Los Angeles Galaxy vs Kansas City, March 14th, 2026, Match Thread

No Pec (suspension), no Paintsil (injury). Midweek game Wednesday and a midweek game this coming week as well.

 

Why is the Electric Light Orchestra rating MLS clubs?

 

Honestly, knocking in that goal right before halftime is just icing on what has been pretty good play all game. We look a little vulnerable on our right flank, but it's good to see some defensive resilience.

 

Wow, what a win! Too bad Pulskamp wasn’t rewarded with a shutout after that incredible double save.

 

Caveat aside that LA were missing all three Ps, I thought we did a great job being organized on defense overall. Vermes never seemed to figure out how to defend deep and counter effectively, but Wicke's team tonight did both. I'm excited to see their improvement as a countering side when Capita rolls into the squad too!

Really solid from Berg Johnsen, especially highlighted by scoring the game winner.

I'm still hopeful we upgrade over Bartlett with someone much more athletic, though I do feel like he's put on fifteen pounds of muscle this off-season. I just think our midfield needs to be covering more ground, because currently it seems our wings are getting pulled in too deep. Might have been tactical in this case, and I will admit I was particularly impressed by Shapi's defensive contributions this game, but ultimately I wish we had slightly freer wingers in future games.

I still wish Miller weren't bottom of the CB pile. Guy looks like it's the only thing he cares about, keeping the other team from scoring. Something about his mentality and focus remains a standout on this team to me.

 

Only saw the second half, great teamwork, loved the anticipation. Can't wait for the next home game.

 

I think long term LBJ replaced Bartlett and Davis slots in next to him when Reynolds is healthy.

 

What a great game. Spent the last 20 minutes yelling blow the whistle at my screen, to no effect as the game kept playing. But that was fun.
My positives:
Lasse has pulled SKC from the bottom of the well. He's exactly what we've been missing for years. Massive signing. Excellent, Mr Burns. He's that one player who makes everybody so much better, as a great 6 can do.
Manu finally plays a bit more free, more forward and he's a monster in possession.
Jovelic is pure class, as always. At one point, they showed the graph of his touches v Klaus and made some Klaus is more involved comment and we're all thinking, exactly what you fools should be thinking. Touches, he don't need no stinking touches!
Not sure Davis is a right back, but we are better when he's on the field.
Pulskamp really did earn a shutout. He had a couple squiggy moments playing with his feet, but he can save.
And I totally agree on Miller above Meyer, or Bartlow. But given the job Mr Burns did in finding Lasse, really excited for Blorian (and Capita).
Negatives:
Players whose last names begin with Bart. Bartlett's positioning is just a smidge off almost all the time, and it leads to counters against us and slows us down. You can see the difference between how he moves without the ball and how Lasse moves. Lasse reads the game and knows where he has to stop the flow. Bartlett watches the ball and chases it. and he spends way, way too much time standing about a yard from someone else. He's just young and needs to learn.
I'd been warming to Bartlow, but have now cooled again. He just isn't playing smart. On the goal, WTF was he on the line instead of marking HIS spot, which Reus happened be using to score.
And Harris is my most frustrating type of player, a speedy guy who plays as if he's slow. Afrifa makes us look more dangerous, even when we're just trying to kill off the game.
Question: Was Shapi better defensively than our left back. Is he a left back option?

 

Quote from the LA fan forum:
Random impressions:

Vanney’s defense continues to suck despite being a point of emphasis this season.

Sanabria and Cuevas combined extremely well on the right and in fact their combo play got us behind the defense and helped create our goal. Both should be getting more playing time.

Micovic has no range. Their second goal would have been saved by McCarthy or any other good keeper.

Vanney has no plan for us. It’s chaos almost every week.

Letting Joveljic get away was a massive personnel mistake. We could have built around him for a decade."

 

Joveljic . How on earth did we land this guy? Hes like the antithesis of the PV striker. And he’s probably the most underrated under appreciated athlete in Kansas City. 4M dollars well spent by a front office and soccer operations that was totally defunct. I don’t get it.

