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Sounders FC - LA Galaxy preview match day 12
41 Plays6 months ago
The LA Galaxy will come to Lumen Field in largely the same position they were in the last time these two teams faced about a month ago. The Galaxy are still near the top of the Western Conference, boosted by an offense that has scored 21 goals in 10 matches. To help us get a better understanding of them is resident Galaxy expert Ryan Rosenblatt.
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Transcript
Introduction to NOS Arietes Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to NOS Arietes. This episode of NOS Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of NOS Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounders supporters. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest.
Seattle Sounders' MLS Cup Highlights
00:00:28
Speaker
A.O. Shen! Let's go! What a save by Fry! The Seattle Sounders have done it! MLS Cup win! Here come three years through the middle to crown it the vehicle! And now they truly can't stop the celebrations. It's the Sounders' MLS Cup! Niko Liddo leaves out!
00:01:12
Speaker
Is that what you young people call twerking?
00:01:28
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of NOS Adietes.
LA Galaxy's Challenges and Successes
00:01:31
Speaker
I am Jeremiah O'Shan. Joining me today is friend of the show and sounder and heart contributor, but more importantly, LA Galaxy expert, Ryan Rosenblatt. How are you doing, Ryan? I'm doing good. How are you guys doing? You know, better than we were doing on Monday morning. So, you know, we'll take that. Yeah. I mean, I know this whole not always winning thing is still relatively new to you guys. So welcome to the world.
00:01:58
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know how I don't know how other other fans deal with this. Like it's I like this whole year. This last few weeks have been contemplating like, OK, it's one thing to have to talk about this stuff early in the season, but we're in the summer and it's really off the rails. Like what do you even how do you how do you feel your time? I mean, in this point also, like you've you've got what? Three more months before you can even sign anyone else to like the transfer windows closed. Like this is what we got.
00:02:26
Speaker
Exactly. I know there's not even a lot of fun discourse about how to change things.
Defensive Flaws in LA Galaxy
00:02:33
Speaker
But it's not that case for the galaxy these days. The loss last week to Austin notwithstanding, this has continued to be a really fun season. Even if it hasn't been all puppies and unicorns, it's still a fun
00:02:53
Speaker
There's a lot of, there's something to talk about. There's something positive. There's, there's real momentum building with the galaxy. Uh, what have we, have we learned anything about the galaxy since the last time the sounders and, and galaxy meant, uh, about, you know, a month and change ago?
00:03:09
Speaker
I don't think there's really anything new that we've learned. I think it reinforced kind of where we were. What was it? End of end of March, I think. Yeah, it's reinforced a lot of things. And I think last week kind of it was funny because it was a combination of an halftime. We're like, oh.
00:03:26
Speaker
OK, we like we've looked terrible, but like we can turn this around like there was an actual optimism, which, you know, in the last few years, when we looked terrible in the first half, we're like, well, that's probably because we're terrible. So like that was pretty cool. And then even after the game, like we were sitting there and I'm like, well, that game sucked like, but it didn't sound any alarm bells. It wasn't like, oh, we suck. Now is like, well, you know, sometimes you go and you put in a stinker and I mean, losing three points.
00:03:53
Speaker
away from home, it happens. Like it wasn't the worst thing in the world. And I'm just, you know, it was kind of one of those, you know, it happens and it's, it's refreshing to have, I mean, this is a flawed team still that this is not a team that is going to run over the league. Uh, we are not the Columbus crew, but it is nice to kind of just walk away from a game being like, yeah, we're still a pretty good team.
00:04:17
Speaker
Well, let's talk about some of those flaws before we shower you with too much praise. The knock against the galaxy going into the last Seattle game was that the defense was a little suspect.
00:04:31
Speaker
I don't know that we have learned anything to counter that, as it is, their shutout of the Sounders remains their only shutout of the season. And they have given up, you know, they lost two to one to LAFC. They had the three one win over Vancouver. The fourth three went over the earthquakes, which was actually a much more
00:04:50
Speaker
Uh, kind of a wild game, even more than maybe the score suggests. And of course the two zero loss to Austin last week, but what is the, where are the, the flaws in this defense? Is it, it's not just set piece defending where they've given up seven goals, right?
