Yeah, the field was coming up in chunks all over. I didn't really like the new lights either... too bright white. Maybe they'll dim/yellow a bit with time... ? Although, the flashing effect after the win was pretty cool.
We are still having a lot of difficulty creating dangerous shots and only got off 8 of any kind in this home game against a basement dweller. We scored on a bit of a lucky deflection (not to take away from Gerrard absolutely pouncing and capitalizing on the mistake) and got a pk chance on a handball but otherwise our game consisted mostly of missed connections and poor final third execution. I think this will unfortunately continue to be a problem going forward because we are uncharacteristically lacking in players who can set up dangerous shots for others. Lets compare to previous seasons. Outside backs: Previous - We had players like Rogers and Gargan (5 assists in 2014) capable of getting forward and overloading opposing defenses with their overlapping runs and but not this year. Current - AJ, Cole, Romney, Rogers. Rogers injured, Cole in theory should help the offense but seldom does. AJ and Romney - not going to happen. Defensive mids: Previous - Juninho (7 assists 2014) and Sarvas (11 assists 2013) both very active at creating chances in front of the goal. Current - Larentowicz, DJ, and Husidic. First two contribute little going forward, Baggio (5 assists 2015) is the only one able to create in the final third. Wingers -- Previous - Ishizaki (7 assists in in 2014), Donovan (28 [gulp] assists in 2013 & 2014 combined). Both great at generating offense. Current - Lletget, Boateng, Zardes -- All three are great dribblers but two of them Lletget (2 assists 2015) and Boateng are terrible passers. (How does Lletget miss Robbie from 10 feet away? Any soft pass to the middle is a goal.) Forwards: Previous - Keane (8 assists in 2015) Current - Keane (1 assist in 9 games in 2016) Others Shot Creators -- Previous - Most of our assists came from wingers, defensive mids, and outside backs outline above. Current - Gerrard (7 assists this season), Dos Santos (5 assists this season), and Magee (4 assists). So everything falls on these guys. They are getting no help from the back four, the defensive mids other than Baggio, nor from our wingers. Magee often is a late sub so we are down to Gerrard and Dos Santos and Gio can go long spells w/o generating anything offensively. So unless something drastically changes almost all of our shot opportunities are going to be created by Gerrard, Zardes, Dos Santos, Keane and part time players Magee and Husidic. We've gone from teams with maybe seven shot creators coming at the defense from all over the field to our current team with maybe five (Magee and Baggio count as one since they don't always start). And we've gone from a team with multiple players able to get behind the defense on the wings to a team with maybe one player (Zardes) who can do that regularly. tldr version: It's a good thing that Gerrard is finding his form as an offensive midfielder because the 2016 team is pretty short on shot creators. Expect a lot of games where our total shots are in the single digits and hope for great efficiency and great defense.
PS- Someone is going to point out that we still lead the league in goals scored with 32, so why worry? This is true but its also true that we are 19th out of 20 in number of shots taken. Its an unusual season where we are converting shots into goals at an extremely high (and I would say unsustainable) rate. In the previous 4 seasons it took us 8.1, 9.2, 7.9, and 7.3 shots on average to score a goal. This season we've scored at a rate of one goal for every 6.2 shots taken. The is obviously the best ratio in the league and significantly better than our own scoring rate historically.
Another ho hum game against another lousy team. Its great they won but they were suppode to. They really need to manage Gerrard minutes. He only went out because he felt a knock.
Maybe your right, but it's tough to argue that either way. He didn't do anything special on that play. Magee and Lletget are probably just as likely to get to that spot and make that finish as he is. On the flip side, there were a half dozen times in the last half hour of the match when he gifted Houston possession, failed to show for a teammate, and/or failed to cover defensively. As I said in my post-match write up, he creates a real conundrum for the coach. You can't really count on him the way you should be able to count on a DP, but the team is definitely better in the attack with him on the pitch. Managing that kind of unpredictability is tough.
wow that was some awful finishing imo. Could've/Should've been 3-0 if not 4-0 imo. Lletget won't be starting again with careless passes like that at the end. Lastly, I love Keano but he shouldn't take penalties again. Statistically he is not great at them.
This looked a lot like one of those Euro matches between a top-squad and a minnow. I guess we have to accept that squads are going to pack it in when they come here. We didn't break them down as much as you'd like -- I don't remember many corners; could be a little less trigger-shy -- but on the upside we did get the goal and utterly shut down Houston.
Yay three points! Great end to my week after chatting with family members yesterday in Turkey (crazy, crazy week). Going to go sleep for like 10 hours I'm so tired. But happy to see the win. I want to go look at the chalkboard for this one - on the docket for tomorrow.
They won't. You won't notice in a few months and if/when you head out to Track & Field for a game you'll wonder why the light looks so dirty.
I may be the minority here, but I really think the creativity is De Jong in a distinctly idiosyncratic way. He kills attacks quickly and efficiently and gets our own attack going quickly and efficiently. His play creates an environment for creativity. He's an engine for us. I feel the match never has a down moment when he's on the pitch, it just keeps moving with a purpose and he gives everyone else the freedom to create.
This is the second reference to Jeff and De Jong being somewhat equal in a couple of weeks and I couldn't agree less. Jeff is clumsy, slow, negative and mistake-prone - he's made a career of playing admirably in his role, but is nothing remotely special. I generally cringe when the ball comes his way and am pleasantly surprise if things go ok. De Jong is adept in his role and is world-renowned for it - reckless tackles aside. I couldn't be more confident with a player winding up on the ball. We are a better team with him and my eyes tell me that every minute I see him on the pitch. Jeff gives me no such warm and fuzzies. Despite my last two posts, I really have no individual horse in this race. Our collective horse is the only one I care about. I'm just having trouble understanding what some are seeing out of Jeff that makes him even born of the same planet as De Jong.
I am seeing it differently, but I don't have stats on my side or anything, so my opinion is subject to correction. Your opinion sounds similarly based on impressions rather than data. I haven't been impressed with De Jong's abilities going forward though - has he had an assist or a goal? He misses plenty of passes just like everyone else too, especially late in games when we've had a terrible time holding onto possession. On defense he's been very good and I think has saved us a few times. And reckless tackles have been a pretty big part of his Galaxy career so far. Hopefully he can clean that up.
Jeff has been okay at breaking up plays, but typically takes too long to move the ball and stalls the "offense".
Dedicated to Steven George Gerrard Yeah we tease the old man a lot but he is quietly having a great season. And last night he saved Robbie Keane from being the GOAT for not finishing his chances. "Robbie you owe that man a drink." And with the way we have been creating chances as a team, he is going to have take the bulk of the responsibility for creating enough chances to get us to title 6. Here's to you old man. Keep up the good. Highlight Time Folks
I have such cognitive dissonance over GOAT, it gets used as an acronym for Greatest of All Time, but also just a plain old goat, and with the internets mixing ALL CAPS, lowercase indiscriminately it’s only by context I ever know if it’s a good GOAT or a bad goat. Anyway it’s my problem, carry on.
Yes, 100% based on impressions and what I feel like my eyes tell me over the course of a game. Beer couldn't possibly be considered a variable there, could it?!