Alexi's last gambit

[BuffloSoldier]

The hiring of Ruud Gullit as the new coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy (http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-galaxy9nov09,1,1831581.story?coll=la-headlines-sports) works on several levels in Major League Soccer.

On a macro level, the latest attempt at a European coach (with little real experience in US Soccer) trying to navigate league waters when history shows it rarely works well. (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2007/11/foreign_expertise.html)

But on a micro level, this may be the last stand of Alexi Lalas. Like professional sports as a whole, if you don't succeed, get to packing. And a Lalas-led Galaxy have not won a thing since he took the helm in April 2006. As the face of the Galaxy organization, Lalas was a likely impetus for the hiring of Gullit to replace Frank Yallop--with whom Lalas, in the best of times, seemed to have a strained relationship with.

Now Gullit will have a support mechanism to assist in his MLS education; Paul Bravo will likely shop in the supermarket for the groceries--if you want to use Bill Parcells' metaphor from a few years ago. Bravo will likely have a large choice of who's exposed in the expansion draft, and those players the Galaxy will target in the draft.

I have little doubt that Gullit can handle the job tactically as a head coach. The main questions come from his ability to man-manage (Gullit and Alan Shearer's freefall is a negative highlight (http://www.4thegame.com/club/newcastle-united-fc/news/56514/STEP-BY-STEP+BREAKDOWN+OF+THE+GULLIT-SHEARER+RELATIONSHIP.html)) and Gullit's ability to work with what the team can get personnel wise.

Gullit has not done well in his last two stops, mostly for the negative outcome of the latter question mark. His stints at Newcastle and Feyenoord saw signings fail, and victories were hard to come by.

Let's say the Gullit experiment fails; he leaves or his fired in a season or two, which may or may not pre-date the departure of Lalas from the Galaxy. Alexi Lalas will have a role in soccer in the United States in some fashion for decades to come--he's too good of a public figure not to be there. Television screams as his best platform, but at this point Lalas seems to want to play a part off the field for a club.

This screams of Lalas' last chance to rebuild his name as a head of a team at this level. Failure, and my guess is that a job at this level of control never falls to Lalas again.

[art]

This screams of Lalas' last chance to rebuild his name as a head of a team at this level. Failure, and my guess is that a job at this level of control never falls to Lalas again.

While it could very well be true that this is Lalas' "last stand" as GM of the Gals, it could also be true that given his profile someone else will get him involved in some way, perhaps he even goes to the MLS front office. The fact is the guy is a very high profile figure around the world now, he is something MLS has very few of...an instantly recognizable personality both domestically and internationally, particularly in England at the moment, and even if you cringe at what he says, he gets headlines, and everyone loves a quotable executive, particularly if there's a tinge of lunacy about the guy. For all you "anti-soccer snobs", this IS important to MLS percisely because the game is global and the more name recognition MLS has the better players and coaches and administrators and sponsors it can attract; the league grows and gets better, US players are playing in a much higher quality league and getting paid better, the national team benefits, everyone benefits. Whether or not Lalas sucks at being a GM, he has unquestionably had an impact on the visibility of MLS and I don't think MLS will want to lose that, particularly in today's still developing global economy.

[marakana11]

I don't know... Gullit is a good motivator. His coaching skills leave something to be desired but I think the Galaxy will improve.

[Northside Rovers]

Gullit is a big name around the world in soccer - but hardly anyone in the USA will know of him or even how to spell his name.

This is a move to garner even more international attention - we'll see soon enough if it means improved performance.

[jeff_adams]

I don't know... Gullit is a good motivator. His coaching skills leave something to be desired but I think the Galaxy will improve.

No way is he a better motivator then Frank Yallop. To a man, former players have praised him. He might be harder on the players, and get more out of them. When Yallop told his players that his job was on the line, they stepped up and delivered. I have trouble believing that Gullit will get that kind of loyalty.....

[j66j66]

even if it is Alexi's last chance, look at how Sakiewicz failed upwards at the Metrostars to make room for Alexi. They created a position out of thin air rather than fire him. So does anyone really get fired at AEG?

[TheLostUniversity]

No way is he a better motivator then Frank Yallop. To a man, former players have praised him. He might be harder on the players, and get more out of them. When Yallop told his players that his job was on the line, they stepped up and delivered. I have trouble believing that Gullit will get that kind of loyalty.....

You are probably right. On the other hand, I bet when he tells them that THEIR jobs are on the line they step up quicktime and do their damndest to deliver.:D

[convergecrew]

When Yallop told his players that his job was on the line, they stepped up and delivered. I have trouble believing that Gullit will get that kind of loyalty.....

That was the problem with Yallop's Gals. They didnt perform because they didnt feel the need to, and that Beckham would step in an save the team.

That kind of poor mentality is instilled by the coach. Players dont win championships being friends with the manager.

[Real Ray]

For me, the thing to watch from this hire is the relationship with the DP. This I think is going to be more and more interesting as team's get bigger name DP's . Because in a way, with the invesment in the player, you're basically going to have to check with your DP about a high profile coach. Beckham, Donovan, Gullit-who controls the dressing room? In a way, the GM's will be doing the bidding for the DP.

