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Rating: 4 (Good)
The other boot seems to be falling in LA. Or rather, with LA. According to today's World Soccer Daily (click here for audio of the show), new Galaxy manager , Ruud Gullit and Alexi Lalas are at odds. Apparently it has come out that one of the things that lead to Frank Yallop leaving was Lalas hand picking players.
Now we hear that sparks have been flying and fires stoked during the Galaxy's Asia tour and World Soccer Daily is reporting that the rumor in LA is that Lalas will be gone by July. Gullit's no non-sense approach to squad selection has rubbed Lalas the wrong way. Apparently Celestine Babyaro was a casualty of this infighting.
LA Galaxy ended their Hong Kong tour with the all too frequent loss, again on penalties. Why penalties during a friendly? Ask Alexi Lalas. This time the latest loss was to Hong Kong Union, a team made up mostly of South China FC players.
Video of that game is below:
What do you think Galaxy fans? Should Lalas hang on and Gullit leave or should Lalas leave the Galaxy and go back to playing with his band Ginger?
Steven Cohen is hardly a reliable source for Galaxy stuff. It's not like they didn't fire him after one year of doing the Galaxy radio show or anything.
When you look at the players that were brought in during the Cannon era, it becomes really hard to believe that Alexi Lalas was the man picking these guys.
Come on, dropping Hartman, Ugo and Herculez to bring in 2 Canadians + Joe Cannon? lulz
While Cohen does have a special hate for Lalas he was a credible source on the Yallop to San Jose story so we kind of trust that he, in LA, knows something is up.
If you remember, right after Yallop got sacked or left (depending on who you believe) there were rumors that AEG bosses were disappointed in Alexi Lalas and that he might be next.
God I hope this is true
I'm disappointed in you guys. Just when it seems you have become a credible source for information you cite Steven Cohen who has no sources of note within the league as your source for this story as it was for the absurd Michael Parkhurst to Fulham story many months ago.
You should realize by now someone who is simply a muchracker who claims a second division made up entirely of players who cannot make national teams that cannot even qualify for its continental championships (the English Championship)is far superior to MLS where some big names as you have been reporting have signed is just a trouble maker who knows so little of the game in this nation he should not be taken seriously. Lalas may or may not be around in July, but Steven Cohen wouldn't be the first to find out if something was happening- trust me on this one.
For gods sake lets get Alexi Lalas out of LA. He has ben messing with the Galaxy since his first day on the job and screwing things up. For gods sake, we don't need 50 more new players to a team that already needs to train with each other, not new people. This has already gotten way out of hand. GET ALEXI LALAS OUT OF LA!
Hello Kartik,
In the interest of being fair it should be noted that you have a competing radio show on another network.
Look, we do not like Steve Cohen that much. We do however trust his source, and he does have on in this case, in this matter, in MLSHQ no less.
On matters related to the league in general we take what he says with a pinch of salt.
With regards to the Galaxy, we give him a bit more credibility since he broke two stories last season.
The secret meeting which he mentioned on his show, that Cobi Jones and all the Galaxy players were brought into was later confirmed. And he broke the Yallop to San Jose story if we're not mistaken.
With regards to the English National team, put them in CONCACAF and they qualify simple as that.
Bigger question: Would the US National Team qualify in UEFA?
But that is neither here nor there, I fail to see how the quality of the national team of Steve's country of origin has anything to do whether he is a credible source on LA Galaxy related matters.
Truth be told, he has been trying to get information out of the Galaxy for a long time and when he received no response from their front office he pursued other routes.
The snub of two of the most popular daily and weekly radio and TV shows for this sport in this country by the Galaxy front office is part of the story but not all of it.
As for the English Championship being superior to MLS, think about it top to bottom. Only a few of the top teams in MLS would survive in MLS. Half the league would sit in the relegation places and only last years Houston, Chivas, New England and DC would be in line for promotion.
So from top to bottom and when you look at how much players make and the depth on the bench past the starting XI, the Championship is superior to MLS. Not by far but until MLS raises the cap significantly into the 5-8 million range that will continue to be the case.
We love MLS but we are realistic. MLS is not the English Championship or Mexican Primera Division.....yet.
Kartik correct us if we are wrong but we seem to remember you as being pro-Galaxy on your show on a competing radio network. Could this perhaps have coloured your view of this situation?
For the record, I’ve known Steven (and Nick Geber) for several years. I respect the fact that he’s been able to forge a career in a market which really didn’t have a great deal of demand when we started.