00:05:06
Speaker
Yeah, set piece set piece defending is abysmal. So like that, there's really no way around that. But even from open play, I mean, this is, I think, pretty clearly, at least the worst defense in the West right now. But you take away set pieces. And I think from open play, they're merely a bad defense. So like set pieces is a big part of this that takes a bad defense to the worst defense. But it's not as if you take away set pieces and everything's going great. And
00:05:33
Speaker
I mean, the set pieces stuff is it's a little bit more complicated in terms of how are you setting up? Are you tracking markers? You get a lot of coaching stuff there. But from open play, I think a lot of it comes down to one, the nature of the team, the system they play is going to leave that back line exposed some of the time. So they're always going to be a team that it has a propensity to give up chances.
00:05:55
Speaker
And then they just have, in particular, center backs that don't move super great. And that doesn't mean that they're not good. I think Yeshida and Casares and Neil came back last week. I think they all have their marriage as defenders. I don't think the problem is they have bad center backs, but none of them are great movers. And when you're pairing two relatively immobile center backs, whatever pairing of that you want to take,
00:06:20
Speaker
in a system like this where they get run at and they're exposed a little bit. That's just, it's a really bad combination. I think you see that time in and time out. So one of the changes or one of the, the upgrades maybe to the defense for the galaxy in this one is I believe last time the sounders played Gassen Brueggemann came off the bench, but he's been every, everything you expected.
New Players and Defensive Needs
00:06:44
Speaker
I mean, he's back now fully, right?
00:06:46
Speaker
Yeah, he's back and he's been he's he's a very reliable player. And that's kind of what you want. And I mean, we've seen this for years in MLS, if you have a really reliable six, it really just changes everything for you and cuts out so many of those chances. And that's just kind of what he is. You put him at the base of that midfield and all of a sudden, you know, every 10 chances now becomes every seven chances. And
00:07:09
Speaker
just the ability to stop. And a lot of that isn't even necessarily winning the ball, but it's just being there when the other team is in transition and making them turn around or making them play the ball out wide that slows them down. He's great at that. And then he is also good at picking up the ball and getting it out from his feet quickly to start something the other way. But more than anything, especially with those center backs, it's how can how can they make opposing teams in transition turn around? How can they make him hesitate for two or three seconds before they keep playing it?
00:07:39
Speaker
And he's been great at that. And so one of the other areas that they have maybe addressed might not be a factor this one or in this game. Right before the transfer window closed, Galaxy picked up Carlos Garces. He's a 20 year old Colombian center back. Do you know anything about this guy or is this a longer term project that probably doesn't factor into this one?
00:08:04
Speaker
Um, I mean, I haven't watched him play and I mean, I've looked at the stats on him, um, but I do not watch the Colombian league, uh, week in, week out. I can only say so much. Um, but based on the descriptions of him and the stats, he really does come across as an ideal fit for what this issue, for what this team is. Cause he's a younger defender and by all accounts, he's very mobile.
00:08:26
Speaker
And so when you talk about them, not the galaxy, just not having really mobile center backs, theoretically, he fits that and he gives you someone who can cover more ground, who can run, who can take away some of those balls over the top and pairs well with one of the other three center backs.
00:08:42
Speaker
in a really, really nice way. And so I think that is going to go a long way. I hope that he's actually good. I can't speak to how good he is. The reports on him are nice. The stats look pretty nice. We'll see how good he looks. Greg Vanney has said that they want to bring him along slowly, which makes sense for a
00:09:00
Speaker
22-year-old coming over from Columbia. Yesterday, I believe, was his first training session, and they hadn't trained with the second team. And today, he got his first training session with the first team. So I don't expect him to play this weekend. But when we look towards the summer, when we look to the fall, and hopefully the playoffs,
00:09:18
Speaker
That's a guy where I think the galaxy realistically can help or expect a big improvement in their defense just because of profile. And that's really encouraging because, you know, the galaxy have done a very bad job for your self scouting and figuring out what are they missing and then adequately targeting someone who fits that.
00:09:37
Speaker
And I don't know how good Garces is, but they have clearly identified what that defense is missing in terms of skill set. And they have signed a player who, at least in profile, has that skill set. So I hope he's actually good. If nothing else, though, I'm encouraged to see the team finally knows what they know, what they lack, because that's been a thing the Galaxy hasn't had in the last few years.
