Cameron Dunbar scoring a great goal in his very first appearance in a Galaxy uniform. Impressive run. 2-0, Koreniuk opened the scoring but the defense has been suspect.
FT : Los Dos win 5-1 on the road their first game of the season. Great performance overall, but a little bit lucky. The young boys were not lucky to score five goals as the offensive talent pool is obviously stunning, but lucky to concede just one goal. That's my main concern from the game : the central defense was dominated, with opposite players flying from all over the place, constantly giving free shots and free headers to RGVFC. Bawa looked all about physical but not that good with the ball at his feet, and Ontiveros remains the same : decent but needs a dominating partner next to him. If that's our central defense the whole season (and it could be), we are in trouble. THA and DePuy were better last year. Offense will get all the credit but GK Eric Lopez was on par to be G2 MVP. Coming off his line on set pieces is still a concern but a lot of good saves as usual. Diedie Traore was OK but often tried to be too pretty. Talent his here but needs to be polished. Good game from Harvey, two of his recoveries lead to goals (including a beautiful turn on the first). That said, some passes next to our box were off and lead to dangerous situations. Consistency is still an issue. What a progress from Cuevas. He looked dominant all night long on his right side, with some beautiful passes to Dunbar (which lead to two goals). Dunbar was a MVP candidate, he's very speedy and has quality in the final third. What a great goal. Two goals from Koreniuk, two solid finishes, another typical Koreniuk performance. I like him a lot but I don't know if it's enough for the next level to be one-dimensional. Because otherwise of his solid finishing skills, he's pretty common and it's a little bit worrying when you're a winger. And Augustine Williams is just not good enough. Yes he scored that goal (but almost missed that easy tap-in, a little bit lucky there), but was too selfish and not clever enough with his passing sometimes. Hopefully we have a better striker in hand (Kamara?). That said, credit to him, he looked way fitter than his partners. Next game is the home opener on Friday, against Austin.
Scoring summary, remember these names because you could hear a lot about these guys in the next years : Cameron Dunbar (HG winger, signed with the first team this offseason) : one goal and one assist. Mauricio Cuevas (HG RB) : one goal on a free kick, one assist, one secondary assist. Johnny Perez (HG offensive midfielder, signed with the first team this offseason) : one assist coming off the bench. Carlos Harvey (Panamanian international DM, trained with the first team this offseason) : one assist and one secondary assist. Kai Koreniuk (2019 Los Dos MVP, trained with the first team this offseason) : two goals. Speaking of Koreniuk, he switched his jersey number from #52 to #28 but has not reportedly signed with the first team, it's a little bit strange.
If you want to feel a little bit better about the Galaxy after yesterday's terrible loss, take a look at the G2 highlights :
Mark your calendar because #LosDos is 𝘽𝘼𝘾𝙆 ‼️🆚 @PHXRisingFC 📅 Saturday, July 11🕖 7:00 p.m. PT📺 @ESPNDeportes 📰: https://t.co/xq9BNgm8fK pic.twitter.com/MPX4VBvvw7— LA Galaxy II (@LAGalaxyII) July 2, 2020 Los Dos are back next week with a difficult game on the road.
Los Dos are back tonight, with a very difficult game at Phoenix, the team who won the regular season last year. Time is 7 PM. Without some of their biggest names who are with the first team in Orlando (Zubak, Koreniuk, Harvey, Lopez, Dunbar, Traore...), G2 will likely go very young. The updated roster on USL website has many Academy players listed : https://www.uslchampionship.com/la-galaxy-ii-roster Mohammed Kamara is surprisingly not listed anymore. Maybe he's gone? Anyway, it will require a tremendous performance to get a result in Phoenix for the young boys.
As expected, very young team. Six starting players are from the Academy, and the bench is full of Academy players too. That said, it should be a very tough game, especially for our midfield.
4-0 loss at Phoenix. Los Dos were dismantled during the first half, and looked completely disjointed with many holes everywhere on the field, and some sloppy plays. Second half was undoubtly better after a pair of changes (and TBH Phoenix played with less intensity) : - Jorge Hernandez was deployed as a RW. Though he was not great, he was way more involved and a cross of his own lead to a Williams goal called offside (probably a wrong call). - Ontiveros switched to the DM position where Saldana was a ghost, giving us a physical presence. Do you remember when I told Harvey was one of the most important player of this team? This game showed why. The negatives : I suspected it after the first game, but Bawa is raw as hell, Ontiveros is supposed to be one of our best players in this team but he's average at best, Cuevas after an oustanding first game against Houston 2, had a bad performance and looked nervous at the back (though useful offensively as usual), and I don't trust Saldana as a DM. The (little) positives : CB Vazquez looked decent in his first game with a couple of last second tackles, Gutierrez had some dangerous plays in the final third, and for a first start, 17 years old Sebastian Nava was our most dangerous player in the first half. Next games could be painful for Los Dos with half the team being teenagers, the other half being mediocre USL players. Next one is on Sunday at San Diego, the team coached by Landon Donovan.
In a little bit more than two hours, Los Dos are on the road against San Diego Loyal SC. A lot of former Galaxy players are coached by Landon Donovan : Raul Mendiola, Jon Kempin, Emrah Klimenta, Elijah Martin (former G2 player).
