P/I/P Game 11: LA Galaxy vs Sporting KC 07/04/21, 7:30 PT on Spectrum SportsNet

Why isn’t he on our roster? Hard to believe he could be worse than our 2nd best forward, whoever that is.

 

My last post tonight.

All I see is progress. Sure we lack goal scoring threats but I thought no we’ve fixed the other team issues.

I’m a little disappointed in Vasquez tonight. I think he could have scored or created a goal tonight.

I thought it was grandsirs best game.

I think Cabral took a step back.

dunbar/ saldena have both had moments tp cost is goals in last few weeks.

really really like the new dm. Thought he was superb.

 

If you’ve seen Williams play this year and last year for Los Dos, you would realize how much of a step back he’s taken. Judd has been more impressive than Williams. Not sure what happened to Auggie.

 

Greg Vanney says that Auggie Williams needs to show more and says he’s seen a dip overall in his performance since signing a contract. #LAGalaxy #MLS #LAvSKC

— Corner Of The Galaxy (@GalaxyPodcast) July 5, 2021

Confirmed by Vanney. I've always said there is a possibility that Auggie's last season was a fluke.

 

Grandsir looks like a completely different player than a few weeks ago. So, I'm willing to cut Cabral the same slack. Frustrated by the result, but I'm all good with where this team is and where it can go.

 

Ugh, such a frustrating game. SKC didn't even deserve a point the first 80 minutes, we had all of the good run of play. Their only chances prior to the Bond save/header hitting the post were a couple of easy long range shots. We have to put this kind of game away in the first half, especially at home. We've had multiple games like this at home now where we fail to capitalize on our superior run of play and chances, first vs. San Jose which we were a little fortunate to get the victory off an own goal, but now 2 straight losses vs. Seattle and now SKC. We have to be able to score without Chicharito in order to surpass these teams. The chances are there, and shockingly despite injuries and suspensions our defense is holding strong. We can be better, we can surpass Seattle and SKC. I still hold out hope that we will. But damn, what a time to lose two players to injury and also losing so many more to Gold Cup. Sheesh...

 

So fate and circumstance kicked us in the balls. No Jona. No Efra. No Chicha. No Sega. No Steres. Basically the backbone of this team and other assorted players. SKC has to be real proud of themselves. Lucky bastards that they are. All they were missing is Pulido.

And even then, even then! they only won on our errors. How many chances did we have to score on them but there was nary a one who could put the ball in the damn net. Summer window opens this coming wednesday. Can we get somebody that can score a goal?

Can we get a do-over on Cabral? He may come around or not. I don't care. I am done with the kid. He's a dud in my book. Signed, sealed and delivered. He is simply not ready as a DP player. Look at Bond, Good to go as soon as he put his Galaxy kit on. Look at Sega, good to go the minute he hits the ground. Look at Revolution, good to go the minute he is on the field. Even Grandsir, dude is adjusting fine. I got a bad feeling Cabral wont come around.

Such a dissapointing 6-point match in which we did good, relatively speaking. We created many chances if only somebody on the field knew what the hell to do with one.

Hopefully some of our starters aren't out too long or we are in trouble.

GALAXY!

 

Unlucky result but a dominating performance for 70 minutes from the depth heavy lineup we put out there. If Grandisir can play like this we will be very good. I like how Vanney plays the kids, but I didn’t like his Dunbar sub. I would have brought in Klejstan sooner and rested a gassed Vasquez (he was good but just didn’t have the legs in the last twenty minutes). Hope Sega is ok. If he doesn’t go down I’m not sure KC musters a shot on goal this game.

P.s. Cabral is definitely a work in progress but he showed some signs - I just wonder if he shouldn’t be playing 90 every game. If you have to bring in Dunbar, Cabral was the player I would have brought out.

 

Great to read all your comments after a promising but frustrating game. I'm worried about our injuries, which for sure snake-bit us on this one. Please be OK, Julian! and all the rest. I thought Saldana was doing very well until the mistake, damn. Also a bit mystified why Kjlestan didn't come in earlier. Lletget is so far from goal, he is competent but not very dynamic most of the time.

 

Nice article in the Times. Vanney saw what we saw.

https://www.latimes.com/sports/socc...ses-sporting-kc-chicharito-coulibaly-injuries

 

Some of you are saying we played great and would have won except for bad luck this game. Some of you are saying we played great but failed because we lack scoring options other than Chich. The former implies we need to do nothing except keep working improving and reap the benefits when our luck to returns to normal. The latter implies our problem won't be fixed without one or two additions to our roster.

The first view is only true in that we were unlucky that Chich was hurt. After that happened our problem wasn't bad luck, it was our lack of goal scorers. With Chich out, us not scoring was pretty damn likely. Here is what we were fielding:
Zubak - 3 seasons, 27 appearances, 2 goals in entire career.
Grandsir - 5 seasons, 143 appearances, 12 goals, 2 goals per season.
Cabral - 3 seasons, 53 starts, 10 goals, 1 goal per 5 starts.
So out of these - Cabral actually was our most "dangerous" player.

