LA Galaxy vs. DC United: Player Ratings

After a first half performance that brought back flashes from the Santos Laguna game, the Galaxy made a game changing sub with Mike Magee for Giovani Dos Santos.  Magee's craftiness, one touch footy, innate skill to make great runs, and ability to keep the ball moving with his teammates made a huge difference in the pace of the game.  The Galaxy was a completely different side with him on the pitch.

The defense still has issues, but giving up only one goal after inserting rookie Steres for an injured Van Damme, plus inserting Rowe for an injured Kennedy, is a win.  Lletget also made a huge difference in the offense with his creativity, and Ashley Cole had an excellent second half.

The good:  Magee, Lletget, Cole, Steres, de Jong.

The not so good:  Gerrard.  He continues to be an albatross, and his giveaway led directly to DC United's goal.  Also, Dos Santos still has yet to make a big impact.

• Kennedy - not rated Out injured in the 19th minute.
• Rowe - 6 Didn't give up any goals (though the post did bail him out) and did relatively well when called upon with a couple of saves.  Has problems leading his troops on corners with chaos in the box.
• Cole - 8 Didn't do much in the first half, but was an absolute wall in the second half.  Three goal saving tackles, great positioning to strip the ball from his opponent (8 interceptions), provided the ball over the top to Magee to earn the Galaxy penalty.  Could have been more selfish in the box, but provided some dangerous balls from the left.  Continues to look like a pleasant surprise.
• Rogers - 6 Got up the pitch, but continues to struggle when asked to put in a cross.  Some solid defensive actions but needs to be better at preventing crosses from opponents.  Passing game not as good as in previous games with several misplaced passes.
• Steres - 7 Well taken header for his first goal with the senior team.  12 defensive actions including a bunch of clearances (8).  Lost his man in dangerous areas a few times, but for his second outing with a bunch of players he doesn't know?  Not bad.
• DeLaGarza - 6 Resorted to boot ball - his passing isn't as tidy as in previous weeks - and caught out in a couple of instances by faster players.  Had an unfortunate erroneous pass on the first goal straight to the opponent, but should never have been put in that position by Gerrard.  Overall quiet night.
• de Jong - 7 Fourteen defensive actions including two key blocks in the box (at the 6!).  85%+ passing accuracy and all over the middle of the pitch.  He's looking like a great off season pick up.
• Gerrard - 4 Responsible for goal number 1 with a bad giveaway in midfield.  Slow, lagged the pace of play, and his freekicks weren't so great in the first half.  Much better freekicks in the second, including an assist to Magee.  Doesn't make up for the fact that he just looks too slow and is inexplicably playing deep right next to de Jong who doesn't seem like he needs the company.
• Zardes - 6 He gets in the right places, but his final ball needs improvement.  Served in a couple of dangerous crosses, but also ballooned a couple too.  1 key pass, but still not enough passing accuracy (less than 80%).  Did like seeing him take on defenders...and win.  Needs to do more of that.
• Lletget - 7.5 Was the entirety of our offense in the first half.  Ended the game with 1 key pass and 1 great assist - spotting Magee on the back post. In dangerous positions on the upper right, worked well with the rest of the team.
• Keane - 6.5 Well taken PK, but he's rusty - straight up whiffed on a couple of chances that he normally puts away.  Also hit the crossbar on a header - that goes in about a month from now.  He'll be fine once he gets more game time.
• Dos Santos - 5 Just not seeing enough from him in the final third.  After a bright 15 minutes he faded and was virtually invisible for the next half an hour.  It could be his injury took him out of the game.  But we are still waiting for his genius to arrive, and his substitute made a name for himself in a hurry.
• Magee - 10, The legend returns to the Stub Hub Center.  Gamechanger with 2 goals, 1 assist, 1 key pass, and 1 PK earned.  That's four goals to his name, and that earns you a 10.  His corner to Steres was sublime, his calm, cool, collected finish on his first goal was just as good, and his second goal was a classic Magee header.  More energy than Dos Santos and more focus on team play.
• Husidic - not rated, late sub

Individual player ratings are determined using a 10 point scale where 6 is the starting point - similar to the standard set by whoscored (https://www.whoscored.com/Explanations).