I just wrote about the LA Galaxy a couple of weeks ago, so I'm maybe overdoing it a bit here. They're a pretty irresistable story, though – from 2008 through 2013, they were one of the league's two most consistent and predictable teams, yet this year they're tinkering with the lineup and formation on almost a weekly basis. It's been pretty fascinating to watch Bruce Arena retool this team on the fly.
Here a few thoughts from Saturday's 3-1 win over the Portland Timbers:
1. Everyone Where They're Comfortable
The big change for this year's Galaxy has been the diamond midfield, which Arena toyed with as early as March for defensive purposes. Putting Landon Donovan or Stefan Ishizaki at the point of the diamond was an easy and fairly effective way to harass opposition d-mids, guys like Kyle Beckerman or Agustin Pelletieri, who start so many strings of possession with quick, accurate outlets.
I think the diamond still has its place in the LA arsenal, but over the last couple of weeks, Arena has gone back to a more basic 4-4-2, and suddenly LA look a lot like the team that won back-to-back MLS Cups in 2011 and 2012. They're able to spread the field, overload either centrally or on the wing, and stretch out the opposition defense before help can get there.
Robbie Keane said it afterward on NBC: "We've gone back to a formation that works best for everyone."
He's certainly included in that, as are Donovan and Robbie Rogers (we'll get to that in a minute), but perhaps most important is the central midfield of Juninho and Marcelo Sarvas. When they're at their best the 4-4-2 is really a 4-1-3-2 where the outside guys in the "3" (Donovan & Ishizaki) are pushed up higher than the central guy in the 3 (Sarvas), while Juninho sits as the d-mid. It's shaped like a "Y" rather than a flat line.
Going out that way has helped LA's spacing a bunch, allowing them to build some pretty awesome team goals:
They've also gotten better at using possession to kill off the game:
This is every tactical tweak Arena's made showing itself in one play:
1. Juninho drops deep between the central defense
2. DeLaGarza flares wide to the left and tells Rogers to push up
3. Donovan is inside, which brings Kalif Alhassan four steps closer to the central midfield and gives Rogers the whole flank
4. The central midfield overload confuses the Timbers, who let Gonzalez dribble 30 yards with only token pressure
5. Once Gonzalez breaks that pressure, Will Johnson is left to try to mark both Donovan and Keane
6. Keane knows the overlap is there. Look at this image below – you can see him check over his shoulder to see Rogers making the run:
That's good soccer, folks.
Now, I'm not going to write about them again for a little while, because unless you're an LA fan, you're probably sick of these columns. But I can guarantee you I'll be writing about them in November.
The Galaxy are back.
