Zlatan

Discussion in 'LA Galaxy' started by crookeddy, Mar 23, 2018.

  1. TitoTata

    TitoTata Member+

    Jun 26, 2014
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  2. shelbo

    shelbo Member+

    Oct 16, 2007
    L.A.
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
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  3. Dr.Phil

    Dr.Phil Member+

    Jan 18, 2004
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    Zlatan's goodbye's
     
  4. kaburu

    kaburu Member+

    Jul 12, 2009
    los angeles
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  5. napper

    napper Member+

    Jan 14, 2014
    Fullerton
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Ibra gave me some fantastic goals and great times. I’m glad he was here.
     
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  6. Dr.Phil

    Dr.Phil Member+

    Jan 18, 2004
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
     
  7. Ghosting

    Ghosting Member+

    Aug 20, 2004
    Pendleton, OR
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #532 Ghosting, Nov 14, 2019
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2019
    Zlatan's fairwell tweet perfectly encapsulates why his time in LA was a mixed bag. He did some amazing things, but he was satisfied with a few great goals. He thinks that "conquering" MLS was scoring goals. He cared much less about winning matches.

    He was entertaining and engaging, but he was never going to make the Galaxy champions because the MLS structure makes it virtually impossible to buy a championship with a squad of merceneries.

    EDIT: Though I'm sick of Doyle, and don't necessarily agree with his analysis of the G organization, I think his take on Zlatan is right on in this article: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...ame-zlatan-saw-zlatan-left-without-conquering
     
  8. The Beautiful Gamer

    The Beautiful Gamer BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 26, 2008
    Minneapolis, MN
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I will miss you Ibra. If you are remembered for nothing else. I just want to thank you for beating the crap out of LAFC for 2 years. Too bad they had to get at least one on ya. But they can hang their heads forever knowing that you pretty much dominated that rivalry.

     
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  9. skydog

    skydog Member+

    Aug 1, 1999
    Durham, NC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Agree - the article is a good summation of Zlatan's time with the Galaxy.
     
  10. TrickHog

    TrickHog Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 14, 2002
    Los Angeles, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Zlatan who?
     
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  11. barroldinho

    barroldinho Member+

    Man Utd and LA Galaxy
    England
    Aug 13, 2007
    US/UK dual citizen in HB, CA
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    In fairness, I feel like he by-and-large held up his side of the bargain. I understand that there were perhaps some tactical sacrifices that were made in fielding him and that he didn't offer much on defence, but then... neither did most of our defence.
     
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  12. Geneva

    Geneva LA for Life

    Feb 5, 2003
    Southern Cal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That one amazing goal. I'll never forget it. One of the best ever for the Galaxy. Ruiz, Pando, Beckham, Donovan, Keane had their great moments in the sun, but that first kick from Zlatan was electrifying.
     
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  13. Ghosting

    Ghosting Member+

    Aug 20, 2004
    Pendleton, OR
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I totally agree, but if you really want your team to win there is a point where holding up your side of the bargain isn't enough. Maybe that's a little unfair, but I feel like Keane, Donovan, and even Beckham REALLY wanted the team to win more than they wanted to score the winning goal. Zlatan always seemed a little detatched, but I'll admit that that may just be a flawed perspective from distance.
     
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  14. 73Bruin

    73Bruin Member+

    Jul 12, 2008
    Torrance, California
    #539 73Bruin, Nov 15, 2019
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2019
    I can understand that many people disliked Zlatan 's bullying style of play and histrionics, but I am getting more a little sick of all this dumping on Zlatan with a totally unprovable narrative that he cared more about scoring than winning.

    IMO your alluding to how Beckman cared more about the team is a joke. Becks tanked in 2008. Furthermore, he made multiple attempts to get out of his contract in 2009 and 2010. He only became a team player after his Achilles got blown out at AC Milan 6 days before the start of the 2010 MLS season and nobody in Europe wanted to take a chance on his recovery.
     
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  15. the5timechamp

    the5timechamp Member+

    Nov 3, 2012
    the debut against LAFC and his 500th goal were so great to watch...

    damn shame the team was in such crap limbo during his tenure
     
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  16. Ghosting

    Ghosting Member+

    Aug 20, 2004
    Pendleton, OR
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Don't get me wrong. I'm not a huge Becks fan. I'm pissed the Gs put up his statue before a half-dozen more deserving players. I was critical of Backs off-the-field when he was with the Gs. He skipped matches to go to events in England and he tried to get released so he could go back to Europe. The team was also hurt by the fact that he showed up and essentially expected his personal guys to run things. However, when he was on the pitch, he always gave 100%. He ran hard defensively and made all the little plays that the team needed. When Arena came in and made Donovan captain again, Becks and Donovan set the tone: no one was too much of a star to do the dirty work.

    Zlatan was an amazing talent for the Gs and certainly banged in the goals. I cheered as much as anyone on his first goal against LAFC, and as long as he was on the pitch, we had a chance to score. However, his movement off the ball was minimal and his defense was non-existent. All you had to do was watch him play to see that. For further evidence just read his quotes. The fact that he claims to have conquered MLS when he played on a mediocre team tells you everything you need to know.

    I'm not saying that he didn't care about losing... it's just that there's a palpable difference between what we got from Zlatan and what we got from some of our better DPs.
     
