LEAGUES CUP 2024: San Jose Earthquakes - Los Angeles Galaxy (Wed., 7/31) pre/in/postgame thread [R]

It is hard work trying to get this team out of the basement. You already agreed that a better supporting cast might help. He played ‘Grino thru with a dime last night, ‘Grino blew the finish. That’s not Herman’s fault. Look, I’m saying he could be better but also saying he hasn’t been bad. But you seem to be unable to accept any kind of gray area . ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Nice. Never miss an opportunity to use a man’s misfortune as a basis for an insult.

 

Oh c'mon, I was playing, and I deleted it anyway because covid is no fun.

And so far, I'm not impressed with our newest DP. Hopefully he can have a positive impact at some point but so far, we're historically bad and he's not getting it done.

 

Again, you’re resolving it into a binary (“not getting it done”). I’m not sure that Messi could get this team out of the basement. He hasn’t been bad, he hasn’t been great. It’s somewhere in-between for me.And now instead of just throwing my hands up and blaming Chris Leitch I’m thinking about what he can do and what the team can do to get more out of his talent.

 

I don't agree with this part at all. He works harder defensively than I expected he was going to, and I think one reason he gets subbed out is because he has run himself into the ground.

 

I'm not seeing it. He gets a poor grade on work rate, for me. On technical ability, he's so-so. On link up play and creativity, he's very average. On match fitness, he should be able to go the full 90 and he should be able to chip in with more goals and assists, and I'd like to see him tracking back more.

In sum, very underwhelming so far.

 

You're blaming the coaches, and Leitch, for Hernan's lackluster showing thus far. Leitch is responsible for assembling the "supporting cast" you say Hernan needs around him, to be better.

I think we agree on that.

Paging Rick Astley! Summer TF window is still wide open.

 

We are too disjointed. Our guys do not play as a team. It’s a collection of individuals who occasionally manage to work together.

Our defense works together more often than not, but they are still shaky, our offense look they just met each other ten minutes before game time. We ignore wide open players. We pass the ball backward when there is an open man farther upfield. Our throwins are amateur hour levels of shit. Only a few of our guys play with passion.

That said, we’ve looked better in League’s Cup than previously. We’ve looked better and better organized under Ian than under Luchi. On the whole, I’m pleased with the improvements under Ian.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

No, if you read my posts you can see that I think everyone is responsible - Hernan himself, the team assembly (CL), and the coaching. Including parts of my recent posts again here below for convenience. The parts in bold are about putting responsibility on Hernán himself, along with the coaching staff and CL.

If it wasn't clear, the "he" in bold above refers to Hernán. What "the team" can do to get more out of his talent is CL + coaching staff. Those posts are entirely consistent.

As for "he hasn't been bad", his goal / assist rate would put him at about 10g, 5a for a full season's worth of minutes. So while I can say he hasn't been great and maybe a bit of a disappointment, I would also point out that those would be the best numbers for a Quakes CAM since Dwayne DeRosario and Quakes 2005 was a way, way better team, by like orders of magnitude, so it was a lot easier to rack up some numbers with that kind of supporting cast.

 

Just to ask @Quakes05 and track way back when i first asked.

If we spend big money on a DP #10 and he doesn't spike our needle then what? clearly its not the money at that point right?

 

okay, go on. what can "Hernán himself" do to be the kind of impact player we need him to be?

I'd say work on match fitness, he needs to be a better two-way player, create more chances, worry less about his shorts, let a few more shots rip, read the game better, turn the ball over less, work on set pieces...and, ultimately, get his goals and assist numbers up. 2 assists over 15 games so far isn't very good, especially when he's supposed to be organizing our attack.

 

We played better against LA last night than we have in the previous matches against them, though I think LA was still better on balance. Still, a tie would have been a pretty fair result, and we could have won with some reasonable finishing (other than Jebo). But it wasn't Puig slicing thru our midfield and us getting caught with bad numbers against a counter. IOW generally we didn't get sliced open. The Fagundez goal was a good individual play along with some lax defending but we were not pulled apart at all on that play. The 2nd goal was a really great goal that we should have defended better but they also hit it out of the park with their execution on that, and as I said, probably couldn't pull off that play more than 1 out of 20 tries. The problem with the bunker strategy, where you have 11 behind the ball, and no one to even try to release the ball to on a clearance, is that you're going to give teams "20 tries" or more, and eventually something bad might happen.

