LA Galaxy Run of Form In their last six matches played dating back to May 31, the LA Galaxy hold a record of 3-1-2 (11 GF, 7 GA). During that stretch of games, Matheus Nascimento has totaled five goal contributions (2 goals, 3 assists) in six appearances and Marco Reus has logged two goals and four assists in five matches played.

LA Galaxy Against D.C. United Saturday’s match marked the 52nd meeting across all competitions between LA and D.C. United, with the Galaxy leading the all-time series 23-18-11. Against D.C., LA holds a 21-16-11 record in league play, a 0-2-0 record in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs and a 2-0-0 record in the Concacaf Champions’ Cup. In 23 all-time regular-season matches played at home against D.C. United, the Galaxy hold an 12-5-6 record. Notably, the Galaxy are unbeaten in their last 11 matches played at home against D.C. (6-0-5) dating back to June 11, 2006.

LA GALAXY POSTGAME QUOTES

LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY

On what needed to change for the match to be a 3-0 shutout:

“Yeah, I think because the first half played out in a way where there was so little space in the attacking half of the field, and we would be trying to build attacks and then they would end up with a ton of numbers behind the ball. There wasn’t a ton of space to work and run and things were getting bogged down at 2-0. I think they were starting to show themselves that they were going to come out and start to pressure a little bit more. So that means that there’s going to be more space behind them if you break the initial pressure, and at times I felt like we broke the initial pressure. We were so focused on trying to go score the next goal, and some of the situations looked promising and some of them we just missed passes, but I think at that point when a team is trying to change their intensity level now compress you, you have to drive them back to their end of the field and make them come back low and defend low and make them win balls deep in their half of the field. Make their attacking guys who are pressing come low to find the ball. Force them to have to defend deep and then you can start to turn the pressure back on them and the counterpressure, which I thought we did in the first half. So I felt like we were between trying to force sort of that third goal and finishing attacks and then just missing some passes in some of those sequences, I feel like we just kept giving them the ball to come back at us. And then it became a momentum game, right? As they bring Benteke on and they bring others. They obviously have… Leal is a very good player, they bring on some guys who have some quality, and obviously Benteke’s a dangerous player. We keep giving them momentum back when we had the chance to just put them deep in their half and force them to have to really work to recover the ball. I feel like, again, we gave momentum back and we had to battle it out at the end and at times suffer a little bit just because we didn’t see it out the way we wanted to. But I feel like maybe the sense of having space to run started to really invite us and the feel for the third goal was maybe too enticing at times when we needed to think more about winning the game and seeing the game out at times.”

On if the team spent more energy on this match than they should’ve:

“I prefer us get the third and see it out and get some guys out to do it. I think we kind of stuck more or less with what we anticipated our sub pattern to be. Maybe a few minutes more here or there, but for the most part we stuck with our thought process for how we wanted to go about the week. Certainly just in terms of the broader effort, the amount of defending and transition work that we had to do through the last third of the game was definitely more than I would have liked us to do. I would like us at home to establish possession and control of the game. If they’re going to come stepping out, I would like to see us break through the pressure cleaner and be a little bit smoother. I thought Marco [Reus] kind of got beat up a little bit through the course of the game and I thought Nasci [Matheus Nascimento] wasn’t as effective in linking up as he had been in a few other games. When we were breaking lines, it wasn’t quite as clean on the other side and I feel like that’s a piece of the inside of all of it. So I thought, again, Marco is always fantastic. I just felt like he was getting beaten up around the field tonight.”

On if the game was more physical tonight than usual:

“Yeah, it could be. I mean, you have, in the first half the spaces are quite tight because they’re dropping pretty low and we’re trying to figure out how to break through the lines so the bodies are a lot closer together in those instances where things can get a little bit physical. Look, you have a team that just lost their coach and isn’t in a great spot, and so at some point, they’re going to respond to that. If they feel like they’re still in the game or there’s something for them, there’s something inside of that that’s probably going to happen. So it got physical. I think maybe to neutralize players, they looked at some guys specifically in terms of getting physical. Joe took a lot of fouls over the course of the game. So, you know, different ways for the opposition to choose to manage the game or manage people inside the game, but there certainly was physicality inside of it. It’s okay. For us it’s about being more efficient with the ball at times and putting them away when we have opportunities to do so.”