This is a tremendous result. A deserved win and a shutout on the road, with many teenagers and a bunch of USL scrubs? Any point is a great performance in this situation. This was a collective result, as no G2 player really stood out. But the organized pressing completely prevented San Diego to develop any style of play. But what I liked the most was G2 trying and managing to build from the back, with some short passings. Saldana was precious because he's a possession machine and a good player to begin to build some plays, but sometimes can lose the ball under pressure close to the goal. Hopefuly he'll learn but I can see some qualities here. Jorge Hernandez was our best offensive player, and had a pair of great shots saved by former Galaxy keeper Jon Kempin (who was outstanding by the way). Big credit to the defensive line, especially Vazquez (despite an early mistake he scored the GWG, was an aerial threat all night long and made a few last second saves), and 16 years old Jalen Neal who looked extremely good for his age. Great cross from Gutierrez on the goal but he was way too much inconsistent, as was the opposite winger Sebastian Nava, way less dangerous than last week. Anyway, congratulations to the boys! Next game is on Saturday at home against Sacramento, it should be an interesting one.
Home opener squad 😎 #LAvSAC pic.twitter.com/S0DxTNXWdE— LA Galaxy II (@LAGalaxyII) July 26, 2020 Chris Klein’s son in the 18
Second shutout win in a row for the GIIs. Both with very young players, including Academy kids, against teams with some USL vets (including Hilliard-Arce and Jaime Villarreal for Sac Republic). Promising stuff. FT: Back-to-back wins 🤗 pic.twitter.com/G89UHHaI0a— LA Galaxy II (@LAGalaxyII) July 26, 2020
Another huge result, 1-0 win against California rivals Sacramento thanks to a goal by Augustine Williams after an involuntary pass by former Galaxy player Tomas Hilliard-Arce. The last two games have shown two things : this G2 team is incredibly mature for their age (the eleven players finishing the game were averaging 19.2 years old!), and Junior Gonzalez has a vision for this team. As I said after last game, he's forcing his players to build from the back with short passes, and to take their time. Sometimes it will lead to a dangerous lose ball near the box, but for the first time in years I feel the G2 coach is managing to maximize his players potential. Abraham Romero made a few good saves and had his best game in a G2 uniform. Isaac Bawa has an unorthodox style but dominated his flank all night long. Surprisingly Cuevas was not at his best and lost a few balls near the box, but had some good defending. Another player who lost the ball in dangerous situations was Jesus Vazquez. But aside from these two or three plays, what a great game he had. The 25 years old on loan from Atlante seems to have huge upside, with a great sense of timing to tackle. I was impressed with 16 years old Jalen Neal, who seemed completely unaffected by the pressure. Calm with the ball, good positioning. Jorge Hernandez is slowly becoming a leader of this team. A little bit too inconsistent but when he's on, he's a maestro. Kudos to Augustine Williams who fought all night long, had very few chances but scored a poacher goal. On the negative sides, Gutierrez and Vera were useless (to be fair to Vera, the RW spot for his left foot is a bad idea). The teenagers Alejandro Alvarado Jr., Victor Valdez and Sebastian Nava were solid subs to them. Next game is on Wednesday at home against San Diego, the team they beat last week.
BTW, it looks like they are making the games available on youtube with about a two-week lag (for the US) Rio Grande
Tonight's game against San Diego has been postponed, and I just read this : A source close to the LA Galaxy ll is telling me that multiple Galaxy players, as many as 11, have tested positive for COVID-19.They tested positive following their match with the Republic on Saturday. Sacramento had zero positive tests but still postponed their match tonight.— Matt George (@MattGeorgeSAC) July 30, 2020
After a COVID hiatus, Los Dos are back in action in three hours with a home game against Phoenix. Very tough opponent, a draw would be a solid result.
1-4 home loss to Phoenix. Despite trying, Los Dos were outplayed by a far better team. Pressing and counter from Phoenix were impressive, their through balls caught G2 defense all night long. Solid goal scored from Augustine Williams after a good run and a great pass from Jorge Hernandez. Two goals in the last two games for Williams, who's now the leading goalscorer of the team. MVP was Abraham Romero despite four goals conceded. Without some great reaction saves, score would have been heavier. Vazquez is a player to watch, he's great at last-second saves but he has the tendency to let players run behind his back, and then make the save. He has to improve there. Bawa was our best defender, he's raw but he's fearless. After a few games I'm beginning to have an opinion on Ivan Gutierrez : the former Chivas USA and Guadalajara Academy player has talent, but lacks consistency. He can make a dangerous run and kick a great cross then do something completely hopeless a few seconds after. He's 22 so clearly not young, I'm not sure he will be first team material someday. First time I've watched Johnny Perez play extended minutes outside the Academy, and I was disappointed. Talent is here, good corner kick taker, a dangerous long-range shot but that's all. He was not involved enough. Jorge Hernandez had more impact coming off the bench. And for the record, Carson Klein, the son of Galaxy President Chris Klein, made his G2 debut yesterday. He's a 18 years old forward. No reason to panic, the important game is on Saturday against Orange County SC. With a win Los Dos will be back at the second place in their group (with Phoenix, OCSC, San Diego and Las Vegas). The first two will be qualified for the playoffs.