Red Bull is going through this right now-what is Angel worth? Do you run the next coach selection through him?

On the other hand the difference in pressure-that lack of it-compared to what a manager faces in Europe, might allow for guys like Gullit or Luca Vialli to blossom into really good managers. Here I think it's a good chance that Lalas is taking.

[SankaCofie]

Beckham, Donovan, Gullit-who controls the dressing room? In a way, the GM's will be doing the bidding for the DP.


Players running the locker room? Sounds like another team Beckham has played for recently.


Red Bull is going through this right now-what is Angel worth? Do you run the next coach selection through him?


Frankly, for the kind of performance he put in this season i'd take anyone he picked. I'd even hire Sigi Shmidt.

[soccerballz1]

i am from holland, and i can tell you from personal experience that dutchmen are very difficult to get along with. gullit, like cruyff, has had problems his whole career with managers. perhaps his brilliance as a player makes him see things even the best manager fails to see. in any case, gullit has not beeen able to turn this arrogance off as a manager, and if you look at his coaching career, certainly no one would say that he has done anything significant beyond the initial emotional high upon his arrival.

what will be interesting is seeing which arrogant bastard - gullit or lalas, will get the better of the other and be first to get the axe. these men will never see eye-to-eye in the long term. what has lalas done to earn the respect of gullit? lalas is a piece of crap who has done nothing but flush the galaxy down the toilet. if this little experience fails, he should be the first to go, and perhaps he should grow a goatee, the only thing (besides shameless self-promotion) at which lalas has ever been good. :eek:

[TheWindmill]

No way is he a better motivator then Frank Yallop. To a man, former players have praised him. He might be harder on the players, and get more out of them. When Yallop told his players that his job was on the line, they stepped up and delivered. I have trouble believing that Gullit will get that kind of loyalty.....

Agree, Gullit is good in presenting himself, talking and motivating in the beginning, but when it comes to coaching in times that the results are not that good he doesn't know what to do. Problem with him is that he never blames himself. It's always other peoples fault. When he made a mess out of Feyenoord he didn't say: "Other people made mistakes, but i made faults myself" No he said that you should feel sorry for him because he needed extra players and there wasn't enough money, blah, blah. What he didn't mention in all his complaining on Dutch TV was that he already spend money on 6 crap players. Players that left the club soon, but still receive a lot of salary. Gullit also damaged a lot of other people within Feyenoord! I think Feyenoord did their best to deliver everything he wanted (looking at the possibilities they had) but Gullit showed and returned nothing. Not good soccer, a bad team, bad players, bad coaching.
If i look at LA: In the short term he will have succes. Last season was crap and in the beginning players will look up against him. There will be a fresh wind blowing through Galaxy, but after a short period, players get used to that and when the results drop then you'll see the real Gullit. He has proven with the Shearer incidents that he can't handle Big Stars, at Chelsea the coaching was mainly done by Chelseas's assistant coach. Gullit was more in Amsterdam than in London. Besides, the plyers thought his traing s****d and prefered the trainings from the assistant!
That's why i believe that Gullit will have succes during a short period, but after that it will drop. He never made a team play better. The only positive thing about him coming to LA is that his wive will spend millions in the local LA shops. SO that's GREAT news for the local Cloting and jewelery shops. Now Victoria Beckham has a shopfriend!
Last night Johan Derksen of the TV program "Voetbal Insite" made some funny comments about Lalas saying" Well i think Mr Lalas looked up sky high against Gullit when he played in Italy and brings him in because of that. Sadly he hasn't followed Gullits carreer as coach!" then Derksen summed up all Gullits disasterous training history

[Zitor]

No way is he a better motivator then Frank Yallop. To a man, former players have praised him. He might be harder on the players, and get more out of them. When Yallop told his players that his job was on the line, they stepped up and delivered. I have trouble believing that Gullit will get that kind of loyalty.....

Well, what prevented Yallop from motivating his team all year around? I can't hardly picture this: "Ok, boys my job is on the line, let's motivate and win me some games". It has got to be more than that. You can't win games on motivation only. It's kind of depending on luck. (I'd rather have lucky.) Anyways, if they want motivation they shouldn't look into getting to playoffs, or confedaration title. Not even MLS cup or even Concacaf's Cup, but the club world cup itself. That is the only point of Glory they can ever aspire.

[Darknote2]

[QUOTE=SankaCofie;13192013]Players running the locker room? Sounds like another team Beckham has played for recently.