On the group’s confidence following the team’s second consecutive win:

“Good. I think the spirits are high. As I said to you, for a little while now since coming off the eastern coast, the East Conference road swing, by and large, if you just look at the performances, we have been somewhat pleased, too pleased, with a lot of our performances, disappointed with the way we have given away results in certain situations or points. Our emotion sometimes is of the results we’re not getting, but our thought process on where we are as a team in terms of performances I think have been fairly progressively getting better over the stretch. So I think guys are confident. I think what’s important, again, I said to the guys, I’m not sure we win this game earlier in the season. I think there’s a possibility we give away the second goal because we didn’t see these types of games out. We didn’t have many leads at the beginning of the year. But I think we held steady. We did what we needed to do. We took the three points, and we move on to the next one. So I thought we had a good sort of resiliency at the end, so, yeah. Confidence is high and guys are ready to move on to the next one to keep momentum moving in our favor.”

On how he’s leveraging Diego Fagundez and his range as a player:

“Yeah, Diego’s just versatile in terms of how we can use him. He has been. He can play on the wing and everywhere else but inside the midfield, there’s times when we want him to come lower and to be almost like a second pivot with Edwin and really work together with him. There’s times in this game where we pushed him up into the higher, which is where he scored the goal. We pushed him into the higher gap and brought our fullbacks a little more inside. Because of his versatility and because of his kind of understanding of how we want to play, I feel like it’s helped the midfield just to be at times a little more fluid where I think Lucas is still learning midfield, but you see the second Lucas comes on, his combative spirit brings something different to the field as well. So it’s between the two of them. I think both of them do a great job, they’re just different players at this moment in time and the team has been rolling pretty good with Diego sitting in that position and working together with Edwin at times and so it’s been flowing, so we’ve been sticking with it because it’s been working.”

On how the midfield is settling in with each other and the goal that was conceded:

“So first, yeah, I think the group is, you know, in the back has settled in the over the last couple of games. I think Emiro has done well sliding over to the left in the last three games. I think his performances have been solid. He’s looked similarly comfortable on the left as on the right in terms in possession and when we put Maya or three games ago Zanka was on the right. They’re more comfortable on the right and they can add a little bit more in terms of in-possession stuff and in terms of their selection of passes when they’re on their right foot versus they’re left. Emiro is always going to choose pretty simple things in general, so I think we found a pretty good rhythm in terms of those guys getting comfortable and everybody as a line getting a little more comfortable. Inside of that, there’s things I want to keep pushing with our line to be a little more proactive with our movement and things like that but as a group, I feel like they’re pretty connected at the moment.”

On his message to fans who want to support the team but also want to advocate for their communities:

“Yeah, again, I recognize that there are fewer people in the end for sure. We recognize that the volume in the stadium is different, for sure. I think the players understand when they step on, their task is to try to win the game and to solve the problems of the game and to find the solution inside of the field and score goals and do the things they’re supposed to do. Entertain the fans who are here. As I have said before, fans, I believe, have the right to take the positions that they want to take and our job is to go out and to try to win games, so that’s what we want to keep doing. We have another home game coming up in another few days. It’s important for us to recover. We want to put on the best performance we can and hopefully get three points, and we want the fans to come and we want them to feel safe and we want them to feel like this is their club and the place they want to be and we’re trying to do our job on the field to try to help that to take place.”