However, Steven does like to throw a ton of things against the wall and some of them stick. I doubt it’s any secret he doesn’t have the best relationship with the Galaxy’s FO. Heck, I share a lot of the issues he has with them. Also, it’s probably no secret that LA has made a lot of mistakes….tying up half the cap space in 3 players would be one of them. Personally, I don’t buy the argument that Lalas calls all the shots. Do you honestly believe he negotiated the coup to bring Becks to LA? I’ll buy the argument that he was tasked with keeping the team under the cap after the arrival of the Spiced One though. As mentioned above, there were a lot of moves made last season which sound too much like they had Yallops influence to make me believe that Lalas called all the shots.
Again, he and Nick hosted a weekly radio show for the Galaxy a few years ago. Steven was as outspoken as ever on the show. He would never give me a straight answer on weather or not that had anything to do with the fact that they wouldn’t renew. He’s been very cold on LA ever since and even declared himself a Chivas fan the moment the expansion team was announced.
Lalas is too much of a figurehead….a spokesman whose main job seems to be as the face of the organization. If he is sacked, he’ll also be the fall guy.
As for comparing leagues…it’s the old apples and oranges debate. I honestly don’t think England would do well going into the Azteca or Saprissa Stadiums. The distances teams travel in the UK vs the distances teams travel in MLS aren’t comparable. You put your average Championship team on 3-4 hour flights ever couple weeks and see how well they play. Then add in a salary cap. Add in the US Summer temps after that. It’s not the same situation. Take each league for what it is…they aren’t the same.
I like what I see from the team under Gullit. He seems to require fitness first, then fit with the team concept he's developing. His player selections seem to match his vision, and the players are all working to play like Gullit wants them to play.
The Baba debacle definitely hints that he was not in agreement with the move. He said nothing about his arrival and he dismissed him with little fanfare after a 45 minutes on the pitch.
You could hear Gullit telling the team to play faster during the Hong Kong match every time Peter V did his usual four touch possession and pass back, or shank the pass into the third row, or play a difficult ball to a marked player. I can't imagine that Gullit is impressed with PV, especially considering his lack of playing time up until the Hong Kong game.
We all know PV is a Lalas favorite. It doesn't matter whether Lalas leaves because of a conflict with Gullit or low attendance numbers in Asia, as long as he leaves. History shows that teams with Lalas in the front office will fail. The Galaxy are another perfect of example of this.
LA didn't lose its last match on penalties. It lost it's last match because a penalty kick was awarded Hong Kong Union in the second half.
Fair enough, guys. I doubt he has any real sources in MLS, but you're track record on non Cohen related stuff is very good of late, very good but I'll be keeping an eye on this one because of the source.
Anyhow, would we qualify in UEFA? Maybe, but that's not the point- As you've reported in the past few months this league is signing the type of Latin players that would NEVER play in England's second division. Do you seriously think Claudio Lopez would play for let's say a Bristol City? The overall point is Cohen bashes anything American without truly knowing anything about it: he doesn't understand that being on a different continent with a different climate with a different sporting culture means the game here will be different! The sport here isn't British enough for him, fine enough but just say that. Say you prefer anything English or British but don't simply bash American products and the game without making an honest effort to understand them.
Anyhow, keep up the good work. When you're not quoting Steven you guys are now scooping even Goff and Ives with, the masters of their trades with good stuff daily!
One correction also. I would never compare the English Championship a second division once again with very few full internationals for top national teams to the Mexican Primera Division which for me is one of the Top 8 leagues in the world. MLS I will admit is inferior in every way shape or form to Mexico's first division and always will be.
Forgive me if I don't post an opinion debating which club-style from which country is more professional or classy or cuts the grade, etc. Sorry, guys - every football club promoting country always... always seem to do better... seem to be more exciting... when the club make-up is mixed up with different talents from different countries. With that being said - I just do NOT like the way LA Galaxy has fallen... fallen so drastically under the managership of Alexi Lalas. A team that has the financial strenght of AEG... coaching greats over the years... and, stellar MLS players over the course of its years... to see that team "bottom-feeding". Sorry, it is clearly evident that this club was grossly mis-managed. I just do NOT trust Alexi Lalas... he keeps treating LA Galaxy as a non-profit project organization. And, LA Galaxy should never be treated that way! LA Galaxy MUST... MUST be led, carried, and operated with the highest expectations and highest professionalism and accountability. Fire Alexi Lalas out-right... Make it LOUD... Make it STINGING... Do it in front of ALL of the LA Galaxy Staff, Players, and Coaches! It is unforgiveable what he's stole from the LA Galaxy. FIRE HIM! FIRE HIM!
charles...what a short memory you have. LA have been in freefall since Sigi was sacked. Yeah, LA won the double that year but that was in spite of Sampson rather than because of him. Doug Hamilton was calling the shots.
One thing everyone seems to miss here is the puppet master Tim Leiwiki. He's the one who's been calling the shots on all these strange player moves the entire time AEG have owned the team. Lalas is taking the fall for him now just like Hamilton (no, he didn't go out and sign Hong Mung Bo) did before.