classy move. Final thought: On a team full of stars, Zidane clearly outclasses every single one of his teammates. What an utterly sublime performance he had last night.
Oh, and I'll take Stone/Wynalda over Miles/Schmid any day of the week. At halftime I switched over the FSE broadcast, but all the arrogant announcers could talk about there was how bad the Galaxy sucked. I couldn't take it anymore and was forced to switch back.
I thought the Galaxy acquitted themselves pretty well, but there was an obvious discrepency in both individual skill and team class out there. Pando is an absolute punk and didn't belong on the field. He is a lazy-ass, selfish soccer player who was an embarassment to the league. I have no idea why he was brought to MLS to begin with, and I'm even more confused as to why Sampson sticks with him. He brings nothing to the Galaxy. And Naldo is even worse. Nagamura was the best Galaxy player out there, and Herculez played very well in the 2nd half. On the first Madrid goal, Ugo got a lesson in sticking with his mark. He started watching Zidane, and Owen ran right behind him unmarked. Ugo's a great young talent, but yesterday was a good lesson for him in how far he still has to go in reading the game around him. Tyrone Marshall played wonderful soccer and looked like he belonged out there.
Huh. Hey 'meg, care to elaborate on Pando? Not trying to rile, but I'm curious about what bugged you so much about last night. He seemed pretty active and he was, at least, trying to hold the ball and then create into the middle, as opposed to just dumping it to an already covered overlapping player. I'm no Pando fan, but I'm surprised at the level of vitriol. Was it the foul on Graveson that earned him a yellow? I feel like I missed something (which is possible, as I was nodding off at times.)
I was at the game, and these things struck me. 1) We are a much much better team with Chris Albright. His overlapping runs with Cobi are one of our best offensive weapons. I think he played well, too. Kept up with Roberto Carlos well. 2) Kirovski was his usual self last night, only more visible - like he was trying to put the whole team on his shoulders. He played hard, was very physical, got in good positions, and then when it was time to hit the ball? He whiffs it. 3) Herculez! Herculez! Herculez! Dude, he is quickly overtaking Grabavoy as my favorite young Galaxy player. Did you see how he would get the ball, and just TAKE OFF? It was like, "******** IT, I'm gonna go see if I can score!" Did well, too. 4) I seriously hope we keep Nagamura. He makes things happen. I sincerely hope that we don't let him slip away like Saragosa. Last night, he was in rare form. He's a good foot shorter than Zidane, but always stuck with him in the mid-field. 5) El Gato was amazing. I loved watching him, just spectacular. Vagenas was mostly missing, IMO. Pando. . . I dunno. I can't figure him out. Naldo managed to ******** up EVER TIME HE TOUCHED THE BALL. If he headed it, it went out of bounds. If he passed the ball, it went to a Madrid attacker making a run. Ridiculous. Cobi was and is class.
Now that Andrulis is gone, Naldo is prolly the #2 complaint thread on BS, right behind Steve Sampson... Disclaimer: the above is an attempt at humor. It's called hyperbole. So b4 some Smurf fan comes at me w/ a lame, "Wull, I just did a search of BS and Naldo doesn't even... blah blah blah blah blah", please spend your sacred time "searching" for the word hyperbole in a dictionary, m'kay.
I didn't exactly chart the game, so my comments can't be as specific as I'd like them to be, but a few things really bug me about Pando. - He doesn't defend. That foul on Zidane is a good example of being lazy instead of hustling to take a good defensive position and support his teammates. Why run when you can instead just hack? - He doesn't look for players and options around him. Yes, Dunivant was marked on a few of his overlapping runs, but on a couple he was a much better alternative than Pando's first instinct - an impossible shot from nowhere. Not only that, but Nagamura and Vagenas were also trying to make runs away from the ball, but Pando basically ignored them and tried to play cute instead. And his shooting? More often than not, all his attempts at a shot did was kill the Galaxy's few attacking opportunities. - He doesn't make runs away from the ball. The only time I saw any semi-hustle from Pando is when the ball was at his feet. But when his teammates needed an outlet, Pando was standing still. I can't stand players who stand around waiting for the ball to come to them. Maybe my impressions were off - it wouldn't be the first time. But after the stupid tackle on Zidane, I made a point of watching Pando to see what he'd bring to the Galaxy. In my opinion - not much. I'd give a player like Grabavoy a chance instead.
I was actually quite dissapointed at the Gals showing. I thought they would have played much better. RM made them look like a high school team in the 1st half. Game was one-sided the only thing that wasn't was the score board.
That was likely because he was facing shots from Owen, Beckham and Roberto Carlos every 3 minutes. I thought Hartman was MOTM for the Gals.
I thought it also showed Albright ball watching standing next to a Madrid player, thus keeping Owen on-side. Not saying Ugo was blame-free, but Albright was part of the play as well.
I thought Sigi was pretty good as color commentary. However, I was constantly cursing at the TV whenever Christian Miles was talking. His fawning was ridiculous. At times RM deserved it, but Miles was ridiculous. I have often switched over to regional broadcasts on Direct Kick to avoid having to listen to Miles. As for the game, not too bad for the galaxy. Kirovski really looked good in the first half. I do not understand why Pando continues to start. He seems like a talented player, but he accomplishes nothing. I am glad for MLS that Marshall was back for this game. I think the Galaxy would have fared worse without him.
Thanks for breaking that down a bit, 'meg. And, yeah, I certainly noticed that he was holding the ball too much, especially in the first half. I thought he was looking to create something by cutting in, but after he did the "ignore the overlap" thing for the 4th time I got to thinking about how his teammates were reacting. I've always been a "reward the runner" kind of guy. Not every time, but you've gotta feed those guys sometimes. The other thing I noticed was that Kirovski was shouting at hime (I think it was Pando) to play the ball quicker off a freekick. Given your observations, I wonder if there's a level of frustration setting in. Interesting. I had really thought Pando was a good MLS acquisition. My opinin is that the league needs guys that are willing/able to attack from the midfield spots. He seems to bring that ability and desire. But I'll certainly keep a closer watch on him. Peace.