On what he does as a coach to push his team:

“I think it’s a couple of things for me that’s important. One is connecting with my players on an individual level. Understanding that every player who plays the game, they want to win. They want to improve as a player. They want to enjoy what they’re doing and they want to feel like somebody cares about them in the process. This game and the business can be the opposite, and so I think for me I try to develop rapport with our guys so I know what motivates each one of these guys and what they care about and to know that I care about them and I want what’s best for them and I want them to be successful individually and collectively. Inside of that, I try to put forward a methodology, if you will, that they enjoy training, that they enjoy the way we want to play. We emphasize using the ball which I think a lot of I players, especially the types of players we get appreciate and try to help them find solutions and ideas and ways to think about the game that are a little bit different, or maybe not, than they’re used to. The guys I have worked with over the years have just enjoyed the way we play and try to be methodical with the ball and use it and break other teams down. In general, I think guys enjoy that because I think that’s what a lot of players we get, that’s what they see as the beauty of the game in certain ways. So between the connections, the way we want to play, how we run our training sessions to try to bring the right kind of enjoyment, try to hold a standard. All those things fit inside that. I appreciate it. I have learned a lot from the players I have had over the last ten years, too. From the guys in Toronto to the guys here, it’s a collaboration. I’m not a dictator out there, I’m a collaborator. I work with the guys. I know what I want it to look like, but I also want to take into consideration each of their qualities and what they bring to the table.”

On what is the most important step the team made to get in the space of improvement:

“Yeah, I think a couple things with this. One is inside of the way we play, it’s really important for us to win the midfield and I’m saying that with the ball, without the ball, it’s really just important for us to win the midfield. In the stretch where we had two games over four weeks, we spent a lot of time and energy working on midfield play and the connection of the guys in the midfield and it’s no secret that’s where we lost some of the guys from last year and that’s where some of our newer players are coming in this year. So we spent a lot of time trying to really emphasize those connections and relationships and the things that we find that are important inside of what we want to do. That’s one. The second is defensively, we had to eliminate the way we were giving up goals. Like I said, we were undermining what might have been different goals that we can’t give up if we want to win games. So solidifying those two things, obviously finishing off some chances that we have been getting which I think has been coming but getting Joe, Gabe, Marco, Nasci, those guys kind of connected and flowing up there so we can put things away. There are pieces that I feel like have been coming together, but our focus has been on some of the defensive stuff in the back and some of the midfield play that we think is so important to our style of play and things that we want to do.”

On what he’s said to a lot of his top players to inspire them to play free:

“I think for me for a lot of those guys, Marco I think right now for the last seven, eight weeks feels good physically. One of the first times since he’s gotten here where he just feels like he feels good and now when he feels good he just plays the game and you can see his quality come out. For Joe and for Gabe and for Nas, Diego, these guys, just trying to get everybody in a rhythm and feel inside of what we want to do to find the right sort of freedom to express themselves to use each other, play off each other, to build speed, to trust one another in the final actions, things like that, and just try to build confidence in each of them to go for it when they’re out there and to be mindful of what things we want to do and what their functions are inside of the team, but also for them to express themselves and to trust each other and play for each other while they’re out on the field.”

On DC United finding a lot of space after making their subs:

“I think what started to happen at 2-0, and maybe just a fraction of time before that is they started to release their press on us, so just a little bit earlier and we get to 2-0 and they’re still coming in the press and the moments that we break the press and we’re attacking, we’re just attacking fast and just trying to score the third goal. On the vast majority of those, the attacks broke down pretty quickly inside of three passes or so. Our guys at the front are sprinting forward to go take it and the back guys are trying to keep up and then we turn over the ball, space exists in between the lines and that was happening over and over in my view. And what we needed to do was as we drove into that half of the field, we needed at times to spin out, be responsible, bring our group together, force them to defend lower and their half of the field to these attacking guys and pressing guys to come down to help them have to recover. Then we can keep the game tight, keep the game in the attacking half of the field. They don’t get as much space or build momentum because we keep giving it back to them. So they were finding space because of our decisions once we were breaking pressure in some of these situations.”

LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER DIEGO FAGUNDEZ

On if the team is clicking more from his perspective and for his style of play:

“Yeah, I think so. I think the game against Vancouver definitely set a type of play style we have. I think our mistakes are showing a lot less which is helping us a lot, but at the end of the day, I think the work rate that everybody is putting in, all 11 players, is showing and that’s the difference maker. Last game I told Gaby [Gabriel Pec], ‘I think this is your best game. Not because of your attack, more because of the defensive work. When you do that kind of work, you’re going to get attacking and you’re going to get those chances’ and we know how good he is that way. So when you have players like that, that can help the team’s defense, there’s no way we shouldn’t be winning games and today, again, everybody’s been putting in the shift. Second half I think we struggled a little bit but at the end of the day, we were able to get three points at home, which is huge, and that’s the important thing.”

On if having to fight to keep the win will hurt the team during a short turnaround, with the team’s next game on Wednesday:

“Yeah, I think that’s what makes a good team great. Do we want to go up 2-1? Of course not. When you get scored on, they get momentum. I think 2-0 is the most dangerous score in soccer. After they scored the first, everybody locked in and said ‘hey, we’re going to grind it. We are going to do whatever it takes. If we have to do this for 15, 16 more minutes, we’re going to do it’ and everybody did that and it was so amazing. Everybody’s so happy and I think like Coach said, let’s get what we deserve, and I think today we showed that we deserve to win this game. Like you said, I think we need to finish those chances so it makes it a lot easier on us to finish out games and that’s a learning process for all of us, and I think our legs were giving up a little bit at the end, but everyone was able to grind through and that was important.”

On the team’s confidence now versus in the May or June of this season:

“I think it’s one of those things that we want to forget about what happened before and focus on what’s happening now. I don’t think we were a bad team before, but I think if you look at the mistakes we were making, I think we were punishing ourselves and now we’re not making those mistakes. We’re actually allowing other teams to make those mistakes. We’re finishing our chances when we have to. Do we have to be better at that? Of course. We have to be mindful of mistakes that we make, but right now everything is clicking and everybody is putting in the shift and when everybody puts in the shift and everybody gives their 110%, we can win games. I think everybody has been doing that lately and the confidence, of course, is going to grow throughout the group and that’s what we want to see. We have a quick turnaround and everybody needs to be ready and like we told everybody, if we play this good, we can beat any team. At the end of the day, we have to just show up and play and work our asses off.”

On what reaching 80 goals and 80 assists will mean to him:

“To be honest, it doesn’t mean much. It’s just another number that I get closer to. At the end of the day, I just want to be one of those players that will be recognized as what I’ve accomplished and maybe it doesn’t show as much when your numbers are not showing every game, you know? But the work rate and everything that I give, that’s what matters to me and when winning games. Winning games is what people remember, not the achievements that personally you have. It’s always nice to have those things, that’s why I have it in the back of my book, and I just keep those to myself but like I said, if I can end the year with 80-80, I’ll be happy. If I don’t, there’s another year and I just have to keep working harder and get there. But right now we want to win games and make it as far as we can in this league and hopefully talk about playoffs sometime.”

On how the game changed when the opponent brought in its subs:

“Look, today I think our defensive work, our defense I think we stopped them pretty good and that was important. We knew it was going to be a harder game when he walked in and like I said, I think today he didn’t really have clear chances besides maybe that one shot outside the box, that’s the only one I remember that was clear, but everything else we just had to stick to our game plan and our game plan was working. But I think the second half, we just needed to keep more of the ball, feel more comfortable playing their side and not giving so many balls back. At some point, our legs were a little bit shocked and I think those tired legs were making mistakes, myself and everybody else. We just need to be better at that. Especially when the games are coming up fast, when it’s Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday we need to make sure we’re not making those things.”

On if the game changed on the team:

“At that point we knew they would throw everything in. They had nothing to lose. When you’re going down 2-0, you want to just throw everything in on the field and hope for the best and I think that’s what they did. They moved the ball pretty well, but I don’t think they had clear chances, so defensively I think we did a really good job and we were able to get to the ball pressure and move it, but like I said, I think we need to be better at keeping the ball, making sure we’re attacking more and keeping the ball and feel more comfortable with it.”

