LA Galaxy must learn to move on from Zlatan to Chicharito… whenever MLS returns

The opening two weeks of the MLS season exposed a flaw in the LA Galaxy’s style, still operating as if they have Zlatan Ibrahimovic up top rather than Javier Hernandez.

Conventional wisdom dictates any team would miss a striker who scored 31 goals in 31 games over a single season, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s decision to leave the LA Galaxy at the end of 2019 came with a silver lining for some. The Swedish striker was an individual success during his time in Major League Soccer, but this never translated into success for the Carson club.

Indeed, while Ibrahimovic was, by every measure, a goalscoring machine for the LA Galaxy it was often the case that they played to the veteran striker’s strengths regardless of whether it suited them in a wider sense.

The Galaxy might have harnessed Ibrahimovic, but with the former Barcelona, Inter, Manchester United and PSG forward leading the line they were distinctly one dimensional. It’s why Guillermo Barros Schelotto was only able to guide his side to the conference semifinals last season.

Many subsequently adjudged that the LA Galaxy would become a more complete team in the post-Ibrahimovic age, especially with Javier Hernandez making the much-hyped move from Sevilla before the 2020 campaign. The Mexican is more likely to drop deep than Ibrahimovic and demands the ball into feet. He isn’t equipped to deal with long balls and crosses like his Swedish successor.

The LA Galaxy’s first two results and performances of the new season haven’t backed up this theory, though. The Carson club have just a single point to show for their opening two fixtures, drawing away to the Houston Dynamo before suffering a dismal home defeat to the Vancouver Whitecaps. For all the talk of becoming a more dynamic, multi-dimensional outfit, the Galaxy have been decidedly easy to play against.

In many ways, it’s as if they are still playing like they were with Ibrahimovic as the attacking apex. Against both Houston and Vancouver, the Galaxy couldn’t help themselves but play countless crosses into the middle. Schelotto’s team crossed the ball an astonishing 54 times over the two games, giving Hernandez no chance of making an impression.

Of course, it’s possible for a cross to be an effective method of cutting open an opposition defense, but the profile of the Galaxy’s countless crosses against Houston and Vancouver were of the aimless variety. They were hit short or long or in the direction of nobody in particular. The one goal the Carson side have scored this season came from a goal kick down field and a stunning piece of individual brilliance from Cristian Pavon.

https://twitter.com/FanSidedSoccer/status/1233865901738512384?s=20

Hernandez has mustered just two shots in his first two outings as an MLS player and neither were on target. But this should not be used as a stick with which to beat the Mexican striker. Instead, it is a reflection of how the LA Galaxy have played so far this season and how they have still to recognize the difference between Ibrahimovic and Hernandez. The cannot take the same tact and expect the same results.

Concerns persist over the LA Galaxy’s defense which can be vulnerable at the best of times, but it isn’t their defense that is letting them down at the moment. They have the look of a team suffering from a shortage of creative ideas in the final third. This is concerning at such an early stage of the season, when they should be fresh both physically and mentally.

Of course, the season is still at an embryonic stage and with the COVID-19 crisis forcing the suspension of MLS for the next 30 days Schelotto will have some unexpected time on the training field to work on some new attacking strategies. But the expected silver lining of Ibrahimovic’s exit has so far proved to be anything but.