Dema Was Innocent

At the Week 3 game vs. the Colorado Rapids I had a great line of sight on the tackle that cost Dema Kovalenko ejection from the match. I clearly saw Medhi Ballouchy step on the ball and Kovalenko getting to the ball first on the tackle, which automatically makes the tackle legitimate.

Unfortunately, the camera angles were not in favor of my argument and everybody concluded that Dema was an irresponsible idiot who got himself sent off on a bad tackle.

Browsing YouTube, I found this little gem. A clear HQ shot of Dema Kovalenko at the precise moment of impact on that tackle. The shot shows three things:

a) Dema going into the tackle with ONE leg, not two.
b) Ballouchy stepping on the ball at the moment of impact.
c) Dema making contact with the ball first, not the man.

I call this shot: DEMA WAS INNOCENT

MLS Week 3: Galaxy 2-3 Colorado

The defensive breakdowns were bad enough, but I think that's understandable with a very young defense. Gonzalez did well 90% of the time, unfortunately, the other 10% was when we gave up 3 goals. Even so, I like Omar.

The real problem in my book was midfield. Not a single pass beyond the 2/3rds mark. Dema and Tudela are doing a good job of winning the ball, but neither one of them has been distributing particularly effectively. Today, not at all.

If Galaxy are going to play this 4-4-2, which essentially turns into a 4-2-4 when we attack, then Klein and Lewis* are going to have to pinch in a lot more and not play as wide to provide easy outlets for Dema-Josh, rather than relying on the overhead pass to the corners.

Even so, some basic passing drills are in order for the midfield. Next week is going to be hell if Galaxy come out looking the way they did tonight.




*Another point, if Lewis was ready to go, he should have started at left mid and AJ De La Garza should have started at left back. Eddie Lewis shouldn't play left back, our back-line is slow enough as is.