"Just one game and one mistake," Maya Yoshida sends message following Novak Mićović blunder
Novak Mićović’s first start of the 2025 season was memorable for the wrong reason.
The 23-year-old ‘keeper was at the center of San Diego FC’s first goal in franchise history after his poor pass from his own goal led to Anders Dreyer scoring the first goal of the match. The Galaxy could not recover from this mistake in the build-up and finished the game with a 2-0 loss to the expansion side.
This mistake comes further under the microscope when you consider Head Coach Greg Vanney decided to start the Serbian over John McCarthy - the goalkeeper who played most of LA’s 2024 Championship campaign.
“We're obviously grateful for John [McCarthy] for what he did for us last year. But, like everybody, it's the start of a new season, and it's a new competition,” said Vanney after LA’s 2-2 draw to Austin in the preseason.
Mićović has been praised for his ability to play with the ball at his feet - a trait that coaches are looking for in today’s game, where possession and ball control are the norm. Prior to Sunday night’s start, he made four starts in MLS regular season play.
“That’s a tough ball to handle. I didn't feel like Novak was under as much pressure as it looked like he was when he hit the ball. So, for Novak to maybe be a little bit calmer and to deliver a pass that's a little more friendly. At that point that it arrived at Emiro, I think it was almost more self-defense than it was trying to actually do something with it,” said Vanney when asked about the goal.
The Galaxy looked uncharacteristically anxious with the ball - most notably during this error from Mićović.
“I felt like, through the course of the game there were a lot of uncharacteristically, unforced errors through the course of the game. Choices that just didn't sometimes make sense to me. We were hitting long balls when we had simpler, easier solutions,” said Vanney.
The Galaxy did have a couple more anxious moments playing out of the back but also some quality saves from Mićović. The Serbian made four saves on the night, one being a great save to deny Hirving Lozano from scoring on a one-on-one opportunity in the second half.
However, this game will be remembered for the moment when an error led to LA’s first loss at Dignity Health Sports Park in over a year.
“This is what we’ve done since last season, and we always dominate the team. Of course that was a mistake. San Diego pressed us high, and yeah to be honest they were much better than we thought. They just trained for six weeks to build up their team and club and it surprised me,” said Galaxy captain Maya Yoshida when asked about San Diego’s first goal.
Yoshida grew comfortable playing with McCarthy behind him in goal all season long in 2024. With the change in goal, the MLS Cup-winning captain now has to adjust to the tendencies and ways of communication from Mićović.
“J-Mac [McCarthy] has more experience and Novak probably has more distribution skills. Unfortunately, this happened today but this is normal for young players, not only him, but also the opponent closed my side and waited for us to make mistakes,” said Yoshida when asked about the differences between Mićović and McCarthy.
“We have to analyze, and we have to find a solution for the next game. Still, just one game and one mistake, nothing change. Of course, if it's twice, third, fourth [time], we have to change,” added Yoshida.
The Japanese international added that everyone’s spot is under pressure, even his own.
“Zanka has experience and he is an influence to the young boys on and off the pitch. I can see, it's very important for me and I’m very happy to see that. But of course, if I don’t play well then Zanka can come in -- this is normal. Every position has competition,” he said.
The Galaxy remain confident in Mićović as the club moves onto preparations to face the Vancouver Whitecaps on March 2.