I'm not sure about how much running of the locker room will be percieved, and how much will be actual. Every team has a captain, and every team has a presence in the locker room. Rarely is it the head coach that is the bull in the locker room. Be it Roy Kean or Patrick Vieira, Totti or Donnovan, Germany, Brazil or USA or Mexico. People tend to think that the coach is the one who is the biggest motivator on the teams. Not so..., in every team you have to players who you know and see put it on the line. And when they come into the locker room and tell you to step up. You know that you'ld better, cause the other guys are watching how he's going to react to what you show in the second half. So, I feel that as long as he brings good tactics and keeps the guys as a cohesive unit, we'll be fine. Last year was more a year of too many distractions and not healthy enough players to field
on a regular basis. I like Yallop. I believe he's a great coach. But I think the move for Gullit was an exceptionally good move by AL and the Gals front office. I am really pleased that it took place at the end of the galaxy season and not too close to the beginning of next season for this coach to implement his ideas.

[Darknote2]

[QUOTE=SankaCofie;13192013]Players running the locker room? Sounds like another team Beckham has played for recently.

I'm not sure about how much running of the locker room will be percieved, and how much will be actual. Every team has a captain, and every team has a presence in the locker room. Rarely is it the head coach that is the bull in the locker room. Be it Roy Kean or Patrick Vieira, Totti or Donnovan, Germany, Brazil or USA or Mexico. People tend to think that the coach is the one who is the biggest motivator on the teams. Not so..., in every team you have to players who you know and see put it on the line. And when they come into the locker room and tell you to step up. You know that you'ld better, cause the other guys are watching how he's going to react to what you show in the second half. So, I feel that as long as he brings good tactics and keeps the guys as a cohesive unit, we'll be fine. Last year was more a year of too many distractions and not healthy enough players to field
on a regular basis. I like Yallop. I believe he's a great coach. But I think the move for Gullit was an exceptionally good move by AL and the Gals front office. I am really pleased that it took place at the end of the galaxy season and not too close to the beginning of next season for this coach to implement his ideas.

i am from holland, and i can tell you from personal experience that dutchmen are very difficult to get along with. gullit, like cruyff, has had problems his whole career with managers. perhaps his brilliance as a player makes him see things even the best manager fails to see. in any case, gullit has not beeen able to turn this arrogance off as a manager, and if you look at his coaching career, certainly no one would say that he has done anything significant beyond the initial emotional high upon his arrival.

what will be interesting is seeing which arrogant bastard - gullit or lalas, will get the better of the other and be first to get the axe. these men will never see eye-to-eye in the long term. what has lalas done to earn the respect of gullit? lalas is a piece of crap who has done nothing but flush the galaxy down the toilet. if this little experience fails, he should be the first to go, and perhaps he should grow a goatee, the only thing (besides shameless self-promotion) at which lalas has ever been good. :eek:

So, what you're saying is before AL, the Gals were winning the Supporters Shield on a reagular basis. I don't think I've seen a truely great team in a number of years. And I'm fed up with backing into the playoffs and winning the MLS Cup at the end of the season. No matter what anyone says, to me the best team this season was still in DC. I am pissed off that we don't see how difficult it is to have a season worth of playing at the top level and not recognize it for it's true value. I love the playoff at the end of the season, but it's still not the same to me

[Rob Base]

The problem with the G's wasn't Yallop, it was the player quality. With the exception of the obvious (Becks, Donovan, Cannon...) the players were overmatched at all positions. Hell, Gullit could come in as a forward instead of manager and be better that anyone who lined up at that position not named Donovan. Will Gullit, an exceptional player, be able to contain his frustration with the players that aren't close to the level he was?

Beyond the coach, I'm interested to see how in the world they can add quality to this team since they have nothing left worth trading (that can be traded, that is).

[USFootiefan1980]

As much as I dislike the Gals, I wouldn't wish, Lalas on ANYONE. That's just cruel. Let's all hope, for the betterment of the league as a whole, that Lalas' days at the helm of the Galaxy are numbered.

[Darknote2]

As much as I dislike the Gals, I wouldn't wish, Lalas on ANYONE. That's just cruel. Let's all hope, for the betterment of the league as a whole, that Lalas' days at the helm of the Galaxy are numbered.

I'm not so sure about this one. I think Lalas has been fine at the helm. You can't blame him for the crap that I have to see on the field every weekend. I'll put that on the guys on the sidelines. His job is to buy the players that the staff are asking him to get. He can't be the scape goat for their failure. He's gotten us more attention and raised the attention on soccer in this country more than anyone else by some of the moves he's made. People are upset with the way the Galaxy have preformed, but they were never going to be a good team this season. Hell, we weren't winning before he came. I said it before," I'm not satisfied with backing into the playoffs and winning the MLS CUP."

[dirtskier]

Let's be honest with ourselves. AEG values company loyalty more than any other organization short of the Bush Administration. He'll have a role in AEG in some form, even after he finally gets kicked out of his current position.

[duckstrap]

I totally agree. The problem isn't the coach.

After watching the GALs play the MN Thunder tonight, I now understand how thoroughly they suck.

Beckham and Donovan were good, Klein was decent, Albright was ok - though Donovan should have had a goal or two.

But man their D is terrible and so are all of their strikers save Donavan. I swear, Pavon and Buddle both have clods for feet and no vision. They don't play simple balls, they don't run for eachother, they don't play for eachother. They. Are. Terrible.

Get some players, Guillit. Cut, like 3/4 of the squad and start again.