00:09:59
Speaker
And I would imagine they sort of envision him pairing with Jalen Neal over a sort of a long stretch and, and Neal is also still out, right? Neal came back last week. So that's yeah. So he came back last week. And so that's really encouraging too, because
00:10:15
Speaker
In addition to my concerns with just the profile of centerbacks that the galaxy have, the reality is because Neil was out and Garces wasn't in yet, they really only had two centerbacks in Yeshita and Caceres. And when one of them was out, which happens sometimes because both of them are old, they had to bring in a Zavaleta and their depth was a real problem. And I think that is also a degree to why they've struggled defensively. They were playing centerbacks who, frankly, aren't very good.
00:10:44
Speaker
And my issues with, you know, is Neil a great partner for Yeshita? Is Neil a great partner for Cassarius? We'll see what Garsis gives the team. If nothing else, if Garsis is good, which, you know, you would think he is considering the outlay, you at least now have four good center backs, which is a big difference from only having two good center backs.
00:11:04
Speaker
And so who are you expecting to start this weekend, Neil and Yoshida? It'll be interesting because, I mean, last week at least, Neil was on the bench to begin with.
00:11:19
Speaker
Yeah. And he came in at halftime. And as soon as he did, the defense looked a lot better. Now, part of that is game state. And I mean, they were down to nil. And so Austin was sitting further back. So whether or not who like who he comes in for, whether or not they start him, I'm not entirely clear that we'll see. And also like, yeah, he's he's just back and he's
Debate on Defensive Starters
00:11:43
Speaker
a younger player. So I wouldn't be shocked if they put him on the bench again. But
00:11:47
Speaker
I also wouldn't be shocked if he starts and he came in for Caceres at halftime so I mean you would think then if if he does start this weekend and be him with Yeshida and Caceres on the bench but you know first game back he only played 45 minutes we'll see
00:12:11
Speaker
Well, let's let's flip the page over to the offense, which is, you know, obviously the part of this team that everyone talks about.
Offensive Prowess and Key Absences
00:12:18
Speaker
And for good reason, they have been, the Alex had been the, you know, maybe the best offensive team in the league this year, scoring tons of goals there. They have 21 goals so far, but they will be missing a couple of key pieces. Ricky pooge is out with yellow card accumulation and, uh,
00:12:38
Speaker
Jay, is it Dejan? Dejan Jovalic? Dejan, technically. Dejan. Dejan Jovalic. Jovalic. All right. So he's going to be, he missed the first game with the Sounders. He's missed this game as well. He has some sort of injury, I guess, right? Yeah. He's had this same injury for a few weeks now. And I mean, he missed last week. He did also, you know, he missed that game against the, against the Sounders last time he came back. He missed last week. It sounds like he'll probably miss one more after this one. So.
00:13:08
Speaker
So the, of course, they still have Joseph Paintsill, who is maybe a dark horse MVP candidate at this point. They also have.
00:13:18
Speaker
the, uh, who, the, the other that they just signed. Yeah. Real pack. Yeah. Yeah. Real pack. Yes. So this is still a very, uh, a very offensively powerful team that said Ricky pooge, there just isn't a lot of, we don't know what this team looks like without him because he has played all but one minute and he is, you know, kind of a, a lot of their offense runs through them.
00:13:43
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that's going to be the real question. He rightfully pulls the strings in this attack. What else would you rather do? You'd be hard pressed to find a team in MLS that wouldn't like to be able to just get him the ball and let guys run in front of him. That's what this team is built around. So losing him for the match does complicate a lot of things. And to your point, they've functionally not played without him this season. Last season, when he missed some time,
00:14:11
Speaker
They went to a three at the back a few times, which is something they finished the season with mostly for other. You know, nonsensical squad reasons. They just didn't have a squad that made sense. So they were playing three at the back and they would bring Fagundas in and kind of use him. But then he had more help on the side because you had real wing backs. And so there isn't really a clear idea or model for what Greg Vanny is going to do with who's out. It's it's going to hurt a lot. There's no way you can work around that and have it not hurt a lot.
00:14:41
Speaker
I think Fagundas and Puja Spot still makes the most sense, but I mean, that's me playing manager, not knowing what Greg Vanney's gonna do. Do you think there could even go to some sort of formation change, or do you think they'll stick with the 4-3-3 here?
00:14:56
Speaker
I think they're going to stick 433. Vanny has loved that for as long as he's been a manager. And even last season, when it became really clear that they were better with three at the back, he fought that a lot. I don't think he wants to get out of that 433 unless he absolutely has to. And I don't think a single match of, you know, pooge missing through yellow card accumulation is enough to force his hand on that. And then at forward last time, I believe it was.
