Alexi's last gambit

Discussion in 'The Beautiful Game' started by BuffloSoldier, Nov 9, 2007.

  1. BuffloSoldier

    BuffloSoldier BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 31, 2000
    Northern NJ
    The hiring of Ruud Gullit as the new coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy 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.

    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) 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.
     
  2. art

    art Member

    Jul 2, 2000
    Portland OR
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    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.
     
  3. marakana11

    marakana11 Member

    Jun 20, 2007
    Cali
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    Nat'l Team:
    Serbia
    I don't know... Gullit is a good motivator. His coaching skills leave something to be desired but I think the Galaxy will improve.
     
  4. Northside Rovers

    Jan 28, 2000
    Austin TX
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    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.
     
  5. jeff_adams

    jeff_adams Member+

    Dec 16, 1999
    Monterey, Ca
    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.....
     
  6. j66j66

    j66j66 Member

    Apr 26, 2005
    Portland, OR
    Club:
    Portland Timbers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    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?
     
  7. TheLostUniversity

    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Feb 4, 2007
    Greater Boston
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    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
     
  8. convergecrew

    convergecrew New Member

    Jan 17, 2007
    Los Angeles
    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.
     
  9. Real Ray

    Real Ray Member

    May 1, 2000
    Cincinnati, OH
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    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.
     
  10. SankaCofie

    SankaCofie Member

    Aug 8, 2000
    Skorgolia
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    Ecuador
    Players running the locker room? Sounds like another team Beckham has played for recently.

    Frankly, for the kind of performance he put in this season i'd take anyone he picked. I'd even hire Sigi Shmidt.
     
  11. soccerballz1

    soccerballz1 New Member

    May 15, 2004
    so cal
    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:
     
  12. TheWindmill

    TheWindmill New Member

    Apr 28, 2006
    Groningen
    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
     
  13. Zitor

    Zitor New Member

    Nov 21, 2004
    Chicago
    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.
     
  14. Darknote2

    Darknote2 New Member

    Jun 2, 2003
    Pasadena
     
  15. Darknote2

    Darknote2 New Member

    Jun 2, 2003
    Pasadena
     
  16. Rob Base

    Rob Base Member

    Apr 30, 2003
    'Burque, NM
    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).
     
  17. USFootiefan1980

    LAFC
    United States
    Aug 19, 2005
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    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.
     
  18. Darknote2

    Darknote2 New Member

    Jun 2, 2003
    Pasadena
    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."
     
  19. CMeszt

    CMeszt Member+

    Farewell Sweet Prince
    Jan 9, 2004
    Gentrification's Apex.
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    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.
     
  20. duckstrap

    duckstrap Member

    Apr 24, 2007
    Minneapolis, MN
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    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.
     
  21. USFootiefan1980

    LAFC
    United States
    Aug 19, 2005
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    See but this is part of the problem, too. You can't keep over hauling a team and exspect them to succeed. There needs to be some continuity.
     
  22. whip

    whip Member

    Aug 5, 2000
    HOUSTON TEXAS

    The whole matter revolves around one question .....Is Ruud Gullit a real coach or the man need to have all the stars of the heaven to have a succesfull team ?:rolleyes:
     
  23. ilbambino

    ilbambino Member

    Apr 21, 2007
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Ruud Gullit is a better coach then Frank Yallop without a doubt. He knows a load more about the game, played at the highest level, and understands the realities of having a superstar on your team. I expect success and LA should be glad Yallop is gone, quite frankly he wasn't a good coach and wasn't right for the job. All of you people praising him are crazy. This squad they have no is not very good, its squads like these that make me never want to watch the MLS. If you are smart LA Galaxy, you look south for players. You go to South America and Middle America. This attracts people from Southern California and the team is a lot more exciting then this bore of a squad they have now. The defense is plain awful and the midfield is decent. Attract some more playmakers and maybe you'll get some more fans because right now I, along with millions others, don't want to watch dull squads that aren't exciting (majority of MLS) compared to Europe.
     
  24. mschofield

    mschofield Member+

    May 16, 2000
    Berlin
    Club:
    Union Berlin
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Gullit does start well. And he clearly has an incredible understanding of the game (sexy or not). But I think a central problem anyone coming from a Euro system is going to have in MLS is that you can't whinge to the board and bring in a couple players. He's going to have to get more out of what he has, and that's never been his thing. There are a lot of Euro managers who would adapt very well in MLS, but not sure he's one who's well suited. OTOH, they need a massive figure as manager to balance the Beckham, Lalas profiles, and he is that.
    I guess the bottom line will be next year's performance. To date, not sure he's been more than an attractive nuisance as a manager. He is not, however, afraid to shake things up. Not sure what the value of that is in his current situation, but, it's LA, Becks and Air and lexi, should be fun to watch from the outside.
     
  25. socceriscoolusa

    socceriscoolusa New Member

    Jan 23, 2002
    agreed, MLS isnt even as good as central and south america either, even with their nice stadiums and uniforms you can see the difference in quality and skill between the MLS and a league like Columbia's league.

    I still think its fantastic to have a guy who's poster I still own and who played on two of my favorite teams of all time coaching a local team, very exciting in that manner.
     

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