Off the top of my head since the Beckham signing , I can think of a few big names who came.... From Mexico... Cuauhtémoc Blanco , Omar Bravo, Claudio Suárez Francisco Palencia and Carlos Salcedo.... From Honduras... Boniek García, Roger Espinoza and Víctor Bernárdez Can't think of many Costa Ricans at the moment but I'm sure there have been a lot...
That's an interesting take. I never thought any of LA Galaxy's decisions had anything to do with Chivas USA, least of all hiring and firing coaches.
It seemed initially anyway, they were very afraid of what they and a huge following of fans would do and take away from their club. There was no other reason to fire Sigi Schmid (who was in first place in the West at the time) for Steve Sampson.
I am very aware of that time period and I never saw LA Galaxy seem afraid of Chivas USA, except for maybe when Bradley/Preki coached them. Did Chivas USA ever have 10k season ticket deposits? Ever?
I don't know about season tickets but I recall them being afraid of them stealing their fan base initially or in their first two years anyway.
Although it was certainly a point of discussion amongst pundits and fans before Chivas USA ever played a game, I doubt firing Sampson or hiring Arena fueled that in anyway. In any case, the threat the LAFC brings is far more real, however the market has also matured.
No they fired Sigi for Sampson. Arena came two coaches later. I remember Sampson giving many interviews on Spanish radio talk shows. I think one was on futbol de primera with Alex Gutman. It was well over 12 years ago but from the people I spoke to who were in the organization back then, I'm almost sure it had something to do with his hiring at that time.
I would say LAG isn't afraid of LAFC. They probably will change the way they treat their season ticket holders, better before losing them to LAFC.
I also have a feeling LAG will come up with another Beckham like signing as soon as LAFC comes around. Maybe after the 2018 WC a 33 year old Ronaldo or Messi at 31 could be lured.
This. LAG doesn't fear LAFC and they were annoyed they had to share their stadium with Chivas. They fired Sigi because the style of play wasn't attractive enough for the owner's liking. They will sign the best available players and do not care if they speak Spanish or where they come from. Chivas was the only team to try and discriminate for fans and, thankfully, that turned out to not work. I do hope LAG begins to treat season ticket holders better. The main woman in charge of tickets has moved on so it's looking positive. Most LAG season ticket holders I talk to, self included, have deposits for LAFC. However, if LAFC continues to be represented by Chivas fans as it currently is, then maybe LAG won't lose anyone.
I don't see how the owners knew anything of Steve Sampson's style. If anything, I believe LAG was very afraid (from 04-05) of the Chivas taking away from their club. The owners had no clue about Steve Sampson at that point. He had absolutely no experience as a coach of a professional club. He was at Santa Clara University , an assistant with the USMNT , won the head coaching job by default when Bora left , then coached Costa Rica and was named head coach at the LA Galaxy. His resume at the time may have been longer or more prestigious than Sigi's but in retrospect, Sigi Schmid has done so much more in the past decade is incredible by comparison while Sampson is now coaching at Cal Poly.
I would loathe to see another aging Euro signing as the center piece to the club. That's the Carson Gals thing. I would love to see a hybrid between the FC Dallas youth and the Portland South American DP team building. I am an original (as I am literally down the Expo Line from the stadium) and think we can do better. james
Bullshit, that didn't start until Vegara took total control of the Chivas USA, he could careless about the fans who stuck by the team and it showed with the players he fielded. See it's this crap here that pisses me off, yes I was a Chivas USA fan and hated the Galaxy and guess what I still do. But I have moved on and to me LAFC is an upgrade and a fresh start, if Galaxy fans have an issue with us former Chivas USA fans becoming LAFC fans then that's there problem not ours, the Galaxy wanted there stadium to themselves and they got there wish now they are pissed off because we are about to get a brand new state of the art Football(Soccer) Stadium that is not only easy to get to but has an excellent transit system near the Stadium to boot. For the first time in a long time we LAFC fans(formerly Chivas USA fans) can finally beat our chest with pride now that we have a team that has an Idenity as well as our own stadium and not share a Stadium with a team that was full of pricks and some of there fans who were flat assholes. Chivas USA was the past, LAFC is the future and as it seems the future looks very bright.