00:15:21
Speaker
Who was it? It was Barry last time and it was also Barry Miguel Barry. It was also Barry last week against Austin. OK, so Miguel Barry probably is the is the option. He is a he's an interesting player. He has a handful of like really impressive highlights, but he has not been prolific by any stretch of the imagination.
00:15:42
Speaker
Uh, no, he, he looks the part of, um, a striker. He just lacks the, you know, putting the ball in the goal, which is a thing that you usually want from a striker. So it's, he, he absolutely fills the general idea of what, uh, Greg Vanny wants. Like, like, Hey, when we do this, you go here and then you do that. And then you go there. And like, he does all that.
00:16:06
Speaker
and there's just not a lot of, and it's not just the goals, there's not a lot of chance creation either. This is not a guy who's getting great chances and just skying him or had some bad luck. Everything, he helps in the build up and he helps in the press. He just doesn't do a lot in front of the goal. But you are expecting him to start.
00:16:26
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, there aren't a lot of options there, and there in life's a problem, and it's something that I think they reasonably are putting off until the summer of the Galaxy are, but they really do need a backup striker for when Jovlic is out, and I think that's something you're going to see them target in August, and that's fine. We can muddle through this early part of the season without a backup striker that you really want, but there aren't a lot of options there. This is kind of what they got for now.
00:16:52
Speaker
So given all this, do you think that we'll see a less aggressive attack? Is it any chance that the Galaxy are traditionally very ball dominant, but yet they also like to get out in transit? It's a powerful offense. They both like to possess the ball and go on these direct attacks. That also ends up leaving them a little bit exposed. What would you imagine the approach is going
Adjustments in Offensive Strategy
00:17:20
Speaker
to be here?
00:17:20
Speaker
I think that they're going to try and do a lot of the same stuff. Greg Vanney, whether it's in formation or otherwise, it's pretty stubborn. He wants to play his way. And sometimes that works out well. And sometimes it doesn't. I think in general, this team can benefit from giving up some of the ball and dropping a little bit deeper and trying to limit a lot more of that transition to when they get the ball and trying to, you know,
00:17:44
Speaker
lore teams forward and hit that space behind. I think that's a thing that would benefit the team, whether Puj is in, whether Jovilich is in, whoever it is. I think it's a thing that suits this team a little bit more. That's just not really how Greg Fanny wants to play. And it mostly works out with the first team, but, you know, without this first team, you really got to make it count when you have the ball if you want to play this way. And we're going to find out if they can make it count without Puj and Jovilich. I'm inclined to think not.
00:18:13
Speaker
Well, I'm going to throw a bit of a curve ball here. We didn't talk about this at all, so I'm taking a risk.
Rebranding to Ventura County
00:18:20
Speaker
But LA Galaxy 2 recently rebranded as Ventura County. They're enjoying it. They're having quite an MLS Next Pro season. What do you make of that change, though? Is this something significant? Are the galaxies sort of trying to expand the brand? Ventura County is not exactly
00:18:39
Speaker
you know, a far distant place, but it is going the opposite direction of what they've done expansion wise previously, which was, you know, maybe looking toward Orange County.
00:18:52
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's an it's an interesting move. And it's something that I think in a lot of ways makes a lot of sense. It's something to some degree I've wanted to see the galaxy do for a while. And going down into Orange County, I think made a lot of sense for them. I thought growing their regional reach has always been a smart thing. They obviously, to some degree, poisoned the well in Orange County by
00:19:16
Speaker
you know, I don't really know how else to say it being absolute dickheads to Orange County SC. So like that, that's a problem. They handled that really poorly. And they paid for it. Going up into Ventura County, maybe wouldn't be exactly where I would choose. If I were them, I would head to, you know, the San Fernando Valley. It's a massive, massive area that
00:19:40
Speaker
in a world where, you know, there was more clubs, promotion, relegation, whether that's in soccer or baseball or basketball or football, name it. If it looked like most of the rest of the world, they would have a team out there in any sport. The Valley would all get behind them. The Valley is a massive area with a ton of people and be a great stronghold.
00:19:59
Speaker
I think getting into there would make a lot more sense for the galaxy. I think that would make sense for LAFC. But, you know, Ventura County is also a large place. And I think that it makes a lot of sense to grow the regional reach. You know, you got to activate around it. You got to do a lot of meaningful things to your point. Ventura County is a long ways from Carson. Orange County is much closer. Something in the South Bay like Long Beach would make more sense to that point too.
