that was a pretty boneheaded move from whoever did it. he was injured already and they might not have done enough research to find out how long he will be, buying an injured player is always dumb and desperation to sign is no excuse
Maybe. But if the medical prognosis was decent, the purchase price might have been pretty low and the gamble an intelligent one. We just don't know enough about the deal to judge whether it was dumb or not.
It was a free transfer, but he was still under contract with Sao Paulo. I think they handed him over to us for free because we took care of his surgery and rehabilitation here in LA. Most the time when guys are injured during loans they're returned to their original club (ie Becks and Omar).
More on Wilhelmsson. http://www.lagalaxy.com/blog/post/2012/09/03/report-wilhelmsson-signs-galaxy About as close as you can get without actually being an official statement.
It's now official: LA Galaxy @LAGalaxy Swedish international midfielder Christian Wilhelmsson has signed with @lagalaxy --> http://bit.ly/NRUNBC http://pic.twitter.com/uFJgRn2M
Is there a team in MLS with greater depth than the Galaxy this season (or ever) Legitimate first teamers Forwards (Keane, Donovan, Magee, Buddle, Villareal) Left (Magee, Donovan, Wilhelmsson) Center (Donovan, Juninho, Sarvas, Beckham, Stephens) Right (Donovan, Sarvas, Beckham, Jiminez, Wilhelmsson, Franklin) Not only is there depth in that roster there’s the ability to choose different formation & tactics which will make LA very hard to plan and play against. Glimpses of the league to come my friends, one day line-ups won’t be so heavily determined by health. Really the only place we’re thin on actual talent is the back-four. If Omar goes down it’s like a house of cards. P.S. Can you imagine, needing a goal with 10 minutes to go and fielding something like Code: Buddle - Keane Donovan Magee - Wilhelmsson Juninho - Beckham Dunivant - Omar - Franklin
Easy, people, the last time we made comments like this was before the start of this season, right when we learned that we'd be getting Buddle and Juninho back....no jinxes!
Where does he play again, Curt? http://www.lagalaxy.com/news/2012/09/wilhelmsson-has-‘good-performance”-appearance-galaxy-reserves
No one is saying we're a lock for anything. The posts so far have been about how deep of roster is right now at MF and FW. It's okay for Galaxy fans to feel positive about this signing, because we all know the negativity that will be projected towards us from other teams.
With hindsight it seems pretty clear the beginning of the season was the aberration and our current form is the, er, norm. Once the boys got their pre-season in we started to look better. When Omar came back we look like one of the best teams in the league. Chippen is either going to make us even better or we continue as we have been the past 3 months..
I'm going to wait until I see him play, but if he can provide us the wing play that we are missing from Jimenez, we are going to be the best team in the league. Easily. Yes, I'm saying that. But won't be able to tell until he plays.
I'm talking much more about irrational things when I speak of "jinxes", more about witchcraft than quality of the squad--I don't want any of our players going down with injury! But I also don't think that we're automatically going to be beating anyone with this addition. We've seen over and over again how "on paper" doesn't really matter in MLS. What seems to matter more than anything is keeping our back line together and healthy and, in addition, maintaining chemistry on the field. I'm really excited to see what he can do when at full fitness, given that we have had such a glaring quality hole at RM. This does seem to mean that LD is going to be playing on top for the foreseeable future, even with Buddle healthy.
I wouldn't say we are 'easily' the best team. I do believe however that we and SJ are currently the best teams though, with Seattle looking better in recent weeks as well. Recently I watched SJ play a couple times and sorry to say it but -- they are the real deal. I know, I know... I didn't take them seriously either earlier in the season. Like most of you I found it hard to believe that a Kinnear-less Yallop coached team could actually be any good. Plus their past few seasons gave me every reason to doubt them. But I have to admit at this point that their impressive record and their gaudy +23 goal differential (ayfkm!?) isn't a fluke. The midfield of Marvin Chavez, Simon Dawkins, Rafael Baca, and Sam Cronin is both talented and decently athletic. As a team they are good in possession and don't have any glaring weaknesses. They have a good keeper in Busch and their offense isn't too shabby with Wondo, the loathsome but somewhat effective douchebag, this guy masquerading as Gordon (?!), and Dawkins scoring regularly from midfield. Their biggest weakness is their backline. Corrales is experienced but getting up there in years and their 32 goals allowed is only a little better than average. Their other achilles heel is their relative weakness on the road where they have a +2 goal differential compared to at home where they have outscored their opponents an amazing +21 goals in only 13 or 14 games. They also have a lot of quality coming off the bench - recently their subs have been Ballouchy, Khari Stephenson, and the curly haired scumbucket. Added to that is that they are playing with a lot of confidence and have the whole esprit-de-corp thing (or more colloquially the "we-play-hard-for each other" ) thing working for them. In fact except for that sorry-excuse-for-a-man Lenhart they are playing like a team I could cheer for -- as long as they lose consistently to my Galaxy. I know that's blasphemy, but sorry I can't hate on the team for the most part, and actually rather admire players like Wondo and Corrales. Still hope we make their lives miserable when we play them!
San Jose's fullbacks are such an asset. We don't have a guy at LB or RB that measures up to either of SJ's guys. If you look at SporKC, NYRB, SJ, Seattle, the Galaxy, those are all very talented teams, with quality guys at pretty much every position, with RSL just behind and Houston proving able to cause a lot of damage as well. What we have going for us is that we're playing quite well now (and we're not even at 100% strength) and the whole team is "feeling it" with Omar back there, steadying things.
Yeah - actually seeing him play is a good idea before going overboard. On paper he does address a need. But a lot of guys with similar pedigrees have had a hard time adjusting to the pace and physicality of MLS. Lets give him a little time before we pass judgment. BTW, how did the LAG ever make this move since "everybody knows" the team does absolutely no scouting...
To be able to compete with all the games the Galaxy is involved in its good to have as many good depth players as possible. Adding a player like Wilhelmsson is good
Unlike players before him that have come from Europe and struggled in the MLS, I think Wilhelmsson is set-up to succeed. We don't need him to do more then what he does naturally already. We're not expecting him to come in and "save" us or "change" us. Our DPs are our leaders, they're savvy guys that have been successful everywhere they played, with whomever they've played with.
I don't disagree with you. I think RSL, Seattle and San Jose are also great teams. Great, not just good, and yes, the real deal. And I still think those teams are better than those in the East. Though I would rank SKC highly as well, and Houston from a few weeks ago (man has their form plummeted). But the bolded part for San Jose above matters to me, and I think we are better there. Seattle still has to prove they have the mentality to win a playoff game. RSL is in a funk right now and they are slow, slow, slow. So right now add a solid winger to our team, and I think we have a case for being the best team in MLS. Now, don't know if that winger is solid, we have to wait and see. But this team has potential. I can't wait for our next game. I didn't mean my claim to sound snooty or overly arrogant. I just think we are really close to being very very very great.