LA Galaxy’s Achilles’ Heel: Unpacking the MLS’ worst set play defence – set-piece analysis

LA Galaxy currently holds the second position in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer, MLS, with 18 points after 10 matches, trailing the table-toppers Real Salt Lake by just four goals. Each team has won five matches, drawn three, and lost two.

On the offensive front, LA Galaxy are considered to have the best attacking line in the Western Conference, having scored 21 goals, a margin of four ahead of the league leaders, Real Salt Lake. This reflects their offensive prowess thus far. However, LA Galaxy have conceded 17 goals ??? the fourth-worst defensive line in the Western Conference. This underscores their defensive challenges, especially when considering that the table-toppers, Real Salt Lake, have conceded only nine goals.

Upon scrutinising the statistics, we discovered that one of the key factors contributing to their defensive shortcomings is their status as the team conceding the most goals from set pieces in Major League Soccer, with seven goals equal to Portland Timbers. To confirm that this statistic is not merely coincidental or based on chance, they are also the team most exposed to xG from set plays in MLS, with 4.01.

Six of these seven goals conceded from set-pieces were from corner kicks, making them the team most vulnerable to this type of set-piece in MLS. Consequently, our focus will be on analysing their defence in dealing with corner kicks.

In this tactical analysis, we will delve into the defensive tactics employed by LA Galaxy at corner kicks. We will elucidate the players actions in dealing with various scenarios, highlighting certain challenges that have prompted adjustments to their defensive system. Furthermore, we will also present some suggestions for improvement.

The main scheme

Starting with their defending scheme at corners, they defend with a hybrid defending system with four zonal defenders, four man markers, a short-option defender and a defender standing on the edge of the box to get the rebound, as shown in the photo below.

If you look back to the previous photo, you will find that the opponent attacks the box with four attackers, so there is no problem, but what if the opponent attacks the box with five?

As shown below, if the fifth attacker starts near the far post or around it, the last zonal defender leaves his position to track him as a man marker, leaving this area empty. As a consequence, you may ask what will happen if the opponent decides to target this area. Lets see their answer!