 

it's always about smarts and money. Quakes are so far behind; we have a lot of catching up to do. We do need a better supporting cast, and it was imperative that we get our DP signings right since we don't spend much.

Gruezo arrived on a $3 million transfer fee, Hernan is reported to have been $6 or 7 million...that's never happened here before...ever. So we need those guys to be massive for us...and so far, well, unfortunately the results speak for themselves.

 

Don't worry about the shorts. It has no impact on the game.

I think he has to more often look to pass earlier before trying to take on 2 or 3 guys in midfield. That would also lessen the number of turnovers. That's also a team thing. When he gets the ball, we can't have guys standing around seeing if he's going to beat 3 guys. They need to be moving to give him an outlet, and he needs to be looking for it. I don't know about his fitness. I don't really see him lagging but I'm not watching as closely as Ian, and I'm not sure if Ian takes him out for fitness reasons or for tactical reasons.

As I said, if you project his goals and assists out to a full season's worth of minutes (he has only 1100 minutes now), he'd be at about 10g, 5a, which, as I said, would be the best season for a Quakes CAM by far since DeRo in 2005.

 

Hernán isn’t playing well enough. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the Quakes malaise, or maybe he doesn’t trust his teammates to make good plays.

Whatever it is, Hernán needs to be better. He’s our most expensive guy, he needs to produce, and he needs to make his teammates better. Which right now, he doesn’t.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

neither is good when you're in a 1-1 tie with your chief rival, playing at home. he's our big time DP, supposed to be the guy we count on in situations like last night, after a big win against Chivas...when there's still something to play for.

 

I think Hernan is playing with a nagging injury.

 

This. Puig is the league's best player, and it's not even close. And he has an offensive supporting cast superior to the Quakes' lineup. LA was the better team and deserved to win, but the Quakes gave a gallant effort and fought back after being down early. Can't fault the Quakes or the result.

 

The number one thing I want to see out of Hernán is teamwork. He needs to trust his teammates (even if that is unwarranted). He needs to pass to his teammates more, and then make the run after the pass.

He needs to be a leader on the pitch. He needs to play where Jebo drops in, such that Jebo can stay high, and Hernán can feed him, or some other player who then feeds Jebo or shoots.

Your mileage may vary, but my big problem with Hernán is lack of teamwork.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

I didn't say it was good that he came out, I said I'm not sure if fitness is an issue with him or not.

 

Yeah, I'd say Puig was "relatively" bottled up last night (compared to games against LAG in the recent past) though he had that killer pass at the end.

 

I know the answer, I was just wondering what Quakes 05 thought lol.

Hernan was never going to, and will never be able to showcase full potential with the paper thin goodwill roster we have. I said that from the day we signed him, and I think @JazzyJ said the same things as I did, good player, fun to watch, cant do shit with this team and we better not expect much

 

This, and the fact they got Puig, then dumped everyone including (Chicharito) to get him a team that supports his talents and exploits his best skills. We will need to do the same, and some tough choices and sad people are ahead.

I think it comes down to LA Galaxy or LAFC in the west to go to MLS Cup. Overall I think the Galaxy have the best overall roster, LAFC has the best attack.

Inter Miami vs LA Galaxy / LAFC final I bet.

 

Jebo drops way to far back into the midfield which clogs up the space where HLM is supposed to operate. HLM would be more effective with a target striker. Someone like Vironi, Suarez, Musa, Bentenke or the dude for the Fire.

 

As I said recently, if you go thru this roster and think about who are the players who are good in possession, there's just a handful. I mean guys that you can pass to and they'll have a good touch, be able to hold under pressure, and then make a good pass. For a team like Columbus I think it's like really every player. I think Wilfried just builds the team that way. If you're not a good possession player you're not on the team.

With the Quakes, it's something like:

Espinoza
Hernán
Yueill
Morales
Gruezo (though he will almost always go for the super safe pass)

And that's about it. Maybe Akapo but he's too one-footed and gets himself turned inside out over it too much. Same with Niko. Rodrigues actually rarely loses the ball with all of the risks he takes but not sure if I'd include him. Munie hasn't been bad. Costa makes too many poor passes. Jebo too one-footed and 1st touch is not always great.

We are 2nd to last in possession in MLS this year at 44%. That's not necessarily a bad thing if that's the way your tactics lead you. But with us I think it's just partly that we're bad at trying to hold onto the ball.