P/I/P: #20 - L.A. Galaxy vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC; 7/18/12; 7:00 P.M. PDT

Nice!

Staying up late, RiceBubble?

 

I've watched the last two Vancouver matches, and they have NOT looked good at all. If we come in focused and attacking like we have been for the last few weeks, we should be fine. However, this will be a great match to focus on our defense (Lopes and Saunders).

 

Completely agree with this. I watched them this afternoon, and they weren't able to put any attack together. They couldn't take advantage of being a man up for the final 20 minutes either.

 

Actually, I've watched a lot of other matches the last couple weeks, and have not been impressed with most of the teams. I think SKC and San Jose are the only two teams that have impressed me (although I haven't seen DC play). Both of those teams are looking really solid on defense, and consistently dangerous attacking. San Jose seems to have the best passing offense, while SKC just overpowers teams with their size and speed.

 

Sounds like you're like my kids. You're not a Nerdfighter, are you?

 

If Omar and Magee are still out, I'd say we should look like this starting against Vancouver...

____________Keane____________
___________Donovan___________
Stephens__________________Sarvas
______Juninho_____Beckham______
Dunivant___Lopes__AJDLG___Franklin
___________Saunders___________

I think Sarvas will actually track back on defense, unlike Jimenez. We're starting to get on a roll, hopefully no ones need to sit out and rest yet.

 

I'm still not impressed with San Jose. It's probably my hatred for them or their fans. What would they do without Wondo?

 

Well...they'd still be in good shape defensively, but I think the goals would certainly dry up.

 

I don't want Lopes to start. Vancouver is going to make this a game if he does.

 

I agree, Lopes should be benched indefinitely.

 

But what's the alternative right now?

 

Tommy meyer kid is big and strong yeah he is a rookie but so was the tower of power at one time. And who better than against those mothercanuckers?

 

So does Beckham play?? he looked wobbly towards the end of the Timbers game and had to be subbed out! and replace Meyer with lopes, and whats up with Magee??

 

Obviously, I want to start the best possible 11. But I also want to see some consistently and more importantly some cohesiveness among our back line. That's only going to happen when we stop playing musical chairs with our CB pairing. It's seems Bruce is content with starting Lopes until Omar comes back, which can't come soon enough.

I wasn't impressed with Meyer or Boyens early this year. But perhaps we rushed Meyer out there too soon, maybe he's made some improvements in training since. It seems Bruce also likes the 6'5'' Gaul too, maybe give him another shot at CB.

 

Boyens is c-r-a-p! And lopes is just a liability right now he looks like the assist leader for the opposition with every game he plays. Meyer is a young lad and he has been drafted into MLS royalty so he deserves a learning curve like gonzilla did, I remember alot of frustrating games in the begining of his career. But he did show a little promise more so than gaul I think. Not to say gaul couldn't do it but he seems clumsy on his feet (like crouch) and meyer seems more natural at CB. And with that fake grass those mothercanuckers in vancouver have it would be better to get some young, fit and speedy players in to rest up for some older players for the systamatic destruction of the sh/ttiest club in MLS the goatcheese USA.

 

Although I'm tempted to like this formation...why Juninho? I think he needs to be on the bench for some more games until he gets it in his head that he's NOT gonna go back to Brazil anytime soon! Well, maybe not to Sao Paolo at all if he continues to stunk!

Also, I vote for Meyer over Lopes too! Actually, anyone other than Lopes is good right now. But I would rather see Meyer out there as I saw some potential in him when we first played him a few months ago. He's a rookie. All he needs is more experience. We can't do anything with Lopes no matter how much more games we give him - it's too late. Seriously, I have no hope that Lopes can change his game at all at this point.

 

START TOMMY, BRUCE.

That is all.

H

 

As much as I absolutely hate it, I'm thinking this is it until we get Omar back as well. One thing to note is that when he is paired with Lopes, AJ does a better job. When he was paired with Meyer, AJ hadn't figured him out yet.

It's almost like you get two unknowns if you insert Meyer: Meyer and AJ. With Lopes you just get one: Lopes. No idea how Gaul impacts AJ, but he would be brand new, and I just don't know if this is the time to do it. Don't know when is the time, but it appears that Bruce has found his man. We just gotta keep hoping that the offense scores a crap ton.

I just don't know what to do about this - I mean for Lopes to still be in the starting lineup must mean Meyer and Gaul just don't impress enough in training week after week...or Bruce just thinks they aren't ready yet.

Jimenez has been inserted and now looks like he's staying, so it's not like Bruce hasn't completely gone somewhere new (and thank god the Sean Franklin at RM experiment is over - last night one again reminded me he just needs to be an attacking fullback).

 

Update going into this game:

1. San Jose - 40 pts, 20 gp, 17 gd - This week: FCD, Vancouver
2. RSL - 36 pts, 21 gp, 5 gd - This week: Colorado
3. Seattle - 31 pts, 20 gp, 4 gd - This week: bye
4. Vancouver - 30 pts, 20 gp, -2 gd - This week: LA, San Jose
5. LA - 26 pts, 20 gp, 1 gd - This week: Vancouver, Chivas

6. Colorado - 22 pts, 19 gp, 0 gd - This week: Toronto, RSL
7. Chivas - 20 pts, 17 gp, -7 gd (games in hand) - This week: Portland, LA

It's a tough week for Vancouver, and they are coming off of two losses. I'm sure they also remember 10-0, i.e. our combined score against them. If we can manage two wins, or even a win and a tie, we could jump ahead to 4th. Regardless, I'm sure Seattle and Vancouver can hear us coming. Hell, if we get three points against Vancouver we'll be 7 points behind RSL.

The mission? Get 6 points this week. It's doable. My only concern is three games in 1 week and two of them on turf.

With all that said, this team manages to lose games we should win, and win games we should lose, and we rarely draw, so trying to predict anything is pointless. Just wanted to put the games out there though since at this point in the season we can start analyzing this stuff.

 

Disagree 100% with putting Juninho in there. He needs to be benched and realize if he doesn't get his sh*t together he won't play. Sarvas took his spot from him and was excellent in the middle. Alot of Beckhams amazing work was due to Sarvas getting it done in the middle allowing Becks to push higher up.

I'd rather keep Jiminez out wide. He doesn't track back much but holds the ball MUCH better. Stephens was pretty good out wide too. Let Jiminez and Stephens fight over the starting spot once Magee is healthy

 

Jiminez gives us width and ability to get up and down the line with some pace. Not something we get from Stephens, Sarvas, or Magee. The only other option is LD and LD is staying up top with Keane (Edson Buddle who? Remember that guy?).

I'm glad to see Sarvas have a solid game, but I'm not ready to write Juninho off just yet. I'd love to see Sarvas and Juninho fight it out and sharing minutes with Stephens able to slot in the center or out wide depending on the opposition strengths and weaknesses.