The flu season is in full swing here in Southern California. The inevitable has happened, I caught the flu bug, but there is a bigger bug that people seem to be catching this off season and that is that ‘LAFC are destroying the LA Galaxy’ bug.
From simply a marketing perspective? Absolutely, no doubt about it. Anything that’s shiny and new in Los Angeles is going to do well, especially if it comes with a new stadium.
Carlos Vela at his LAFC press conference | Photo by Jorge Galvez for LA Soccer Nation | August 11, 2017
However, on the pitch (well on paper anyways since Banc of California Stadium has yet to lay down the pitch) the LA Galaxy still hold the better talent. I can hear the scoffs of the LAFC faithful already. The truth is, both teams still have many roster spots and gaps to fill and LAFC might have the better team when the dust settles, but that is not the case for now.
LA Galaxy player Romain Alessandrini celebrates his goal | Photo by Jorge Galvez for LA Soccer Nation | June 17, 2017
If we were to take the 5 best players from both teams and put them on a list it would look like this:
(In order)
- Carlos Vela
- Jonathan dos Santos
- Romain Alessandrini
- Sebastian Lletget
- Giovani dos Santos
Vela and J. dos Santos are the class of the bunch. Alessandrini deserves to be up there for his play last season despite all the chaos surrounding the organization. Lletget is the key that will unlock this offense. Before getting injured, Lletget was enjoying the best spell of his career. A true two-footed player who puts defenders on their heels and creates positive plays, Lletget will recapture his form immediately.
Sebastian Lletget of the LA Galaxy against FC Dallas | Photo by Jorge Galvez for LA Soccer Nation | March 4, 2017
The fifth spot is simply based on statistics. The past two seasons Gio has 20 goals and 15 assists but was trending down due to the awful Galaxy campaign last year. Newly acquired Benny Feilhaber is a great addition to LAFC, his stats the past two seasons are 12 goals 16 assists. You might be thinking, “Yea but Gio is a forward”. He is, but Feilhaber also played seven more games than his counterpart.
LA Galaxy players Jonathan dos Santos and Giovani dos Santos | Photo by Jorge Galvez for LA Soccer Nation | July 28, 2017
Yes indeed, after these players, there is a significant drop off for the Galaxy and less so of one for LAFC who look to try to build a solid overall roster.
For the Galaxy faithful the sky is NOT falling and all that glitters is NOT black and gold, but those neighbors off the 110 freeway are starting to get louder and louder.
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Contact: gabriel.montoya@lasoccernation.com
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