On the difference in the midfield:

“I don’t know if there is a difference. I think right now the confidence is high, which is a key part. I think the difference right now that we have in this team is the work rate that everybody is putting in. Everybody is putting in their shift. If we keep doing that, we can win every game. But I think last game even when the subs came in, they made a difference and that’s a huge part. Today same thing. Subs came in and the tempo stayed high and I think that’s a huge part in the team.”

On receiving the ball more in game:

“Yeah, I think that position is a lot of fun because you get to touch the ball quite a bit. You get to make plays happen and when you have an amazing player in front of you like Marco that can make plays up front, it’s a lot easier. But for us, I’m just doing my job. Wherever they put me, I just do my best and learn that position as fast as I can. I think we all know how to play football and at the end of the day, if you can do that you can play any position. But when you have Eddie next to you and he puts in the same work rate and shift with you, you it’s a lot easier. And Lucas in there. If you put Lucas in there, he’s a machine, an animal.

On how he feels about a about Galaxy playoffs theory now based on this win and the way that you guys earned this win:

“Look, do we believe we can make it? Of course. If we didn’t believe it, we shouldn’t be here. We just have to take it game by game. We have a lot of home games coming up. That’s a huge part. We have an important game now again Wednesday. If we get points out of that, who knows next two games we play in Austin and then in LA. You do those things, you take care of business and get the points you deserve, then you never know. You could be talking about it. I think tomorrow there’s another game that’s happening and if the game goes the right way, then you’re tied up with points and things are going the right way. Like I told you, I think right now is the best time to get momentum and when we have all these home games you have to take advantage of it.”

On when the conversations happened about this position:

“I played that position before in Austin, so it was something that I already kind of learned a little bit but the way that we were playing here is a little bit different and then you have a Riqui that would come and pick up the ball and do his stuff like always, it was easy. This year I think we wanted to try to get two guys in there who can move the ball and like I said, with Eddie it makes things easy. Once you know soccer and football and you can move the ball you can play any position, but right now I feel comfortable putting in the shift. Defensively trying to learn as much as I can and with the guys behind me giving me commands and stuff to do, it makes it easy. I just have to keep doing my job. At the end of the day, I want to win so I’m going to do whatever it takes and wherever I’m put on I give 110 and do my job.”

On what’s allowed him to keep playing with his unique style:

“I just want to win games. I once said to myself if you want to be a good player you don’t always have to be scoring goals. You can put in the work rate, you can put in this shift and that’s what I’ve tried to do every game, no matter what it took. Like I said, I’m not one of those players that gives ten goals, ten assists every year but if I can do that, that would be amazing, but if we’re winning games, it is what it is. If I’m off the bench, I’ll give whatever it takes to make sure that we win games. If we have to cover for other players then we do that. Like I said, I think the older I’m getting maybe I’m dropping a little bit more and more but I’m enjoying it a lot. Like I said, I’m having a lot of fun out there with the guys and when you’re winning, confidence is high and you can play a little bit better.”

On if he still has spirit and drive:

“Of course. I can’t compare myself to Gabriel Pec or Joseph who are a lot younger but I remember when I was playing in New England, I was young, I was fast, and I know people are probably surprised I was fast before but age kind of takes a toll on you and you have to learn how to play faster in your head and I think that’s something that went away. If you can play with your head in soccer, you can do anything. I always tell people if you look at Marco, if you look at him, he plays in slow motion but that guy makes plays happen. It doesn’t matter how hold you are. It doesn’t matter how slow you are. If you’re fast in your head and you can make plays, you’re still here. The day I can’t run and do those things, I’ll hang up my shoes but I think there’s still five or six more years.”

LA GALAXY DEFENDER JULIÁN AUDE

When Diego Fagundez asked him “who convinced you to get your haircut and style it that way?”

“My girlfriend.”

On what playing more has done for his confidence:

“The confidence is every day, playing or no playing. If I play, I need to show my confidence. When I didn’t play, that’s the work and the player I think. If I don’t play, you can give up, but I try to with my confidence everyday, to work every day for the team. And now playing for that, I try to show my confidence in every play with my things, but I think it’s that.

On how he’s improved his level of play: