Very happy for our guys and the fans. Improvement is good. Only saw the goal highlights so far, and Pipo's save.
Colorado won, which was bad for us. But as of now there are still scenarios where we pass either or both of Colorado and SJ if we win out and the other results go our way.... So yes, a chance!
Team definitely had better shape and effort was there. Didn't have too many lapses, but the time they did, SLC scored.
Of course now we play Seattle mid-week, so now we see how this Dom-coached team does against a quality side....
It has haunted me the whole season : given Araujo and Feltscher strengths and weaknesses (respectively : great on one-on-one battle/inconsistent and sometimes immature on attack for Julian, good at advancing the ball/leaving too much space for Rolf), why doesn't it make more sense to play Araujo as a fullback and Rolf as a winger?
Not much a revolution from Dom : same tactics, same starters, same subs, a lot of veterans... But definitely more hustle. It worked, but there are two more difficult games coming. Credit to him for starting Pipo and Kitchen. Both were very good and Pipo was my MOTM.
Winning the last three games in a row is a stretch for this team. Especially since Dom was only given the team two days ago. We shouldn’t live and die on the results at this point. But we can already see how much Dom is actually trying to make something happen out there. When Araujo started messing up he was trying to coach him and tell him what he should have done better. I think with a full season we wouldn’t doubt if Dom is going to be invested. He’s not just going to be pouting on the bench like the twins have for the last 2 years. Also wtf was Klejstan doing out there? He was subbed in and then jogged around slower than guys that had played the whole game.
It does make more sense and I’ve suggested the switch a few times. Feltscher is good at advancing the ball but a terrible 1v1 defender. Araujo is very good in both positions but we need him more at right back.
Looked like a whole new team out there. RSL played well too, but we edged it out. I am not sure what Dom did to Gonzalez, but he looked great last night. I really hope this gonzalez is here to stay. Actually same goes for Insua and Araujo. They worked so hard off the ball, and looked quick. I was also very happy with Yonni. He looked rusty but looks like he can be a good RW.
Holy hell MOTM performance from Pipo Gonzales of all people. This guy has struggled to show he's a starting caliber player, let alone the sort of backline leader his salary suggests he should be. Sticking with him after he was straight up terrible in his last match and getting this performance out of this player in a must-win game is enough to seriously consider Dom long-term. Guys definitely worked harder individually and worked harder for each other. In addition, I think it's clear the guy's knew they're assignments, so they're reactions, particularly in transition, were much better than we've seen in the past. For example, our press was much more organized and you can clearly see players knew which zone / man they were responsible for attacking. In other games, teams would really just pass around our press easily. Hopefully we can keep building on it.
Caught the thing on the bounce. Team seemed to have developed a pulse post Guillermo Ball. They seemed more focused and loose on and off the ball. It helps RSL was not too sure what they were playing at but that's their problem. We took care of business. That darn Pipo had himself a field day and Palin's run and winning goals was something to see and the highlight of the match. Dom knows what's up or should after all the years being part of this team. Knock on Dom is that he is 2.0 type of coach and set on his old ways. But the man is not a robot nor stupid. He has to look around and see where the league is headed and what works and doesn't. Old dogs and new tricks may be a thing but I hope it doesn't apply to Kinnear. On to bigger and better things. Seattle just got thumped by Colorado of all teams. Lol. Lets hope they don't take it out on us.
So great to get a result and I'm still rooting for the miraculous run to MLS cup, but... Gonzales had a a great game, but he still committed needless dumb fouls. Feltscher still giving loads of space for that cross. Insua was still ridiculously lazy not marking his man on the goal - and that goal was big - it kept players from being able to rest some for Wednesday. Arraujo makes a lot happen, but still makes decisions in the final third like he just stepped off of the turnip truck Jona is still our injury prone DP (which is better than our invisible DP). Kitchen was good tackling, but still I don't see him ever sprinting (as-if he's always in such great position he never has to run?) Between him and Jona why are they always dropping right on top of the CBs? And then there's never anyone in that space between the oppositions high pressure and their midfield. And if they do show it's Jona overdribbling or Kitchen making one layoff pass which puts his mate under pressure and he immediately starts walking after the pass. It may be old school but some simple off the ball running to setup those easy "triangle" passing lanes would be nice. And our attack - good that we played Yony and Pavon on the wings and Zubak in the middle - and Seb underneath - our spacing was good at times - but we still looked like we had no idea how to pass the ball - slow to make the smart easy pass to develop attack with overlapping runs, few one touch pass sequences (we're still trying to dribble everyone), too many runs not made (multiple times it was obvious a cross was coming and we only have one person making a run). Maybe more than one game together with this lineup could help with that. But I really loved our energy the first 35 minutes - just playing harder to defend, to win the ball back - it is a huge part of the game. Which leads me to the next point - we look like we are not fit as a team. Usually it takes at least 70 minutes for a whole team to look gassed. When you've got 5 subs you shouldn't have the team work rate dropping so precipitously with so much time left. I'd like to say credit to RSL, but really we just ran out of gas. It doesn't bode well for Wednesday. But since I'm Mr. Positivity today - Corona did look lively off the bench, and maybe Koreniuk (10G/90min) could play Wed so maybe there is hope. I believe.
Agree with @FlapJack regarding the team fitness - we looked suspiciously tired in the last 1/3 of the game.
The main thing to take away is the team needed to win and they did. So they still have meaningful games to play. Otherwise, we're a bad team with an interim coach and one DP who'd rather play video games than soccer. Pretty much everything at this point that doesn't add to the humiliation is a bonus.
Good analysis. Everything you talk about in the longer middle paragraph about movement off the ball and seeing the correct pass is spot on and why we aren’t effective as a team, despite having players with ball skills. That is why we have a long way to go though before we are a good team. Im a little skeptical about Dom’s coaching skills but he got much better effort out of the players - so kudos for that. And the increased effort alone was probably enough to beat RSL. But until players learn how to make the right off-ball runs, provide open passing lanes for each other, anticipate teammate movement and make the (often simple) correct passes we won’t be like a real Galaxy team of old.
The question is -- how much is "coaching bump" vs. actual coaching? A lot of the positives we saw came from an intensity level we've only seen in fits before -- but we have seen it. Sustaining that level from over the whole season seems like an issue from coach to coach. But I do think that there were specific things Kinnear got right. I've defended GBS to some extent, but this is kind of insane, re: Kinnear's bold move to play Giancarlo in his...preferred position: How Giancarlo Gonzalez’s game was transformed by this one little trick
Only thing to add to the great dialogue: amazing what happens when you play your winger (Y Gonzalez)....on the wing.