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Episode 437: Preview of Sounders FC - LA Galaxy
74 Plays2 years ago
Alex Ruiz (@AlxRuiz15) of Galactic Tribune joins us on the show to give us a scouting report on the LA Galaxy, a team that both scores and allows goals in bunches. He says Riqui Puig is about "99%" out and explains how injuries have piled up this year.
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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.
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!
00:01:09
Speaker
I just feel fucking awesome. This is a tiny fucking bow. Is that what you young people call twerking? That poker case ain't cheap, man. We might win. Let's see how the sun goes, bro.
Preview: Seattle Sounders vs LA Galaxy
00:01:24
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of NOS Adiades. I am Jeremiah O'Shan. Joining me today to talk about tomorrow's game with the LA Galaxy is Alex Ruiz of Galactic Tribune. Welcome to the show, Alex.
00:01:38
Speaker
Hey Jeremiah, thanks a lot for having me. So first of all, let's talk a little bit about the project that you have going on right now. Galactic Tribune, you were at the Striker. How are things going with Galactic Tribune?
Challenges Faced by LA Galaxy
00:01:50
Speaker
Yeah, really good. Obviously it sucked with what happened with the striker, but you know, I'm here with the Galactic Tribune providing the coverage, the analysis, everything needed to say in the know what's going on in LA Galaxy World. Definitely been the up and down season both on and off the field. So, you know, this is, there's been a lot of different stories, commentary and analysis going on on there. So for LA Galaxy fans and those who just want to keep up on the team, definitely subscribe at Galactic Tribune. It's on the, it's a sub-stack newsletter.
00:02:20
Speaker
Nice. Well, uh, let's start with the off the field stuff. Uh, it's been like you said, kind of a wild year around the galaxy. Uh, it started with people clamoring to get Chris Klein out. They ended up do getting him out after, um, after a pretty bad start to the season. And I guess, uh, I know the season has sort of turned around a bit since then, but what is the mood around the team these days? Is it actually gotten better since Klein was fired?
00:02:50
Speaker
Yeah, I think off the field definitely has much improved. There was fan boycotts going on at the start of the season. The tenants, I wasn't doing so well at Digny Hill Sports Park. But since he's been gone, we've kind of seen that go away. On the field, though, however, it feels like this club is on their last strings. They've dealt with so many injuries, season ending injuries to keep players like Chicharito Hernandez, Martin Casterez, Gaston Brookman, Jayla Neal's likely out for the rest of the regular season. And they've had to rely on a lot of new summer signings.
00:03:18
Speaker
to really step up and just plug and play those guys in. And so far, they've done a decent job, but it's just not enough for this team to be consistent and get three points every single week. Yeah. So they, uh, the latest injury is to Ricky Poosh, who I guess has an ankle injury. Everything I've seen seems to say that he's almost certainly going to miss this game, but he's potential for the weekend.
00:03:43
Speaker
Yeah, so this injury is more or less a discomfort injury. He has a huge swelling in his ankle that's bothered him since last week or a couple weeks ago against Austin. That's really what kind of saw him not get as much playing time anymore. And look, this isn't a muscular injury or something that's necessarily too, too scary.
00:04:02
Speaker
type entry to talk about, but something the guys don't want to risk and aggravating even more. I mean, Puj is essentially what's given this galaxy team hope to make the playoffs. They still have a chance, surprisingly. And look, that midfield, they desperately need Ricky Puj because he's that creative engine, the guy who's able to be players one on one on the dribble. He's a very special player. So not having him against the Sounders is going to be a huge loss for the LA Galaxy.
00:04:27
Speaker
So you've gone, you went through a list, a rather impressive list of injured players this year. And yet the galaxy do seem to keep getting results. They've, and they're scoring a ton of goals. What is behind their, I guess their offensive spark here?
00:04:45
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, look, they're scoring a lot of goals. And one of the signings that I kind of alluded to earlier, talked about was Billy Sharp.
