CARSON, Calif. — The LA Galaxy opened their public preseason schedule on Saturday afternoon with a 2-1 loss to fellow Western Conference opponents, St. Louis City SC. The 12,553 in attendance were witness to an incomplete roster from the home side as Greg Vanney and company rested several starters, including Dejan Joveljic, Riqui Puig, and Martin Caceres, to name a few.
What resulted from the half-calf lineup was a mixed bag, to say the least. And it once again highlighted defensive issues that feel like they’re repeating themselves.
After a quarter of an hour of gathering themselves, both teams attempted to impose their style on the game. Saint Louis employed a pass initiated high press when the Galaxy played out of the back. The Reds positioned themselves to rapidly close space on the first pass using angles that limit the options of the receiver.
At the half-hour mark, the G’s found themselves emergency defending in front of goal. When the Galaxy played long out of the back, the Reds won the ball, G’s attackers hopelessly outnumbered, classic press and counter-press tactics. A few times during the first half, the Galaxy broke the press, primarily through Mark Delgado and Diego Fagundez. The return of Riqui Puig should force opponents to think twice about pressing.
The Reds set up to force the Galaxy to the left side, preferring to press Chris Mavinga and Julian Aude rather than Maya Yoshida and Miki Yamane. The Japanese pair controlled the right side of the pitch, choosing good passes and taking up excellent defensive positions. Despite limited playing time together on the Japanese national team, they exhibited cohesion and defensive acumen that bodes well for the Galaxy.
As halftime approached, the G’s resorted to fouling to stop St. Louis attacks, resulting in a series of deadball restarts. On one such restart, a weak clearance up the middle fell to Chris Durkin. The Reds midfielder hammered a low shot through a maze of players into the right side of the goal. Bond claimed interference from a Red attacker loitering near the post, but the referee and video review ruled against him.
With all the talk over the past week about defensive positioning, Mavinga and Aude still lost connection with the defensive structure. Mavinga repeatedly pushed up the field, losing touch with his center-back partner, Yoshida. With Aude wide and high a single simple pass in behind Mavinga unlocked the G’s, forcing the center-back to use his pace to concede fouls or corner kicks. Whether Yoshida failed to communicate or Mavinga ignored him, familiar fundamental defensive mistakes continue to plague the G’s.
Without the services of Puig, Gaston Brugman, Martin Caceres, and Jalen Neal recovering from injuries, four Galaxy academy products and SuperDraft selection Tucker Lepley appeared in the match. Though Mauricio Cuevas and Lepley registered assists on the Fagundez goal, none of the youngsters stamped themselves as first-team candidates.
The St. Louis press exposed a consistent flaw in academy and college players, failure to move the ball on the first touch. Top flight defenders close space so quickly that players must either receive passes already on the move or move the first touch to gain time and space advantage.
Watching club and college soccer over the years reveals that even the best players fall into the habit of controlling the ball with the first touch rather than moving or passing it. The youngsters did show the ability to defend together in packs, especially in the second half. If they can learn to move the ball more quickly and defend in transition, they may become useful during the congested summer schedule.
Even in the first preseason game, it should be a concern that established players like Mavinga and Aude continue to make the same elementary defensive mistakes. Hopefully, the return of Neal and perhaps Caceres will solve the center-back problem, but Aude has yet to prove himself capable of top-level defending at left back. Los Dos and the Galaxy Academy must emphasize moving the ball and tempo so young players can advance more quickly to compete at the top level.
Despite head coach Greg Vanney’s oft-repeated desire for all players to report at the start of the preseason, at least a half dozen potential starters did not even make the bench against St. Louis. With a DP slot still available, it looks like Vanney will be integrating his roster during the season once again.
The Galaxy will look to fix those defensive problems and integrate more players as they head for the desert and the Coachella Valley Invitational, where they’ll have four games that will conclude their preseason offerings.