Yesterday was a turning point for me on the subject of Nagamura. He was fantastic last night. Lately, he has shown the confidence to dribble himself out of problems and it has lead to good things (Like Herculez first goal against Chivas Saturday. I was really, really impressed with Nagamura for the first time all season. I like Herculez' desire, and will, and attitude. He is an exciting player and I hope that Sampson tries pairing him up top with Landon or with Kiro and dropping Landon back into midfield. Hopefully the rise of Herc will lead to Naldo being cut or dropped at least to the bench.
One visible difference between Real and the Galaxy is that often when you thought the Galaxy would cross the ball ... they did. Even if they had no advantage when doing so. Just too predictable. Lousy shooting, too. Good fearlessness from some of the players, though. There was that patch in the second half when a Galaxy goal seemed likely, but for the bad shooting. That puttered out, though, even against a tired Madrid. And this is when the lack of ideas really began to show, at the end of the match. I think Cobi Jones should have played more if possible.
Let's remember that Cobi has been playing hurt lately, as has Vagenas and Kirovski. Albright just returned from injury as well, so I didn't expect any of them to go the full 90, especially after playing in the SoCal classico Saturday night.
All that needs to be said: "In a couple of years, maybe we'll come back and it'll be difficult for us." - Michael Owen on playing the LA Galaxy http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=337236&cc=5901
Full quote: "I thought they played very well," Owen said of the Galaxy. "It's not easy to play against a team of Real Madrid's quality. In a couple of years, maybe we'll come back and it'll be difficult for us."
How about the full quote dumbass. "I thought they played very well," Owen said of the Galaxy. "It's not easy to play against a team of Real Madrid's quality. In a couple of years, maybe we'll come back and it'll be difficult for us."
Is it just me or does Owen strike people as a distinctly decent person? Not that every superstar pro-football player has to be a prima-donna / ambassador of the game / jerkwad / humanitarian / cheating scum (check all that apply), but I've just never seen or read anything about Owen that implies he's anything but nice guy and a great footballer. And he's certainly had the grounds to complain lately. Just an observation.
Nutmeg, I think those impressions of Pando, generally, are about spot on. But, going on last night alone, I didn't see much of any of those. Repeatedly in the 2nd half, Pando was in the defensive end tracking back, including cutting out a Madrid through-ball that Miles complemented Pando's read on. In general, you're right, he doesn't seem to like tracking back, but last night it looked like he made a genuine effort to. As well, he sent a few great slicing balls up the left side through the Madrid defense that lead to crosses and decent opportunities. Nevertheless, you're point that he holds the ball way too long on the dribble (in addition to being entirely one-footed) is certainly correct. But, in all honesty, I though Pando's play last night was the best game I've seen him play in. He even kept his long-range field goals to a minimum.
Yes, he does and he is. From talking to a few people who have met him or have known him, he is very nice and decent guy. Very personable. He still should have scored that second!
Whoever said that Hartman should have saved the Soldado goal is crazy. That shot was a screamer and he was given way too much space. One of the technical skills that Real Madrid showed that was two steps above anything we see in MLS was their pure ball-striking. Hartman is a big guy and he may not be totally agile, but he does a good job getting behind shots. Nonetheless, he was battered by some of the shots. He did a great job making initial saves, but often the balls were struck so much harder than he was used to that he could not help but give up a rebound - if only for a second. One of the least frequently seen plays in MLS are the scorching shots from the run-of-play taken from 25 - 30 yards out. There are very few players who can convincingly and consistently take these shots (Burciaga, O'Brien, Rico Clark . . . not many others). But the Galacticos (and even the wannabe Galacticos) were all ready to unload when given space and did so very dangerously. It looked like some of those shots had 10 - 15 mph more power on them than what we see week to week. The supurb change of pace that most of the Real players showed on the ball was something to behold as well. While the better Galaxy players (who didn't just get rid of the ball as soon as they could) sought to press the ball and slip through the smallest seam by dribbling AS FAST AS THEY COULD, it was great to watch how quietly and subtly Zidane would speed up his dribble until a defender began sliding back, then Zizou would slow down to maintain the space between himself and the defender - affording him better passing lanes and more time to make the pass. All while continuing to move closer to the goal with the ball under perfect control. We just don't see that type of ball control in MLS - even the better ball control players like Moreno prefer to have a defender close them down and use a feint or trick to unbalance the defender and go by. Zidane (and Beckham on a few occasions) regularly changed pace - intentionally not beating their man - but setting up the defender nonetheless so that they could pass right through him when a player (Michael Owen on the first goal) made his run. All in all, I was pleased to watch how well LA hung in there. But apart from a great attempt by Herculez Gomez and a nice Kirovski free kick (and that half-chance that Cobi almost got onto) there were not many threats on the Madrid goal. And let's not forget that Real Madrid does not have the most stellar defense in the world. Especially considering who they fielded in those roles. Iker Casillas was imperious too, compared to the average MLS keeper facing the Galaxy. He was very quiet when on his line and very decisive when leaving it. He ate up every ball that came to him as well. It was really a treat to watch an MLS club playing a team of Real Madrid's caliber. I think that it is safe to say LA did about as well as a continental team would in Champions League qualifying rounds or maybe the worst team in a group stage. Maybe even as good as a lower-tier La Liga team. It would have been interesting to see how well LA would have played with Donovan available.