Key Players Emerging for LA Galaxy
00:04:53
Speaker
He's really taking the reins as being the striker. The Galaxy have been really bad from the number nine season all year long. Even Chicharita, when he was healthy, wasn't good at all. Dan Yovilich has just nosedive and regressed in how he's played, especially as a starter. So now Billy Sharp, he's been scoring goals for the Galaxy. He's a guy who provides danger. He's a poacher. He's a guy who
00:05:13
Speaker
isn't necessarily going to be very much involved in the buildup, but you have to be aware of where he is at all times because he's willing to put his body on the line. I remember his first game coming off the bench against Chicago, you know, he goes after a cross, just body slams himself onto the post. So he's that type of striker who's willing to put everything on the line to get that ball over the back of the net.
00:05:33
Speaker
And then the other player who seems to have come on seemingly out of nowhere is Douglas Costa, a player who at one point looked like one of the bigger busts in MLS history. And he's looked like, you know, against Portland, he was maybe the best player. I mean, he only played 57 minutes, but he was, he was absolutely dynamic in that game.
00:05:54
Speaker
Yeah, he's a different player now. My colleague, Josh Gassman from Corner of the Galaxy, we started nicknaming him Doug, because this is just a completely different person. I mean, he's so much more involved in the play. You can tell that he's not the same player he was five, seven years ago when he was at Bayern Munich.
00:06:11
Speaker
running down the wing all the time, but he very much puts in a good shift offensively. And without Ricky Pujout, I mean, he was the guy pulling the strings for the LA Galaxy attack. I mean, after he left in the 58th minute, the Galaxy didn't record a single shot against the Portland Timbers. So you can kind of see how dependent they are on him now with Pujout. But against the Sounders, if I remember, he scored his first MLS goal that he selected.
00:06:34
Speaker
the deflected free cake into the back of the net. So I'm looking forward to see if Douglas Costa can continue this form. Obviously, in Galaxy Land, there's a whole discussion on whether he should be renewed or not, which is something that definitely can be a podcast episode on its own. But right now, Douglas Costa is in very good form and very much needed for the L.A. Galaxy without Ricky Puj. Douglas Costa is a creative outlet. I think he led the team with four chances created and 58 minutes.
00:06:59
Speaker
He's very much the guy that Seattle is going to need to keep their eye on, and the Galaxy are going to be feeding a lot during this
Impact of Recent Signings on LA Galaxy
00:07:05
Speaker
game.
00:07:05
Speaker
So one of the other additions, there's been a few additions since the Sounders last played the Galaxy. You mentioned Billy Sharp. There's the Japanese center back, right? Yeah, Maya Yoshida. He's been huge. I mean, he's a guy who, even when we talk to him in post-game press conference, you can feel the command that he has in a room. Like he's a guy who is a leader. He's a veteran. He's played over 10 years in Europe in the top divisions. He's a guy who knows what to do.
00:07:31
Speaker
how to play out of, out of the back in the system, which is, you know, the guys like to do, they love to play from out of the back. Um, and in general, he's just a guy who's going to win a lot of aerial duels. So, and that's been some, a department where the galaxy have struggled where are really, they're not as dominant as they used to be in seasons previous, but yeah, he's definitely given them a spark, a leadership and, you know, someone that can organize the back line, despite them being very bad lately.
00:07:55
Speaker
The other big addition, Diego Fagundes, who a player or sounder's fan should know well, both with Austin and before that New England, how has Fagundes fit into this team?
00:08:07
Speaker
Yeah, Fungunis is such an interesting player because he's had three assists and a goal in his time since, you know, leaving from Austin, coming here to LA. But at the same time, it feels like he doesn't necessarily have the grasp of the game as much compared to Douglas Costa, where he's a catalyst offensively. Diego Fungunis isn't necessarily that. He's more of like part of the cog of the offensive machine rather than, you know, what's running that engine.
