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The LA Galaxy came into the Citrus Bowl on a four match win-less streak and put in their worst performance of the season. Despite the fact that their opponent was an expansion team that had yet to win a match at home, LA came out looking listless, and never pulled themselves together. Normally in this space, I try to look at both the positives and negatives of each match. However, because of the unique nature of this match, I'm going to go with the following:
The Galaxy's 4-0 loss to Orlando: Worst performance of the season, or worst performance in the history of MLS?
Discuss below.
I'll start.
Perhaps most concerning about this match was the lack of veteran leadership. The team actually didn't look that bad in the first half. They created at least as many chances as Orlando, but when they gave up chances, they were bad mistakes.
The first goal can be boiled down to Juninho ball-watching. His simply allowed Eric Avila to run by him, camp out on the penalty spot, and then head the ball home. Juninho should have been the veteran leader on the field, but instead, he looked disinterested.
From there, things got worse. Tommy Meyer, who I believe has been a very solid role-player for LA over the years, had his worst game ever for the Galaxy. His defending on the second goal was woeful, and his give-away leading to the third goal was one of the worst unforced errors you'll see from a defender.
While both of Orlando's second-half goals were a bit fortunate (I'm not sure how the third goal was a PK, as Jaime Penedo slid in sideways and saved the shot), there's no question that LA deserved the final scoreline. The Galaxy attack failed to generate a single shot in the second half until 84 minutes and 52 seconds had elapsed. That's pathetic.
The LA defense looked bereft without the leadership of Omar Gonzalez. Orlando constantly beat the halfhearted offside trap set by the ragged LA back line. If they had better quality attacking players, Orlando may have scored 2-3 more goals.
So, gentle reader, help me out here. Were there positives to be taken away from this match? I didn't see them.