SEATTLE – LA Galaxy Insider Adam Serrano provides his “Three Things That We Learned” from the LA Galaxy’s 3-2 defeat to Seattle Sounders FC. The loss eliminates the Galaxy from the 2015 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
LA GALAXY’S SEASON ENDS AFTER MONTH-LONG COLLAPSE
The LA Galaxy were the better side throughout their match with Seattle Sounders FC, but the familiar issues that had caused their October collapse reared their ugly head again on Wednesday.
After their late September win over FC Dallas, the Galaxy made too defensive errors and were overly reliant on the stellar play of Robbie Keane to bail out the defense during their slide down the standings. Against the Sounders, the Galaxy surrendered three goals on costly defensive mistakes while Seattle contained the the club's Irish captain on the offensive end and limited the interplay between Keane and Giovani dos Santos.
After going winless in the month of October, Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena and the rest of the squad will have to answer plenty of hard questions after the Galaxy’s talented squad saw their season end prematurely.
DONOVAN RICKETTS’ STRUGGLES KEY TO GALAXY DEFEAT
It was a night to forget for LA Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.
The Galaxy’s 38-year-old Jamaican goalkeeper endured one of the most frustrating performances in recent memory after three mistakes resulted in three Seattle goals. Communication issues seemed to be prevalent on all three Sounders’ goals as Ricketts, and the Galaxy defense were guilty of positional lapses that led to Seattle’s eventual victory. The costliest mistake came on Seattle’s winning goal as Ricketts appeared to slip and was unable to recover in time to stop Erik Friberg’s impressive volley.
With the Galaxy’s season over thanks to a series of uncharacteristic defensive errors, expect Bruce Arena to take a long hard look at Ricketts’ future ahead of the 2016 season.
SOCCER IS CRAZY
It can be said without hyperbole that the first half between the LA Galaxy and Seattle Sounders was the most exciting half of soccer that I have ever witnessed.
The opening 25 minutes were pure drama as the Galaxy twice conceded poor goals to the Sounders only to battle back each time and pull the game level. Two errors by the Galaxy—one of which appeared to be offside— led to two Seattle goals before Sebastian Lletget and Gyasi Zardes completed two impressive finishes to help the Galaxy equalize.
Although the Sounders eventually knocked off the Galaxy, the first half was an instant classic. However, thanks to Los Angeles’ defeat, the entertainment value that the first half provided will likely be lost to Galaxy fans forever.
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at www.LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.