00:08:31
Speaker
But I think he's still a player you need to keep your eye on. I think given that the Galaxy have struggled a lot at winger depth, Faguna's off the bench definitely provides a different look, a different spark, and a player with MLS pedigree who's done it for so many years now. So he's an option for Greg Vandy to use off the bench.
00:08:49
Speaker
Uh, like I said earlier, the guys have really struggled in the winger position since Manny became manager. So having Diego Fagunas coming off the bench and even Michael Barrio is the guy who was, you know, an MLS veteran with FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids, right? Like he gives a different look, more direct style of play. So the galaxy, uh, out wide have a lot more players that they can use. And, um, you know, Vanny is able to use players in whichever system that he decides is best during games.
00:09:13
Speaker
And yet another winger that they've had who another player who has seemingly come into, you know, he's a streaky player, but Tyler Boyd does seem to be sort of on one of these hot streaks that he's been known for.
00:09:24
Speaker
Yeah, Tyler Boyd definitely has been a huge addition for this Galaxy team. I mean, he's the guy who... He's basically what Kevin Cabral was supposed to be, if I'm being honest. A guy who's fast, pacey, can finish at times. He's had some great goals this season. And I think the thing with Tyler Boyd is, like you said, he's very inconsistent, but he provides that running, that direct threat that Greg Vanney asks and demands out of wingers all the time to just be able to be a threat to the back line and stretch them out. And that's exactly what Tyler Boyd does.
00:09:53
Speaker
Lately, he's cooled off in his form. I think he had a couple of games stretch where he had three goals and three games stretch like that. But lately he's cooled off. And the thing for the Galaxy really needs is him to kind of pick up that form because when he's going, the rest of the Galaxy is going and they pick up points and they pick up wins. And right now they need wins more than ever. Watson's counter wants to thank everyone for their patience, but now the wait is over.
00:10:20
Speaker
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00:10:46
Speaker
So, uh, they obviously are coming off a pretty tough game at, uh, Portland over the weekend. It seemed like. Galaxy just sort of ran out of gas towards the end of that game. You know, they, they started well, they had a three, two halftime lead, and then it was really all Portland, especially after, uh, Costa went out. What, what is the, I guess, what's the mood around the team and how, like, is there going to have to be any rotation that the galaxy are going to go through for this one?
Defensive Woes and High-Scoring Games
00:11:14
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, look, the Galaxy understand what their problem is. And that's just that they can't, you know, keep the ball. They can't possess it. They give the ball up too easily in bad spots of the field. And that's exactly what happened against Portland. That's why the Timbers were able to have so much momentum towards the end of the game. And, you know, given their injuries and how the back lines has changed so much over the over the season, they've just been really been working on trying to hone in together, get that chemistry, be able to eliminate those
00:11:40
Speaker
easy mistakes that they do because this galaxy team shoots themselves in the foot very often. And I think that right now this team is concentrated on just trying to go one half at a time. Greg Van Dies talked about, can we just have one good half and keep that going. And I think that really says the state of the galaxy team is that right now they're a team that's broken on their last threads dealing with so much player turnover and different 11s that they've had to put out.
00:12:05
Speaker
but they're still trying to organize themselves well, trying to take it step by step right now. And look, I'm just worried that this Galaxy team is just going to continue to run out of gas even more. Kind of like you mentioned in the question, this team has had a lot of
00:12:20
Speaker
Pretty crazy games in the last two weeks. They've scored two goals, at least two goals, and 11 of their last 12 games. So this is a team that is needing to get into shootouts in order to rescue points. And that's not an ideal for the LA Galaxy.
00:12:36
Speaker
Yeah. You know, you look at their, uh, their form and it's pretty impressive. Uh, when you look at basically the last half of the season, they, they've only lost twice, uh, in since, uh, what week 15, that was when Chris Clang got fired. Right. Exactly. So they've been on this run since Chris Clang got fired. And yet they are still very much on the outside looking into the playoffs. Is this run enough to sort of.
