Not much info out yet. Keane and Zardes out for NT duty. Maybe someone here can make up a matchday poster??? TV: MLS LIVE · TWCSN-LA · TWC-Deportes CARSON, Calif. (Monday, May 23, 2016) – The LA Galaxy (5-1-5, 20 points) travel to Canada this weekend to face Eastern Conference rival Montreal Impact (4-4-4, 16 points) at 5:00 p.m. PT on Saturday, May 28 at Saputo Stadium live on Fox Sports 1 and Fox Deportes. On Sunday afternoon, the Galaxy earned a 1-1 draw at StubHub Center against the San Jose Earthquakes in the second California Clasico match of the 2016 season. LA currently sit third in the Western Conference table behind FC Dallas (26 points) and Colorado Rapids (27 points). LA are unbeaten in their last nine games and are the only one-loss team in MLS. In 2016, Galaxy are 1-1-3 on the road. Their four-game unbeaten streak on the road is tied for longest in MLS (Colorado Rapids). All-time, the Galaxy have never lost to Montreal Impact (1-0-3). LA will be without forwards Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes, who are away on international duty. LA Galaxy will host a Memorial Day BBQ tailgate and LA Galaxy viewing party on Saturday, May 28 prior to Los Dos’ 7:30 p.m. PT kickoff against Arizona United SC. Fans will be able to join fellow Galaxy supporters to watch LA Galaxy take on the Montreal Impact at 5:00 p.m. PT via a custom Build-A-Bar with TV screens and BBQ provided by My Father’s BBQ. Tickets to the tailgate are just $10 and include a ticket to Galaxy II’s evening match against Arizona United SC, where in-stadium fare will include $2 beer and $2 tacos. Betting odds(bovada): ----------- spread -----------moneyline LA ____ pk(+130) _____ +215 MTL___ pk(-165) ______ +120 _________________ draw(+235) Current Form Montreal L D D D D L LA Galaxy W W D W D D We've been better on the road this season. Lets hope we can get a result again. LETS GO Gs!
With everyone's favorite Ref: Montreal Impact vs. LA Galaxy Stade Saputo (8 pm ET; RDS, MLS LIVE) REF: BALDOMERO TOLEDO AR1: Matthew Nelson AR2: Kermit Quisenberry 4TH: Mark Kadlecik
We'll be without Zardes and Keane (not sure this is terrible given how he's been playing lately), but our chance is that they'll miss a lot of players too : Ciman, Oyongo, Toia, Venegas, and Cabrera and Drogba are doubtful too. They can basically be without all their starting defense + Drogba! Their defense could be : 735486778203852802 is not a valid tweet id We have never won in Montreal, so I don't know if I can be hopeful, even with all their absences.
Rowe, AJ, Steres, Van Damme, Cole, Gerrard, De Jong, Magee, Dos Santos, Lletget, Gordon That is a great line-up and should be winning.
These days I can't wait for our games to get me out of my constant state of irritation about the national team. Looking forward to seeing how Arena manages the team and if Gio can step up.
Ignacio Piatti scored his third goal in the last three games, but the Impact saw their streak of four consecutive draws put to an end, having now not won in their last six games overall, following their 2-1 defeat at Orlando City SC on Saturday evening. The Galaxy extended their overall undefeated streak to nine games and remained undefeated at StubHub Center this season, reaching a 1-1 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday evening. The teams have reached draws each of the last two seasons, a scoreless draw last Sept. 12 at StubHub Center, and a 2-2 draw in 2014, the first match ever between the teams at Stade Saputo. The Galaxy have the only victory in the four meetings all-time between the clubs, a 1-0 triumph in 2013 at StubHub Center. The teams played to a 1-1 draw in their first meeting, May 12, 2012 at Olympic Stadium in Montréal. REFEREE: Baldomero Toledo. AR1 (bench): Matthew Nelson; AR2 (opposite): Kermit Quisenberry; 4th: Mark Kadlecik INJURIES (we have none) MTL OUT: M Andres Romero (torn ACL 10/14) - READ OUT: F - Cameron Porter (hamstring injury) OUT: D - Donny Toia (hamstring injury) F - Didier Drogba (hip flexor injury, DNP 5/21, did not train 5/24) - REPORT D - Victor Cabrera (undisclosed injury, DNP 5/21)
Here is who I would like to see the Galaxy start tomorrow: ------------------------------------Rowe-------------------------------- Rogers------------------Steres---------------DeLaGarza----------Cole ---------------------------Gerrard------------de Jong--------------------- Lletget---------------------------------------------------------------Husidic ---------------------------dos Santos----------Magee--------------------- 1. Center-Back So far this season, Jelle Van Damme has been a little too mistake-prone for the Galaxy, both in terms of passing and positioning. He is a good athlete, good in the air and solid technically, but it’s more important to have a defender who rarely makes important mistakes. And A.J. DeLaGarza rarely makes important mistakes. Another option would be to start DeLaGarza and Daniel Steres as the two center-backs. Although Steres has been solid this season, last weekend against San Jose he had a turnover to Chris Wondolowski in a really bad area that almost resulted in a San Jose goal. Here is a link to the play: http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/ma...y-vs-san-jose-earthquakes/details/video/66373 Although DeLaGarza is small for a center-back, his lack of size rarely gets exploited when he plays center-back, because he has such a good positional sense and anticipates plays so well. 2. 4-4-2 I think the Galaxy should start in a 4-4-2 with two central holding midfielders. I think the different formations that the team has been trying recently has resulted in the team not having the best shape, especially in midfield. If the team isn’t playing well in a 4-4-2, Bruce Arena could drop Giovani Dos Santos underneath Mike Magee (or vice versa) and play a 4-2-3-1. 3. Magee or Gordon Up Front? Alan Gordon gives the team an aerial presence up front that likely would complement Dos Santos. And Gordon has looked adequate so far this year. So, I might start him up front with Dos Santos and Mike Magee at outside midfield instead of Baggio Husidic. But another option would be to start Magee up front along with Dos Santos, and start Husidic at outside midfield. Magee has been more productive this year than Gordon. Gordon has no goals and no assists; Magee has 4 goals and 4 assists this season. I could go either way. But I probably would start at forward the player who has more productive. Also, Husidic generally has played at least reasonably well for the Galaxy at outside midfield. I would plan to bring Gordon into the game in the second half.
