50度灰视频

On the video screens in the 50度灰视频 City SC locker room this week, there have been two lists, complied by the coaching staff as they went through game films in the aftermath of the team blowing a two-goal lead and getting a 4-4 tie with Portland on Saturday. One is a list of things the team can do to help its cause, and the other is a list of things not to do. Look at a wall in the dressing room, and there鈥檚 a reminder.

鈥淭here are points we did well,鈥� said midfielder Marcel Hartel, who had three assists in the game. 鈥淭here are points we don鈥檛 get so well in this game. And everybody can see it, how we want to play soccer, how we want to defend, how we want to play with the ball, and also some things outside from the page. Everybody can read it and can do our best to do it.

鈥淚t is not only for this week. I think it will be on the television the rest of the season. So it鈥檚 our, I say, benchmark, for every game.鈥�

The 4-4 tie against Portland, settling for one point instead of three at a point when City SC needs every point it can get, is a high price to pay to drive home those lessons, but that鈥檚 the best City SC can do at the moment. The team now gets one of its toughest tests of the season, facing the Los Angeles Galaxy at 1:45 p.m. on Sunday at CityPark (Channel 2, free on Apple TV) in its first home game since Aug. 9. The Galaxy are in first place in the Western Conference, second overall in the league, and could clinch a playoff spot this weekend if one of many scenarios come to pass, all of which require a Galaxy victory.

Playoffs are still possible for City SC, but its scenarios are a lot simpler: Win just about every game. It took 44 points to get to the playoffs in the West last season; to get there, City SC will have to win seven of its final eight games.

鈥淲e know that we鈥檙e if we want to go in the playoffs, we have to win most of the games now,鈥� Hartel said, 鈥渁nd we will start it on Sunday against L.A.鈥�

But the Portland game stung, with City SC leading by two goals at 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 and not able to close the game out.

鈥淎ll we can do is move on and look to improve,鈥� interim coach John Hackworth said. 鈥�(The film sessions) have been tough. They鈥檝e been really honest. I would give the players a ton of credit, because they鈥檙e being proactive in how they鈥檙e trying to problem-solve with the coaching staff. So when we鈥檙e looking at film, it鈥檚 not just me trying to dictate them. 鈥楧o this, do this.鈥� It鈥檚 鈥榃hat do you guys see?鈥� And they made some really good points.鈥�

City SC鈥檚 offense has been overhauled over the past month with players like Hartel, Cedric Teuchert and Simon Becher, but it should get two of its old-guard members, Klauss and Rasmus Alm, back this week. Both haven鈥檛 played since June because of knee sprains and both will see only time off the bench in the first week back, but it gives Hackworth more offensive options than he鈥檚 had since he took over for Bradley Carnell at the start of July.

鈥淟ook, Simon鈥檚 done an unbelievable job,鈥� Hackworth said, 鈥渂ut before we had Simon, we were playing Nokkvi (Thorisson) out of position in the nine (striker), and we didn鈥檛 really have a nine, so multiple guys were being asked to do that. Indiana (Vassilev) played at the end of the Portland game as a nine. Now, bring back Klauss, not only do you have a nine, but you have Klauss, and that鈥檚 going to be that鈥檚 going to help us in so many ways, because he鈥檚 a really good defender as well as attacker, whether it鈥檚 on set pieces, whether it鈥檚 just willingness to press, whether it鈥檚 willingness to track back, he gives us a better defensive structure for sure.鈥�

Center back Joakim Nilsson return to action is still at least a week away, and Hackworth continues to hint at other changes on the backline, where Jannes Horn may be ready to move in at left back ahead of Jayden Reid and Tomas Totland could take a seat at right back to either Jake Nerwinski or Akil Watts. With the team having allowed four goals in three of its past five MLS games, Hackworth has made a priority of tightening up the defense.

Njabulo Blom could be on the way out soon. The defensive midfielder has played in only one of the past seven games and seems unlikely to make the game-day roster on Sunday. Hackworth said Friday the team was talking to another club about Blom.

The Galaxy were already one of the best teams in the league but got a little better in the summer transfer window by signing Marco Reus, an attacking midfielder who played for Borussia Dortmund in Germany and had a goal and an assist in his debut last week. Reus was briefly linked with City SC because of his friendship with City SC goalkeeper Roman Burki, who acknowledged he was trying to recruit him, but City SC never really had a chance, with Reus interested in flashier markets than 50度灰视频.

鈥淗e鈥檚 an amazing, amazing player,鈥� said Hartel, who played against Reus in Germany. 鈥淗e鈥檚 one of the best players in Germany. We have to be careful about him. We have to take him under pressure that he can鈥檛 do the magic things he can do. And by the end, we have to defend as a team. All of us have to defend, from the striker to the goalkeeper. We defend together. We should go together and we defend our goal together. We can do it.鈥