00:13:04
Speaker
Let's just assume they fall short of the playoffs. Is that enough to really continue the trajectory that they are on? Or is there some sense that there's going to have to be another reset in order to sort of get the galaxy back?
00:13:17
Speaker
I mean, it's interesting because we had to put everything perspective, kind of how chaotic everything was at the start of season, all these season ending injuries. I mean, this team has never been able to be healthy all season. And sure, the Greg Manning tenure hasn't necessarily been amazing. They've only made the playoffs once. It looks like they'll likely miss the playoffs again this year. But I mean, he's brought some stability to the club.
00:13:37
Speaker
Adding Will Coons has been huge in the front office. A lot of these trades and a lot of the roster workarounds go through him. So he's helping this roster maximize what they can get. And I think, you know, there's nobody else right now I think that can
00:13:52
Speaker
fill in what the galaxy need at the moment. I feel like Greg Van Dies built an identity with the club. He's done a lot more than just, you know, the coaching side, you know, he's a sporting director. He's really built up the academy. He's been able to kind of upgrade a lot of things within the club that we're lacking. You know, this was a club that was still in its MLS 2.0 era just a year ago. So, I mean, this club is advancing slowly, methodically, but I think that's the approach that the club wants to go through right now. But I will say for sure, with Greg Van Dies likely being back the next season, that leash is going to be extremely short.
00:14:22
Speaker
So right now, this season, you know, they're still fighting, still competing. You can see that out in our last couple of games. But next year, there's going to be some very high expectations that need to be filled by everybody on the LA Galaxy.
00:14:35
Speaker
Yeah, I got to say, uh, I, I don't always, I guess it depends on your perspective. These, especially the last five games, uh, or the last three games have been each team scoring at least three goals. I guess that's the first time that's ever happened in MLS history where a team has been involved where they've both given up and scored, uh, three goals in, in three straight games. Is this been a fun team to cover or is it been just, is it, is it almost too much?
00:15:03
Speaker
It feels like too much. I just say it's very chaotic because, you know, sometimes you kind of just be like, okay, maybe they can do it. Okay. Maybe they can. Like the game against Minnesota, right? Whether they're down three, one at halftime, I'm like, okay, Minnesota has control of the pitch. They have control games over. Yeah. And then Billy sharp out here with the hat trick.
00:15:20
Speaker
Um, everybody's contributing, uh, you know, their subs were really good. That game against Austin as well was very chaotic, a three hour delay. And then that game is tied, uh, you know, right at the death. So, I mean, they, they do everything they can.
00:15:36
Speaker
to get themselves in positions to, you know, where you're like, Oh man, you can count this team out. But somehow they surprise you. And, you know, I'll say this, the galaxy, whenever they're down and looking to chase a goal, they're a very dangerous team. They do not give up. They will attack relentlessly. They will do a lot of different looks to, you know, get one shot, one chance and one opportunity. However, if they have the lead, um, they struggle to defend it.
00:15:58
Speaker
They are not very good at holding on to leads and they will have shaky ends to game. So, you know, depending on how this game against Seattle goes, I mean, if they're winning, I'm scared because I know I can't trust the team to hold the lead. And if they're losing for me, I won't count them out until that final whistle is blown.
00:16:14
Speaker
Fair enough. And you know, we don't usually do predictions on this show. So I think I'm going to count that as the equivalent of a prediction, which is to say, this is going to be probably a crazy game. And, you know, I don't know, we'll see how it goes. But it's been really good having you on Alex. Again, it's the galactic Tribune. It's through sub stack. Go check it out. Anything else you want to work and people read you are you're on Twitter and where else?
00:16:39
Speaker
Yeah, I'm on Twitter at ALXR15. That's where you can find a lot of my LA Galaxy coverage. Mostly post articles, stats, interesting things, commentary. Just everything revolving around the LA Galaxy can be found on there. Awesome. Well, thank you for joining us. I am Jeremiah Shan, signing off for No Study at Disc. We will catch you next time.
00:17:56
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!