MLS NEXT Pro: Earthquakes II - Los Angeles FC 2 (Sunday, 3/8) pre/in/postgame thread [R]

Also still a mystery: location and kickoff time.

 

https://www.mlsnextpro.com/clubs/earthquakes-ii/schedule

They now have listed this game at 7 pm at PayPal Park. All other games are still TBD.

 

DeGeer needs to sort out his defense if he wants to improve and win this game. If he’s going to use Cano and Jasinski on the outsides he needs to swap them. Jasinski was decent on the right side in Coachella and Cano has played a lot of left centerback so he’s somewhat comfortable going to his left, crossing and shooting from that side. The center back pairing needs to be much more cohesive with better awareness and communication. Looks like DeGeer was encouraging the outside backs to play very high up but one side should be rotating down when the opposing back is pushing high with the ball. Defensive balance was way off with outnumbered counter attacks by Portland causing all kinds of easy chances.

 

And besides that, Floriani was just terrible. Beginning to wonder if he isn’t a semi-bust, and maybe 1st team depth player is his ceiling. And he was the 2nd pick in the draft(?) after the CB in San Diego (Duah?) who’s already one of the best CB’s on the league.

 

I also thought that while Spivey clearly has a nice skillset, he was kind of unprepared for this level. It’s one thing to take on defenders and get dispossessed on the edge of your opponent’s box, it’s quite another to do that if front of your own goal. It’s not a real big deal because even Cruz Medina had to learn that lesson.

I think the Q2 team is gonna miss Medina bossing the midfield this year, especially if Nick Fernandez doesn’t play a lot on the second team. I also think while it’s good to give Rajagopal minutes to develop, Mendoza is a much better player at this level. His absence was felt even more than Medina’s.

 

Yeah KK needs to adjust to the amount of time and space he has at this level. He just needs to play. I like Rajagopal. He also needs to play, as another HG. He usually doesn’t try this sort of thing but he made a 50-yard run with the ball in the game and beat 3 defenders. He’s usually pretty strong on the ball and gets stuck in on defense. At this point I don’t know what we’re gonna learn about Mendoza or what he’s gonna learn by continuing to play in Next/Pro (for the 4th year). Either get him minutes with the 1st team (Bruce won’t do it), or loan him out to a USL team.

Quakes II need to prioritize our young HGs. That means guys like KK, Rajagopal and Tomo need to be playing regularly.

 

Pretty comfortable Quakes 2 win once they got past that early LAFC 2 goal. Looked like that might have been offside BTW.

Nick Fernandez balled out as usual and had a goal and an assist, as did Buck (who also played very well), and Adimabua. Nick was playing more like right wing and took the ball in from the right, across the box, past a couple of defenders and slotted it in unassisted with his left foot. He had at least one other pretty good shot with his left. He's a righty. I'd much rather see him come on at right wing for the 1st team than Skahan. But I think they have him pegged for CAM.

Buck had a really nice 20-yard or so strike. Rajagopal also played well and had the assist on Adimabua's goal. Tomo had a couple of nice touches in a sub role. Wish they would have gotten the ball to him more.

Cano doesn't look very good on defense as an outside defender. He was getting beaten pretty easily. He looks pretty good attacking though.

Floriani had another somewhat shaky game and could have been responsible for a couple of goals for LAFC 2 in the 2nd half, getting beaten and also at least one bad giveaway.

 

Q2 passed it through and around LAFC2. That was “Barcelona Ball” all game long. Lots of quick triangles that had the defense chasing shadows. Huge gap in technical execution between the teams. Let’s see how they perform on the road. Still not impressed with Floriani at center back. Game could have been a lot different if he was ejected for that foul.

 

Edwyn is hurt i assume?

 

I’ve got to say, it looks to me like Nick Fernandez is more dominant at this level than Beau Leroux, Max Arfsten, Ousseni Bouda, Oscar Verhoeven or even Niko Tsakiris were. I just hope his teammates continue to work hard off the ball to get open and create space for assists as well as goals for Nick. The more confidence he can gain at this level the better the odds he can translate that to MLS games. His quickness at times is breathtaking.

 

If it's the same one I'm thinking about it was a drag down just outside the box of someone that had beaten him. I thought it was a PK. If he's not a good CB in Next/Pro it doesn't bode well for him as an MLS player. He just seems to lack recovery speed. Maybe he'll get better...

 

Yes, I agree. He is dominant in Next/Pro. I keep shouting him out. I think he'd be a better #10 than Niko with the 1st team. He's been on the bench in all 3 1st team games but has only played a few minutes. Would it kill Bruce to give him 10-15 for Niko at the end of of a game some time? And as he showed last night, he's comfortable finishing with his left (as a righty).

Of if not as a #10, he'd be a lot better than Skahan as a right winger sub. But he usually plays in central midfield, not as a winger.

 

Pretty cool, all the Quakes ii games are on YouTube for viewing later on if you are interested. This was a very fun game to watch from a technical perspective. A lot of great interchanging of positions and exciting attacking play. LAFC looked bewildered at times with the flowing soccer that Q2 played through the lines. There was a lot of nervy defensive moments as well because the defense hasn’t gelled yet. As for the Floriani play, I think if the game has VAR he’s probably gone. He was last man and he grabbed the striker pulling away from him. Ref ruled it was just outside the box but it was pretty deep inside when the LAFC guy went down so it could easily have been a PK with ejection.

https://www.youtube.com/live/jELL8uIXAdY?si=IApbGcrjoh2Rqn8r