The key word this week for the Galaxy has been patience.
Not because of last week’s 2-1 loss to LAFC, the first of season, which goalkeeper John McCarthy perfectly summed up saying, “I think we had to lose at some point.”
The patience that Galaxy coach Greg Vanney is looking for could go a long way in determining how the remainder of the season unfolds.
The Galaxy will be on the road Saturday against the Vancouver Whitecaps, who reside atop the Western Conference.
“By giving up a goal in the first three or four minutes, we give them the green light to sit back in a very low block and protect something and counter against us,” Vanney said. “If we can be a little bit more patient, draw teams out if they sit back and then work through the spaces that they open up when they step out.
“We have to learn to be a little more patient and then manipulate the space and the time and those things that we want to get to maybe a little better. We were rushing it at times in that game, but I think we also have to do a better job at defending set pieces.”
A bit of that falls on midfielder Riqui Puig, who engineers the attack. Despite losing, the Galaxy (3-1-3, 12 points) dominated possession, but managed only one goal
“He’s dropping down a lot picking up the ball and he picks up the ball, he’s looking to try to get our attack started, which sometimes means trying to play through the lines or trying to push the ball through spaces that has led to transitions that come right back at us,” Vanney said. “I think we have to be very wary of trying to play balls through the middle of the field. That’s what everybody is looking for. Those are sure-fire transition balls if you’re going to force things through the middle.
“He needs to be more patient, connect with everybody, needs to sometimes bring the wide guys into the game and sometimes just stay high (up the field) and be patient and let us get the ball to him.”
Defending set pieces, especially corner kicks, has been the ultimate struggle so far this season. LAFC’s opening goal, off a corner, is the sixth allowed by the Galaxy this season.
“We have to win the near-post space, we keep losing that, which is causing us problems,” Vanney said. “The context of the game can’t affect our emotions and our decisions inside of the game as much as what I’ve seen in the last game. We’ve got to stay more calm, stick to our plan, stick to our roles and our positions and stick to the things that we’re trying to do.”
“A lot of teams will send out runners into that (near-post) space to try to create a flick (on the ball) or a redirection or to draw you out of the space. For us, too many of the goals have been given up where we’ve conceded that space, specifically on one side. We haven’t done a good job and when that redirection happens, everybody that is in your zone becomes frozen because they don’t know where the redirection is going and they can’t be aggressive and attack the ball. We have to be make sure that we win and dominate that space, we’ve done it better on one side. I think that’s left the face of the goal vulnerable for us and we have to improve that.”
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Injury updates
Defender Martin Caceres is available against Vancouver (4-1-1, 13 points) after missing last week’s game. Defender Eriq Zavaleta, who was a late scratch last week due to a concussion, was in the final steps of being cleared as of Thursday.
Jalen Neal, who has been out since last season due to a hernia surgery, is in line to make his debut Sunday in a MLS Next Pro game with Ventura County Futbol Club. If all goes well, the defender could make his MLS season debut next week when the Galaxy hosts San Jose.
GALAXY at VANCOUVER WHITECAPS
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia
TV: Apple TV (MLS Season Pass)
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