P/I/P Covid Cup Game 1: LA Galaxy v Portland Timbers 7/13/20, 7:30pm PST

Discussion in 'LA Galaxy' started by Skevin, Jul 13, 2020.

  1. LEM-LAG

    LEM-LAG Member+

    May 28, 2011
    Club:
    Olympique Lyonnais
    You're right, next offseason we won't have any excuses. Kitchen contract will likely be up, Bingham said a few months ago that it's his last year, Feltscher had only signed one-year contracts in his Galaxy career so far (though he can stay as depth IMO), and hopefuly we didn't give a three year contract to Pipo like we did with Kitchen or Skjelvik. That's a lot of cap space who could be gone at the end of the year.

    One of the problems beside tactics is I don't agree with GBS players choices. Is Feltscher really better than Araujo? Gonzalez better than DePuy? Zero minute for Efrain? First sub is Cuello?

    I really want to love Lletget but his inconsistency has been a problem since his injury. Him being the American face of this team is a meaningful and sad symbol of what this club has become.
     
  2. Lazy Assed Assassin

    Jul 21, 2015
    Lleget had that one outrageously good half season when he first arrived and nothing really close to it since.

    2015 we had Keane, Zardez, dos Santos, Juninho and Gerard. Not to mention the backline of Rogers, AJ, Omar and Dunivant.

    Lleget is a good player, but the expectation level from 2015 was set ridiculously high because of the players around him. He’s a sort of Mike Magee 2.0 when defenses were doubling up Keane and Donovan there was Mike excelled. Though Magee was able to translate that to one great season where he was the focal point of attack.
     
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  3. LEM-LAG

    LEM-LAG Member+

    May 28, 2011
    Club:
    Olympique Lyonnais
    This would have been a controversial take less than one year ago but now indeed it looks more and more hopeless to see Seba find his 2015 form.

    I don't give up on him though, he's just 27 and he's a good player. With a great team around him, he could shine. But expect him to be a leader? Not anymore.
     
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  4. The Cadaver

    The Cadaver It's very quiet here.

    Oct 24, 2000
    La Cañada, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Today is July 14 - Bastille Day.

    Could someone please dust off that old guillotine?
     
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  5. The Cadaver

    The Cadaver It's very quiet here.

    Oct 24, 2000
    La Cañada, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Were it not for watching Dunbar and Wild, this would have been a complete waste of time.

    I know my memory is not what it once was. So help me here. I have a vague recollection that some time in the distant past it was actually fun to watch an LAG game.
     
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  6. Skevin

    Skevin Member+

    Aug 9, 2009
    Colorado
    Club:
    Aston Villa FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Czechia
    I saw some glimmers of hope in this game. Portland are a good team, and we lost due to our own errors. Horrid defending on the 2nd goal, and Chicharito not being able to finish his chances screwed us.

    But I saw some promise in Chicharito. He was in the right spots to get chances and is rusty after barely playing in a year.

    Kljestan strangely was one of the best players and I am curious if GBS is willing to drop Lletget for Corona next game instead of Kljestan.
     
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  7. hav77

    hav77 Member+

    May 31, 2010
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    That would be 6 years ago.
     
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  8. skydog

    skydog Member+

    Aug 1, 1999
    Durham, NC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    But are you factoring in the fact that he speaks 5 languages?
     
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  9. MPNumber9

    MPNumber9 Member+

    Oct 10, 2010
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Probably just that my expectations were super-low, but I didn't think we were terrible in this match. Keep in mind, in our last match Vancouver held us scoreless at home -- and we are missing three starters from that game (Katai, dos Santos and Corona). I'd say though, we created enough clear cut chances to win the game (including a PK) if Chicharito's finishing was a little better. To me, that's a clear improvement over the first two matches of the season, where we really struggled to create and only scored from Pavon's brilliance.

    Kneejerks:

    Chicharito: He said it himself -- he knows if his finishing is better, we have a much better chance to get a result of the game. Still, he kept chugging and got his goal in an important moment, which shows leadership. Hopefully the monkey's off his back.

    Dunbar: Created the most danger in the match and ended up with 3-4 key passes on the night, including the one leading to the PK. Very impressive debut performance.

    Lletget: Without Jonathan, he was our most utilized player I be. His showing for the ball, recovering and simple passes helped us maintain what little possession we had, really. But like others, you'd like to see him be more creative.

    Schelotto: After the first two games of the season, I was really down on GBS. I still am, but I think he got some things right in this match despite missing some key components.
     
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  10. hav77

    hav77 Member+

    May 31, 2010
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    It just means he can tell us how uninspiring the Gs are in 5 different languages...lol
     
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  11. pirozhok

    pirozhok Member+

    United States
    Jul 20, 2007
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Did not catch the game, watched highlights only, defense sucked as expected.
    But overall was our team that bad?
     
  12. ShortyMac

    ShortyMac Member+

    Barcelona
    Apr 10, 2011
    Ohio, USA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think it was pretty dire overall.
     
  13. pirozhok

    pirozhok Member+

    United States
    Jul 20, 2007
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Chicha gained a lot of weight it seemed.
     
  14. skydog

    skydog Member+

    Aug 1, 1999
    Durham, NC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    I thought it was mixed. We created several scoring opportunities, especially in the 2nd half, but had little success in turning those into goals (totally predictable given our roster). Our defense continues to be weak. Bingham played well until he didn't. Nice to see Chich get off the snide.
     
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  15. El Futbolisimo

    El Futbolisimo Member+

    Sep 28, 1999
    In retrospect, not really a horrible match. First match in a long time after lockdown and all that. Missing players, new guy finding his footing, rust, form and fitness not 100% and It may sound like just an excuse but it is true. I am drawn like many here to make deep, deep analysis but I think that most o that is born out of our general frustration over a very long time, not jsut this match.

    General consensus being we blow this puppy up off season and start anew build. I tend to agree. Now I will look to Guillermo. See if my mind, gut and heart all agree he is the one to handle the dynamite and reconstruction.
     
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  16. 73Bruin

    73Bruin Member+

    Jul 12, 2008
    Torrance, California
    #166 73Bruin, Jul 14, 2020
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2020
    This is in response to a Skydog post that the front office failed to sign offensive talent which I quoted but seems to have been lost.

    First the FO could not go out and sign a bunch of new talent. They didn't have the budget. They already had 2 DP's under contract (Jona and presumably Pavon). That left them 1 DP opening which they wasted in the typical AEG box office signing of Little Pea. This left them a limited number of TAM signings to improve the team. They signed Katai for TAM wages to replace Allesandrini who was getting DP wages. They brought in an over the hill Sasha (probably also as a TAM player) to provide support as an attacking mid. They also resigned Lletget which I recall was reported as a TAM player.

    However, IMO, you are right in that the FO failed its basic mission of evaluating talent and spending the budget they had wisely. Chicharito has shown very little, except that he is fragile and probably over the hill. It also looks like he is carrying excess weight. We were told by some to expect him to play defense and apply high pressure, thereby improving the defense compared to the last years when Zlatan was strolling around. It looks the the same defense as when Zlatan played to me. Pavon running around trying to apply high pressure with no support from Chicharito. Even excluding his HR issues from Chicago, Katai was a questionable signing. He had a total of 2 good years in his career. One exceptional year for Red Star Belgrade and 1 very good year for the Fire in 2018. Otherwise he bounced around from loan to loan. Sasha has shown that he has a brain and more then once saved the bacon of the failed defense but he can't do that and play the number 10 role. Lletget was largely invisible playing a little defense and even less offense. Its strange but Seb only seems to contribute when surrounded by multiple superior players.

    Was it my imagination or were the Galaxy in an empty bucket 442 with Sasha and Perry Kitchen as the 2 defensive mids. If the Galaxy are going to use this again, I would put Wild at forward with Chicarito, Pavon and Dunbar as the wings (they are the only ones with pace) and probably replace Kitchen with Corona.
     
  17. MPNumber9

    MPNumber9 Member+

    Oct 10, 2010
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    In fairness, Lletget put in the cross that deflect to Chicharito for what most of us would've expected to be a sure goal.
     
  18. The Beautiful Gamer

    The Beautiful Gamer BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 26, 2008
    Minneapolis, MN
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    --------Pavon---Javier---Wild
    --------Dunbar--Corona--Llegett
    Insua------Steres-----DePuy----Araujo

    Yes I caught this too late but I agree.
    Put Sasha on the bench with Zubak, Efrain and Cuello.
     
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  19. JPAR

    JPAR Member

    Aug 21, 2013
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    How about we develop a team philosophy of who we are? You know, a style of play. It allows players to build off their strengths and grow over time. The fact is we look, and have looked for the last two years, like a bunch of individuals with no plan. That's on Schelotto.

    I said it before, when we had Zlatan, the strategy should have been a strong defense and let Z get his one goal a game to win. Instead we played open soccer without the players to do that, exposing our D ime after time. I think Guillermo is in way over his head tactically. The FO is not helping with some of these signings.
     
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  20. Beirut

    Beirut Member+

    Feb 3, 2010
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    So much truth to all of this! I will say, however, that GBS DOES have a game plan. Someone can probably articulate it better than me, but his system seems pretty reliant on fullbacks and wingers feeding a CF. That would be okay, but:

    1) We haven’t had the pieces for that the entire team he has been coach.

    2) He has never thought about changing that system to benefit the pieces we DO have.

    That’s concerning. I’m willing to see what he can do once he can bring in players he trusts to play his system. I’m not sure the end result will be different if I’m looking at it logically, but I’m willing to give him time.

    It’s just a tough pill to swallow when other teams have coaches who are more tactical— Oscar Pareja is making a huge difference in Orlando with a team much much worse than ours.
     
  21. 73Bruin

    73Bruin Member+

    Jul 12, 2008
    Torrance, California
    My concern is that the front office with the possible exception of DtK are historically bad judges of talent. So far Chicharito has all the signs of being another Gerrard or Gio, someone signed to put $$$ in the till first and foremost. And it's not like he is a one and done. So I doubt that GBS will get the players he needs to make his concept work.
     
  22. El Futbolisimo

    El Futbolisimo Member+

    Sep 28, 1999
    True on Pareja. Almeyda with the Quakes. Bruce with Crew. Revs with Caleb. I expect Miami to improve under Diego Alonso also, eventually. Other teams are doing quickly what with Galaxy is taking forever and a day. Tata came, conquered, split and we are still mired in the muck. We deserve better.
     
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  23. napper

    napper Member+

    Jan 14, 2014
    Fullerton
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I expected a loss. But, shit, we should’ve scored more and we were up a man.

    Yeah, Cheech should have had a hat trick.

    We did seem re-energized to start the second half. But, the feeling I get is that GBS can’t figure things out during the game.

    Also, I am giving up on Lletget. And, Pipo.

    Next game is going to be rough.

    Galaxy!
     
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  24. Baysider

    Baysider Member+

    Jul 16, 2004
    Santa Monica
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    It's the same sad feeling. We're going to have to start over next year just like we do every year.

    I was a big fan of Lletget at the start, but I share the opinion that he's only a good attacker when he's no more than the fourth best threat. Right now I see him as a utility midfielder who's best position is also Dos Santos's best position which makes it complicated.

    The good news, I guess, is that if we had Zlatan, we would have won. We generated enough good chances (barely) and so if Chicharito gets it together, we won't suck.
     
  25. mbar

    mbar Member+

    Apr 30, 1999
    Los Angeles, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I still think we deserved a result in the last game. We're a team that going into the season needed a) time to figure out what we are about and b) reinforcements. Both are still very true. This sort of short tournament against 2 really good teams and up and coming Houston is not a good situation for us.

    The big concern with the Galaxy is do we have the right people to turn a) and b) above into a strong team in a reasonable time frame. I think our biggest challenge is that we do not and we have people that think we are always ready to win now when that's not realistic and it leads to signings that don't make long term success.

    My take away from the last match is that Pavon should be playing elsewhere. The supporting cast around him is not remotely good enough. We should work on having a good (not great) team in place before adding players like Pavon and Hernandez (I guess). We need momentum and then key players to put us over the top. Not a mediocre squad and then we pray our "superstars" pull something out of their ass each week.
     
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