The La Galaxy has a fantastic history in Major League Soccer for mostly having the most titles won and just always being a powerhouse. However, The Galaxy has suffered quite a bit over the last couple of years, and it surely was hoping to make a rebound this year.
The Galaxy has recently signed international Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He is basically one of the main attractions of the league. Many will pay money to go see a world class player like Ibrahimovic, and that itself is a huge plus for The Galaxy.
The Galaxy was doing OK until Sunday’s home game against Sporting Kansas City in which The Galaxy lost a score of 2-0.
Yes, The Galaxy is suffering some injuries, but the loss was quite a slap in the face. As a result, the team learned three things that must be considered when playing any team, from now on.
1. Ibrahimovic is not always the hero
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has played two games with the LA Galaxy starting from the bench. In the first game against expansion team Los Angeles FC on March 31, Ibrahimovic had an outstanding game. The Swedish international made a historic debut when he scored a goal on his first touch from almost half the distance of the goal.
Ibrahimovic had tied the game with his amazing first goal against LAFC 3-3. The Galaxy was down by 0-3 and managed to work their way up. The Swedish forward tied the game and in the last minutes made the victory goal with a superb header.
In that game against LAFC, Ibrahimovic did his part as a bench player and saved the day. However, against Sporting KC, Ibra did not show up as the hero. He did come off the bench and provide some danger up front but efforts were to no avail. Ibrahimovic had a few shots on goal that had power but SKC goalkeeper, Tim Melia, did an outstanding job at making saves.
With the loss to Sporting at home, LA Galaxy has learned that the whole team needs to step it up. Ibrahimovic can do a lot, but he will need his teammates to pitch in a lot as well. At times, Ibrahimovic was running back to the midfield to possibly be the playmaker instead of the striker.
Defensive mistakes prove to be costly
LA Galaxy was always known to be a well-rounded team. The team has always been packed with strikers and midfielder while having a strong backfield. However, in the last couple of seasons, The Galaxy has lacked in defense.
The best defender is English star Ashley Cole, but he acts more like a midfielder than a defender. On top of that, Cole is in his 30s and has shown that he is not what he was when he played in England. Cole looks great but, at this age, he should stick to defending more than attacking from the wings.
Also, the LA Galaxy defense is not quite coherent. Every time they make a mistake it seems to prove to be a grave one. Every mistake they make, other teams tend to score.
Against SKC, The Galaxy faltered twice and the adversary scored.
The midfield needs to take better control
The LA Galaxy is missing Mexican star Giovani Dos Santos with injury and is day to day. That has proven to be costly so far, especially with a loss at home. Giovanni’s brother Jonathan Dos Santos is another center midfielder and cannot hold his own at this moment.
French player Romain Alessandrini and Sebastian Lleget are playing half a game each due to nurturing past respective injuries. So, these two are not at full power. Until then, LA Galaxy must find a way to have better control of the game in the midfield. Better passing needs to be done to feed the monster up front, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Galaxy is packed with midfielders but they were asleep against SKC. Their passing was not very accurate and their stamina was low. So low, that defender Ashley Cole was on the attack as well. Maybe the LA Galaxy needs to distribute that midfield better and get their injuries healed as soon as possible.