﻿The Quakes out-possessed Minnesota just like they did against Montreal. The man marking system created some interesting matchups, especially with central defenders Ike Opara and Michael Boxall pushing all the way up the pitch at times. Harold Cummings had the tall task of following Darwin Quintero all over the pitch. There were definitely some moments where Quakes fans held their breath defensively, but it would be irresponsible to assign all of the blame to the tactics. The attacking midfielders Vako, Eriksson, and Espinoza once again struggled to generate quality chances with consistency. Additionally, it seems that the fullbacks Marcos Lopez and Nick Lima still haven’t quite developed the chemistry they need with the attacking midfielders to be a threat in the final third.

Conclusion

The Montreal result is overall a disappointing one for Almeyda and Quakes fans, but also a somewhat unlucky one. Taïder’s goal was arguably a hair offside and Micheal Azira could have seen red for his tackle on Godoy in the second half. Conceding the go-ahead goal right before halftime also hampered the Quakes chances, because it allowed Remi Garde to take a more compact approach in the second half. On a positive note, the Quakes dominated possession throughout the match, won the ball back quickly, and overall appeared as an improved side that will continue to improve as the year progresses. There are still some questions about how the team will be able to generate quality chances with consistency, as is evident

Almeyda echoed some of the same sentiments in his post game press conference. “I take away a lot of positive things (from the game),” he said. “The attitude, the collective gameplay. We had 73 percent possession of the ball the second half, 50-something the first. That talks a lot about a team that wants to be the protagonist, a team that doesn’t wait, a team that isn’t going to stay back and wait for an individual play.”

While the Quakes controlled the majority of the game and lost, the Galaxy were able to do the opposite. It is clear that there is a lot of work to be done for Schelotto if he wants the club to return to competing with the other top clubs in the league. Schelotto clearly wants to press high up the field, but that requires a level of collective effort and understanding that doesn’t seem to be entirely there yet. The return of Sebastian Lletget and Romain Allesandrini will help with some of the problems that the Galaxy had in the midfield, but there are still some questions elsewhere on the field. David Bingham had a solid match, but the defense looked suspect at times, easily being broken down by Chicago’s attacking midfielders.

Although it is only two weeks into the season, Matias Almeyda and Guillermo Barros Schelotto have given us a glance at some of the principles they want their teams to play with. Both the Quakes and the Galaxy have plenty of work to do before they reach the level that they aspire to attain, but it takes time to change a club’s culture and style of play. It will be interesting to see how the superstar managers develop over the course of the year, and leave their mark on MLS over time.