The real issue is that Chich is the only player on the roster who will finish his chances reliably. Grandsir is a good midfielder and capable of making great crosses - just don't expect more than 2 or 3 goals this season from him. Zubak should probably be a late sub only. He should never start unless Chich is on the field - if Zubs hustles a lot more than he did last night he can hold up the ball and knock down balls for him to finish. And historically speaking, Cabral is surprisingly the only player who has ever been even a mediocre scorer.

Of the rest only Lletget has a chance. But even he only has 21 goals in 141 appearances and most of them came his first season. Vazquez scored 16 goals in 2017-18 but his age has slowed him down - the 34yo has only 2 goals in the the three years since.

So scoring wise - we are fxxxd w/o Chicharito. And last night proved it. I was very, very impressed with our midfield and defense. Great new signings at cb and dm, great midfield game from Grandsir.

But we can't win until either Chich is healthy or Vanney signs a real forward to take his place. Sorry folks - but that is the truff!

PS - "Oh, but what about all the near misses!" Well that is what poor finishers do - they 'almost' score frequently.

 

I guess I’m just saying that if you had told me in the off-season that 11 games in we’d have a deep roster in goal, defense and midfield and one great striker but no depth behind him I’d have taken it.
We’ve accomplished a ton since last season ended and far more then I thought reasonable to expect.
If we get healthy, and get more cohesive over remaining 2/3 of season, I think we’ll have a say in who wins the west this year.

 

It was great to be back in the Diggity last night. Great atmosphere, really fun game, until it wasn't. And the fireworks were amazing (although, the drive up the 405 was even more amazing - an insane amount of fireworks all around the city - hundreds of real, up in the air bursts the entire way, some of them right next to the freeway. Absolutely crazy!).

 

This frustrating game and the lost points aside on a game that was very winnable had somebody stepped up and helped us, just this once, I have to say that we have a great opportunity here.

I keep hearing that we are ahead of the curve. That we were not supposed to be this advanced in the rebuild. That a lot of pieces are coming together quickly. Yeah, I get it. We have improved by leaps and bounds. So now what?

Do we just chuckle off the bad parts of our game and personnel and wait for next year or do we do something about it, this year?

With all due respect. I don't want to hear that DPs are coming along game after game after game? This is not history class of what people have done in the past. I want to know what have you done for me lately. This is not a seance or a civil protest. I don't want see "signs" of progress. I want results if that's what we got you and paying you big bucks for.

Let's answer the door to opportunity knocking and get a second striker. Lets complete the puzzle this year. It's right there for the taking. We just gotta get out of the spider web mentality of "hey, we are improving." Once all the pieces are together later this year and we stay relatively healthy we can make a run for the our 6th cup. Lets not go to sleep on improvements and go for it.

 

On the mystery of Kjlestan, my husband asked during the game if he was being rested for midweek. Finally checked the schedule, and as you all know we play on Wednesday again. So...seems likely that was Vanney's plan. I wish Mexico had not called our players up for Gold Cup.

 

I get your point, but we just added what seems like a very good midfielder this week, and a center back just a few weeks before that. Instant team is impossible, so I will wait for them to find the right offensive pieces. It's a good plan to build from the back and emphasize the defensive game, otherwise you get what got Chris Armas fired.

 

Oh, I agree. This season is at the top of most of our expectations. Vanney deserves so much credit. He was given a few spare parts and in a few months has somehow created an almost completed Ferrari.

Your last paragraph should read “if Chich gets healthy.” If he does and Williams returns from suspension we may be as good as anyone, including Seattle.

 

We turned the game off after the goal and went up on the roof. I am amazed nobody shot one of those things sideways and into a house or something. People were very responsible. Much more than LAPD in any event. We got a great view and it went on for hours. Good times.

 

I respect your point of view but why is it impossible? Other teams have done it. Especially upstarts like ATL and LAFC and others. We did it that first year in MLS. There is no rule that you have to wait years and fate (and great scouting) has dealt us some great reinforcements this year. All we have to do is not a look a gift horse in the mouth and get that one, maybe two more pieces to the puzzle. There is plenty of time to work things out this year. I know you agree with that. I hope.

 

UPDATE: A medical examiner in Michigan says Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks died of chest trauma due to a fireworks mortar blast, and not a subsequent fall as authorities previously reported. https://t.co/vHu0tW566z

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 5, 2021

So tragic this. Apparently it did shoot sideways and hit this young man.

 

You can not compare Atlanta and LAFC initial success. They had the advantage of piles of extra funds and, most importantly, no bad legacy contracts. That’s not real life and it’s no surprise both are finding life much tougher these days.

 

I just did man. But seriously, answer me this: do you also think it's "impossible?"

I know you don't believe that...