00:20:25
Speaker
I'm not sure how well it'll work, but I like the general idea behind it. Yeah, I suppose. And, you know, presumably going head to head, and I don't even know if they're really going head to head with a, you know, Ventura County, uh, fusion who is in technically even in a different part of Ventura County. Uh, but that would at least seem to be a much less, uh, a much less of an obstacle than going against going head to head with Orange County SC, which is like much more of an established brand, which is, you know, putting out a pro, you know, a
00:20:54
Speaker
putting together a pro product and, you know, yeah, yeah, they're very different. And to be fair, I do think there was a way to also coexist with Orange County SC and Orange County and be able to do that too. The club acted badly and poisoned that well. And so now they they had they got to leave, and they have no one to blame but themselves. So, you know, what you're gonna do you sometimes you got to take your medicine.
00:21:19
Speaker
Yeah, it's going to be fascinating. I think watching how MLS next pro sort of net or how how MLS navigates MLS next pro and the way that it chooses to compete with with U.S.L. Championship and and other leagues, it's going to be, you know, it's a I don't mind this as a as a soccer as consumer of soccer. I think these sort of head to head battles
00:21:44
Speaker
They feel uncomfortable a little bit, but maybe it's good. Maybe the competition is good. The way I look at it is we have well over 100 professional teams in the United States now. Think about when you and I first got into this, there may have been 20 professional teams. That wasn't that long ago. No.
00:22:05
Speaker
It's great that there are more clubs and they're in more cities. Um, the, the worry that I have, um, and we'll see how it changes because I, you know, we have MLS next pro now, but will there be an MLS too? Will there be a lot of different ways in which this can grow? My worry is at some point when, and not really at some point, it happens in some areas now. It does MLS use their might and generally just their financial might or the concept of being a division one.
00:22:35
Speaker
and
00:22:50
Speaker
But I think in some of these situations, it does make a lot of sense to be like, hey, we're also going to play some soccer over here. And are in the galaxy's case, are you really just a reserve team playing over in this league? In which case, I think you're just, you know.
00:23:05
Speaker
I think that is a healthy degree of like, yeah, you're growing your brand, but you're growing the sport in that area. And you're giving more options versus, Hey, we're planting a flag here. So that way we can kick you out down the line when we're able to offer more, um, by virtue of financial might and not really any actual on the groundwork. That's kind of the, that's the dance that you're kind of, you're getting into there.
00:23:28
Speaker
Yeah, and we're seeing that sort of play out in, you know, to some degree, San Diego was like this, to some degree, maybe not to a greater, quite that degree, but in Charlotte, we saw some, you know, where a relatively small team got relatively pushed out by Charlotte FC. We're seeing it potentially in India, although the
00:23:45
Speaker
Who's leading that is a little unclear. It does seem like maybe the Indianapolis government or the mayor specifically has sort of made an executive decision about which league he wants to put his support behind.
00:23:59
Speaker
Yeah. And then they're also getting into the real complication too, of not just MLS versus MLS next pro versus insert other league here, but also, you know, various women's teams and various women's leagues, which creates a whole other thing, especially in these areas where they are sharing stadiums or who has ownership of
Soccer League Expansion Complexities
00:24:18
Speaker
stadiums. Um, and are you, are you coming in truly to be a partner in the sport in the city? Um, are you showing the,
00:24:27
Speaker
I think reasonable amount of respect to the other clubs and people who were involved in the sport in that city. I think that's where you're seeing San Diego FC step on rakes, which is not a surprise because they are led by Tom Penn who when he ran LA FC couldn't stop stepping on rakes.
00:24:44
Speaker
But, you know, that also throws another layer in there too of, you know, if, if you are team good at the game, the game isn't just for the men. And how do you interact with that as well? And that you're not just interacting up and down the pyramid. Theoretically, you're also interacting with, you know, the entire women's sport.
00:25:02
Speaker
Yeah, no, I fully agree. It's going to be a fascinating next few years to see how this all kind of settles out. But Ryan, thank you once again for joining us. Of course, Ryan has been writing the Sounder at Heart tier rankings. He also does the power rankings at ESPN FC. And you can follow him on Twitter at Ryan Rosenblatt. Anywhere else people should be looking for your stuff? No, I'm good. You guys can find me where you find me.
00:25:30
Speaker
Or don't. That's also probably a better idea. Fair enough. Well, Ryan, thank you for joining us. This is No Study Yetis, and we will catch you next time.
00:26:38
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!