I went to the 2nd supporters rally last night & it felt like a different crowd and much bigger. I've been told LAFC has 1000 deposits for the supporters section. Personally I hope most galaxy fan stay the ******** away from LAFC. There is no reason for them to switch & supporting both clubs will be conflicting. If they want to bring that type of attitude to the club they will be looking for problems. LAFC is an expansion club and should be a fresh start for everyone.
1000 supporter section deposits? [emoji33] Is that legit? Man I hope it is. [emoji120] [emoji120] [emoji120] Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk
I'm just gonna make a guess here and say that there may well be more former Galaxy fans at LAFC games than former CUSA fans. I will say that I did notice many CUSA people sort of assume that LAFC was an extension of CUSA, but that sentiment seems to be fading. My guess is former Chivas fans will make up a single digit percent of the overall fans, but it's going to take a while for people not to draw any connection between LAFC and CUSA. Regardless, I don't hate on anyone who jumps to LAFC, particularly people who have been left without a team.
Only those who did not support either or endured Chivas USA's death (like me) should not raise any eyebrows whatsoever. For those who jump ship, however, it's a different story. I don't see why Galaxy fans should even jump ship, considering their team is the most successful in MLS. Says a lot about their loyalty, or lack of it actually. Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk
We pay to watch our teams. They're private, for profit entertainment companies. They should be loyal to us, not the other way around. I may be barking up the wrong tree, but I fault no one who's leaving the Galaxy for LAFC. The Galaxy have a tendency to treat their season ticket holders like shit. You can only take seeing the seats next to you on Groupon for half the price you paid for your season tickets or being lied to about what's allowed in the stadium so much. I have zero romanticized ideas about "support your team no matter what." None of these teams are local town owned clubs. Don't kid yourself. People should support the team that a they feel best supports them back.
your first paragraph, it's mutual in my opinion, but i agree that ultimately we are their customers. I feel ya on the 2nd paragraph, not to mention StubHub Center security are complete assholes for the most part. Agree and disagree in some points of your 3rd paragraph, I can't jump ship no matter how disappointing my team may be doing. And if you need any proof, I supported Chivas USA from day 1 till it's very death on 10/26/2014, never thought about jumping ship despite us being the laughingstock of the league for the last 4 years of its existence. Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk
It clearly isn't about how the Galaxy are doing. They're historically the best team in North America. And every ship jumper I know expects LAFC to be pretty terrible for awhile. For most people, myself included, it's about location. Support local, right? But for me in particular it's because LAFC is part of the community. I already deal with them at work, they hire union, and they're committed to bringing the whole neighborhood up with them. That stuff is important, and the Galaxy don't do any of it. Every LAFC supporter will have a different story, but I'd ask you to give the ship jumpers a chance to tell you theirs. Yes, I'm sure a few will be there because they like bright, shiny new things. But most of us will be there because we have a deeper connection with LAFC than we do with the Galaxy. Which tells you a lot about how the Galaxy do business.
Majority owner Larry Berg talking big and talking right: http://www.angelsonparade.com/2016/...have-by-far-best-stadium-mls-black-gold-rally
The Galaxy focus almost all their energy towards the team and figure everything else will follow. I was actually told by a Galaxy executive "winning fixes everything". There's some logic to that. But the fan experience and community building have suffered as a result. If you look at how Portland and SKC fans are treated and engaged it's completely different than the way the Galaxy go about it. Just different philosophies.
Dave Sarachan leaves Galaxy coaching staff, expresses interest in LAFC role http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/...y-coaching-staff-expresses-interest-lafc-role