 

And in the supporters shield standings, we're up to 20th. In the west, we're still only ahead of Portland and some sloppy side down I-70.
So, at this point, among major players, "The Burns Era has brought in Manu, Jovelic, Lasse and Shapi (who really sounded like a BOGO).
So the three best players on the roster, plus Shapi, who has his moments.
I wish we could have gotten our moves done more quickly, but the results are first rate.
I am assuming Blorian will be another first rate player for us.
Diego will be his first U22 initiative guy, right?
The front office made a lot of mistakes, but Burns was not one of them.

 

Yeah I thought Burns was the cleaner, getting bad contracts off our books. He did that with a lot of enthusiasm and skill, for sure. But you're right, the signings we've made with him in this role have been solid.

 

Ah, I see . Burns goes back to mid 2024. That’s right. Impressive given the shambles we were in and still are in. It’s just a head scratcher to me still that a new front office director could tell a young Serb playing on the west coast hey, ‘come to kc it’s great, no worries about the humidity, we’re the soccer capital of the US, all the free shakeology you can eat.’

 

Ya. I’m probably guilty of prejudging his role. I saw him as an efficiency expert — so when we sucked it would be a more efficient suckiness.

 

Getting Pulido's contract off the books alone made the Burns hire worth it.

Unlike some of the other teams that are struggling to start the season, we seem to have a clear direction and path to build on and reason to be optimistic about the future.

 

Its so freakin weird having this much optimism in the club after the last hand full of years. I actually believe that we are only a couple windows away from something resembling a good MLS roster.

 

I have been so impressed by Joveljic's professionalism. I don't think he wanted to leave LA, especially off an MLS Cup win, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't looking at us as anything but another step towards a bigger European move. But he truly has thrown himself into his role with the team and I have no ability to question that he's fully invested in playing for us. That's awesome.

And I hope the team rewards him appropriately and helps him move forward in his career if the opportunity appears.

 

This is the only way we build... unless Creative Planning also comes with Expansive Spending.

 

While I love Jovelic, he's a 26 year old striker. That move would have to come pretty quickly. He had his shot when he was the age at which Bundesliga clubs tend to want you, and they moved him to LA.
OTOH, he's scoring goals with us. he's our captain, making $3m a year and he's the star of his team. I hope he's happy with the direction the team is moving

 

Huge fan of LBJ so far. I have hope for Blorian and Capita.
That would give us a starting 11 with Jovelic, Manu, LBJ, Blorian and Capita, all in really good to great for a couple of them MLS player range. I'm a believer in Davis as a starter and Pulskamp is changing my mind. I like Bassong as a player, no idea if he works.
We could be one more good window away from being very a solid side.
I mean, add Capita and Blorian, and maybe Borges or at least a rotation with him in it, to what we have, and what's our glaring weakness?
U22 signings, clearly that's an issue. Outside backs. And?

 

Outside backs, yeah. Whichever wing Capita doesn't play on, probably. I'm not sold that we have a top guy there.

Defense is a mystery to me. Lots of new faces and not many of them particularly storied. Blorian stands out, but beyond him (on paper) it's just gotta be whoever shakes out, right?

Depth is another question. If we're playing a 4231 as I expect, they can sign more hybrid mid/forwards, instead of more specific winger/striker players.

 

Between Borges and Capita, we should be spending some of our GAM on transfer fees. but with life of contract built in, not that much per year. We could set ourselves up for the future by paying off a lot of it, and still have $3m to $4m to play with, and with 3 U22 slots, plus a lot of cap space. we are only limited by the deals we can get done.

 

Tremendous game and the most fun I have had watching this team in a while. Impressions:
Getting LBJ was like getting 2 players, as he let's Manu playbhis natural position. LBJ was very impressive.
Dejan. What a player. Give him 2 chances, he bags a goal.
Wiki...short time on the job, but hes got the team playing a distinct and pragmatic style that fits the players.

Side note, Davis was on 810 this week. When asked what the biggest difference between last year and this year is, he basically said coaching and specifically that this year they include how the other team plays into consideration during training. Went on to say that previous they only trained around how they play. Not exactly a resounding endorsement on PV.