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Matchday 1 is my favorite day of the MLS season. It should be declared a holiday. Teams should hold pregame events and watch parties. On day 1 anything is possible. Players and fans are full of hope and optimism. Dreams are alive and well. I love it.
In this fresh new season, the Designated Pundits are bringing you something fresh and new. You’re used to our weekly preview and recap shows and you’ve probably been reading Bob’s weekly picks articles. Now, we’re adding something more. We’re bringing you a weekly article on something I saw in that week. It might be a great play, a hot controversy, or something else entirely. It’s a chance to cover things we don’t always get to in our recap shows in a little different format.
As is the Designated Pundits way, I’ll keep these short, sweet, and as entertaining as possible.
So, week 1. What did I watch?
There was a lot that captured my attention. Miggy returned and recorded an assist as a Latte-Lath revitalized Atlanta side got off on the right foot. NYCFC discovered the hard way that you can’t take your foot off the gas against Messi’s Miami, even if you’re up a man. The new look San Jose Earthquakes put 4 past my RSL team and thankfully none of them were scored by Chicho or Josef Martinez. Seattle and Charlotte showed why I think they’re both going to be high achieving teams this season as they battled to the very end.
None of those made the cut.
Truthfully, there’s just one thing to talk about this week; San Diego FC playing their inaugural game against the reigning MLS Cup Champions LA Galaxy. How could this game not be circled on my calendar? It was so compelling.
I had so many questions before the game. Would the Galaxy attack be as effective as 2024? How would their midfield cope without Puig? Can San Diego’s roster come together in time to be competitive? How far can Chucky Lozano lead this group?
I don’t think we got a definitive answer to any of those questions on week 1. Frankly, anyone who tells you we did is clowning you. But we did get a data point. A first home loss at Dignity Park for the Galaxy since October 21, 2023. And a shutout loss to boot.
The Galaxy struggled to control the game. They had 49% possession, but only took 7 shots and created just 1 big chance. FotMob gave them a total xG of 0.78. The absence of Joseph Paintsil has to factor into this for the Galaxy, but they just didn’t get enough out of the midfield. If you need evidence of that, look no further than striker Christian Ramirez who had 13 touches in his 64 minutes and 0 shots. You won’t score many goals when your striker doesn’t get the ball and doesn’t shoot.
San Diego ran this game. They created 1.9 xG off 9 shots and had 5 big chances. Their midfield was more effective at controlling the game and their defense was better at limiting the quality and quantity of LA’s chances. In the end, their goals came off a Galaxy error playing out of the back and an electric counter attack. Those were chances they manufactured with their defense and game management. If you didn’t know Anders Dreyer’s name before today, you should know it now.
And that gives us the perfect excuse to watch this back again.
I expect the Galaxy to get better. San Diego’s emotions were high in this game and they were always going to come out with extra fire. The Galaxy will find more chemistry and figure out how to make best use of the players they’ve got. Paintsil will get healthy and that will improve the attack. It's week 1, I'm not writing the reigning champs off yet.
As for San Diego, I don’t expect them to win everything this season, but I left our San Diego FC Preview thinking that they had been more savvy and smart in this roster construction than they were getting credit for. I don’t think a win against the Galaxy means San Diego will run the table. I think San Diego’s brand of soccer will win them games and lose them games and they’ll finish somewhere around the playoff cutoff line.
But I also thought St. Louis would drop off in their inaugural season before they won the Western Conference, so what do I know?
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