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  17. MPNumber9

    MPNumber9 Member+

    Oct 10, 2010
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Zlatan's time here was full of ups and downs. He made you feel something, one way or another, and ultimately that's what this game is about.

     
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  18. 73Bruin

    73Bruin Member+

    Jul 12, 2008
    Torrance, California
    Okay, I had split season seats from 2008 though 2012 with a guy from work. I saw how Beckham played defense in 2008 and there wasn't much effort shown. Time after time, I saw he and Klein run an overlap into the corner so Chris could hopefully put in a cross and time after time I saw defenders switch to the attack and run past Beckham virtually unmarked. (FWIW that was also true for his play at AC MIlan where he played what one person charitably called a loose zone) defense. He did of course have Zambrotta playing behind him there. I didn't see Beckham hustle on defense until the 2011 playoffs against Seattle.

    Your right that Zlatan at age 37 didn't play really provide any high pressure (nor did Robbie, FWIW). However, noone seems to credit Zlatan in anyway for the Galaxy's improved defense on set pieces (in particular corners) during his tenure. Now did you ever see either Beckham or Keane play a role on the Galaxy's set piece defense? I certainly didn't. My overwhelming recollection was Beckham standing alone just outside the 18 away from all possible contact waiting for ball to hopefully pop-out. No man marking for him. Keane played even less of a role, often not making it back past the center circle. Of course I never expected it from Keane (he played the outlet role).
     
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  19. FlapJack

    FlapJack Member+

    Mar 3, 2006
    Los Angeles
    On Zlatan for me there is no question that some of his work rate was below superstar level, and some of his puffery and complaining I just came to accept as part of who he is - but just because I accepted it doesn't mean it wasn't a downside. His Galaxy team produced two seasons of .500 ball and 1 playoff win - so that's pretty much nothing by Galaxy standards. So I won't remember him as a Galaxy Legend. But … for the largeness of his presence and his individual moments of brilliance and the swagger he brought to the Galaxy I will remember him as a Galaxy star, slightly on the wrong side of his peak, but still capable of delivering moments of best in the world soccer. I will remember him somewhere between hero and anti-hero and certainly not a villain. And I think that although he would have liked the Hollywood ending that Beckham and Donovan got, this was his story that he wrote - he came as a non-DP and played below market value so that he could be here in LA (not to say he didn't gain from the experience and reestablish himself after injury), but he fit right in the Galaxy of stars on his terms.
     
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  20. FlapJack

    FlapJack Member+

    Mar 3, 2006
    Los Angeles
    In my opinion there was a marked difference in Beckham's effort before he and Landon had there "come to Bruce" moment. He went from a star putting in a professional game to a guy finally committed to the team. When I think how some of the Galaxy play has been lately I can imagine a world where Beckham did get out of his MLS commitment or just coasted to the end of his contract, or Keane didn't recover from double Achilles surgery and return in 2014 as if nothing occurred in the offseason, or Landon who's struggled with direction at times hadn't found his direction whole-heartedly for the bulk of his career so that he could will the Galaxy to 4 MLS cups and what if in 2010 he doesn't show up and help avoid a players strike. But all of that - that could have gone disastrously - end up beautiful to my eyes - and we got to see a committed Beckham go out with an MLS cup and really affirm the whole "Beckham rule", Keane's GOAT DP, Landon mature from kid to Leader, MLS grow to a stable place where the Galaxy can play a few seasons of 500 ball and nobody cares but us. Although there's still plenty of room in our trophy case so...

    EDIT: And with Zlatan the same - there's is certainly a world where in that home debut the Galaxy just wither away and lose to the olay-ing upstart Chivas rebrands. But of course that shot went in ;)
     
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  21. MPNumber9

    MPNumber9 Member+

    Oct 10, 2010
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    For the record, when I talk about Zlatan's contributions to defense, I'm not saying he's lazy. At 38, you have to pick your moments especially if you want to go full 90 30 times a season. I don't fault Ibra for that (well, maybe you could argue he should've made more sub appearances). At 38, I don't EXPECT him to press opposing CBs. But it's hard to build a winning team without a forward that helps you in that way. The alternative is to use a 4-4-2, which another forward up top helping to press which we've done at times last year (with Ola) and this year with Antuna. But GBS clearly doesn't want to play that way..
     
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  22. GalaxyOne

    GalaxyOne Member+

    Dec 6, 2005
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'd say no, not a Galaxy Legend. We didn't even come close to winning anything. To me, that is a prerequisite.
     
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  23. TrickHog

    TrickHog Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 14, 2002
    Los Angeles, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yup. I'd say at least two major trophies is the minimum for consideration.
     
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  24. Ghosting

    Ghosting Member+

    Aug 20, 2004
    Pendleton, OR
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not a huge fan of Lalas, but I like this podcast. I agree with their take on Zlatan. There's also an interesting discussion of moving on from Z:

    In case the link didn't work correctly, the Galaxy discussion starts at 21:11.
     
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  25. Dr.Phil

    Dr.Phil Member+

    Jan 18, 2004
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Hammarby IF is not Man U but he did make it back to Sweden so I guess good for him.

    If he was frustrated in LA than I only wish him patience. Have fun Zlatan!
     

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