If Gordon can go, perhaps we will see: ----------------Rowe RR------Steres----VanDamme----Cole ----------Gerrard----DeJong Lletget------Dos Santos--------Magee ---------------Gordon Obviously missing some firepower with Keane and Zardes gone, but hopefully this lineup can get it done. Then AJDLG and Larentowicz for defensive subs and Boateng and Lassiter/Villareal (whoever is healthy) as offensive subs.
I think you forget Boateng, there's more chance we'll see him starting instead of Gordon. Predicted lineup : Rowe Rogers Steres Van Damme Cole Lletget De Jong Gerrard Boateng Magee Gio Bench : Kennedy, AJ, Leo, Larentowicz, Husidic, Garcia, Gordon. Based on the video of our training session in Montreal, that's the 18 players who made the trip. Quick thought : who can explain to me the interest of bringing De Jong, Baggio, Larentowicz AND Garcia, instead of an offensive young player like Villarreal/Lassiter/Mendiola? Otherwise I'm OK with the lineup. Hopefuly Boateng can spread their young defense. The big match will be Steres vs. Drogba, I'm OK to start Dan to physically compete with Drogba. Hopefuly he can pull out a solid performance like Romney did last year when he shut down Drogba who was scoring against every team at the time. ICYMI, Drogba will likely play but their starting defense (Oyongo - Cabrera - Ciman - Toia) is out.
Good post. I forgot about Boateng. It might be good to start him tonight. He's been pretty good this year, and he's fast, a lot faster than Baggio Husidic. Husidic is more experienced, though. Husidic also has generally played well for the Galaxy at outside midfield. I could go either way, but I probably would start Husidic. He is better in possession and more of a known commodity. He's less of a risk. And the team is on the road against a solid team following a long plane trip. If Drogba plays, that would weigh in favor of it being good for Bruce Arena to start Steres and Van Damme at center-back rather than DeLaGarza as one of the center-backs. DeLaGarza is small. But I want to see DeLaGarza in there. He is so dependable. But I guess I would start Steres and Van Damme. They've played pretty well this year, and they are much stronger physically than DeLaGarza. But I have my eye on both Steres and Van Damme, especially the latter. He seems a little too erratic, too inclined to mistakes. On a different note: Tonight should Arena start the team in a 4-4-2 with two central midfielders playing at a comparable depth? Or should he start them in a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield? Or should he start them in some other formation (for instance, a 4-2-3-1)? An advantage of the 4-4-2 with two central midfielders playing a comparable depth is that the team has great experience with it and is comfortable in it. However, I did some research and tried to identify any correlations between certain starting formations this season and certain results. Across all competitions, the Galaxy have played 13 games this season. Across all competitions, their record is 6 wins, 2 losses and 5 draws. And here is how their record is correlated with certain starting formations: 1. When starting in a 4-4-2 with two central midfielders playing at a comparable depth, their record is 1 win, 2 losses and 3 draws. That's a winning percentage of .416. 2. When starting in a 4-2-3-1 (at least as the formation is listed at mlssoccer.com), their record is 3 wins, 0 losses and 1 draw. And the wins were a 5-2 win against RSL, a 4-1 win away against Houston away and a 4-1 win against DC United. The draw was 1-1 away against Kansas City. That's a winning percentage of .875. 3. When starting in a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield, their record is 0 wins, 0 losses and 1 draw, for a winning percentage of .500. 4. When starting in some other formations (for instance, a 4-3-3), their record is 1 win, 0 losses and 1 draw. That's a winning-percentage of .750. This pattern might support the proposition that the Galaxy should start in a 4-2-3-1 tonight. Of all the formations in which they have started this season, the 4-2-3-1 is the formations correlated with by far their best winning-percentage. And this includes some big wins. However, as I remember, there were times when the formation was listed as a 4-2-3-1 when it seemed to play as a straight 4-4-2. Also, tonight they are on the road in a tough place to play following a long plain ride. Maybe it would be better to start in a more defensive formation with idea that a draw tonight would be a good result. I can see that. Also, it’s important to have more numbers in midfield tonight in order to not lose the midfield. It’s hard for MLS teams not to lose the midfield when they play Montreal in Montreal. But if the Galaxy were to start in a 4-2-3-1, who should they start as the one forward? Would Dos Santos get isolated? Is Magee good enough with this back to goal? Should Gordon start given questions about his mobility and his lack of playing time this year? I would probably start in a 4-4-2 and see how it goes. The team is comfortable in it. It might fit the personnel a little better than a 4-2-3-1. For instance, I don’t know that any of the forwards would be a safe bet to be a good single forward. But if things don’t go well, then I think it would be reasonable to switch to a 4-2-3-1.
This paragraph could be interpreted as my implying that a 4-4-2 is more defensive than a 4-2-3-1. That's not what I meant or what I believe. I think the 4-2-3-1 is more defensive than a 4-4-2. In the 4-2-3-1, you have one less forward than you do in a 4-4-2. And, in the 4-4-2, both of the forwards are supposed to stay forward rather than get back on defense like midfielders. Tonight, should the Galaxy start in the more defensive 4-2-3-1 or in the more offensive 4-4-2?