I’ll push back on that a bit. Early on last season it was clear Bale lacked match fitness and indeed did appear to just rumble about the pitch. However for all intents and purposes he hadn’t played more than a handful of meaningful games for almost a year. He was injured to start the season, then started from the bench, then got pulled early when he underperformed rather than fitness – and to be fair it was the right decision. He was also playing in a Mourinho system that reverted to the mean as soon as things got iffy and went super defensive. After Christmas and particularly after Mourinho got sacked there was a lot to like about Gareth’s play and he ended the season with 11 goals from 20 games finishing 15th level or ahead of the likes of Marcus Rashford, Sadio Mane, Aubameyang, Cavani and Raheem Sterling (who admittedly had a bad season) all of whom played many more games than Bale. His goals per game average was also slightly ahead of Son Heung Min. Put it this way, I would prefer to see Gareth line up in a Tottenham shirt next season along side Son and Kane than for the Galaxy. The promise of that partnership didn't really start to pay off until the season was effectively over and Kane was once again limping to the finish line with his annual Spring injury lay off. If he’s not going to play in London, I’d happily take him in LA.
Agree about him fitting our our needs and would love to have him, given his low cap hit. But I doubt he will tear up the league. Ligue 2 and MLS are roughly equal, so best estimate is that he continues to score at his current 0.25g/season, about 7 or 8 g/season +/-. One red flag though - transfermarkt lists him with only saw 2 assists in his career! Of course we would expect a 21 yo to improve over the years as he gains experience and his body matures. But looking at his pictures I have my doubts Djitte is really 21. And I'm not saying that because of the whole "African players lie about their ages" assumption - I'm saying that because of his pics, lol! Now Cabral:
Thanks for the run down. Again, I've only seen Bale play a handful of times of over the past couple of year so it's nice to get perspective from a fan of the team. I'd gladly welcome him to the Gs if he'd come to play and not just to get paid.
I think he got a bad rap from Madrid fans TBH, then he started to troll them with the "Wales, Golf, Madrid" thing. He was billed as the heir apparent to Ronaldo, but that’s unrealistic. He never really learned or exhibited that he was comfortable speaking Spanish, but he scored game winning goals in the Spanish Cup and two Champions’ League Finals. It’s sort of like someone giving you a Porsche and moaning it wasn’t a Ferrari.
I also think that he is a good fit. Showed his skills enough times and was not to bad (but of course also not too good) last season. And he had a tough time in Madrid but he still won a lot of trophy's and played most often when he was not injured. I also doubt that he will earn more money than at Spurs but just want to do something different, breath some fresh air and have some more good years (where he is capable of in my view).
Corner of the Galaxy tonight were saying that Julian Araujo sign a extension of 4 and half year under the the 22 initiative player, probably will be official tomorrow, and Galaxy is trying to sign extension with Efrain Alvarez as well
Araujo is worth it. Don’t know if Efrain is ever going to have the motor this game requires. But if we aren’t overcommitting funds then will be ok.
From a budget perspective, it's probably only another $50K in space most likely since a young U22 counts $200K even though we're probably tripling his salary to the $600K range (max salary). So, as long as Anschutz is willing to part with the cash, the budget hit is quite negligible and it stays negligible for the full length of his contract. For the Galaxy, it gives him a viable option so he doesn't feel forced to leave to get a reasonable salary and it ensures that they can transfer him for a fee if a good offer comes along sometime after this transfer window. For him, it increases his pay substantially now, allows him to be choosy about whether and where he goes, and gives him some security if he gets injured or has a drop in form. The only downside for the Galaxy is that you only get three of these U22 slots, but given that Araujo and Alvarez are probably transfer targets (especially to LigaMX) and you can likely remove them from the U22 designation simply by bearing the full cost of the salary charge (which by definition can be no more than the max salary, so no DP risk), that likely isn't a big deal unless they have multiple international U22 prospects they would in position to sign this transfer window.
Baxter confirming in a tweet the signing of Araujo to an extension .@LAGalaxy has signed @julian__araujo to a 4 1/2 year contract extension. The deal, an @MLS U-22 initiative signing, runs through 2025— Kevin Baxter 🇺🇦🏳️🌈 (@kbaxter11) July 6, 2021
𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 💙🤍💛#LAGalaxy re-sign @Julian__Araujo to a multi-year contract.— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) July 6, 2021 Official. Crazy to think Araujo is only 19.
These contracts are more about getting a bigger transfer within the next 12 months IMO. If Araujo and Alvarez are on long term contracts then we can make sure teams pay full value.
Can confirm this is a real deal, that is in place. If Man City exercises their option on Alcala, he'll join them once he turns 18. Galaxy would be well compensated if the option is exercised.#LAGalaxy #MLS https://t.co/HjLODUCTKP— Corner Of The Galaxy (@GalaxyPodcast) July 6, 2021 #ManCity have a pre-agreement for the signing of midfielder, Alejandro Alcalá (15). The teenager has already trained at Barcelona and @ManCity’s facilities, and now has the chance to join the #PL club from LA Galaxy as soon as he turns 18.[@ESPNDeportes via @Sport_Witness]— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) July 6, 2021
Araujo, one day after inking a long-term deal with the Galaxy, is now linked with Lille, Entreicht Frankfurt, and Sporting Lisbon https://espndeportes.espn.com/futbo...cht-frankfurt-sporting-lisboa-ofertas-fichaje Also, this says Alvarez has re-upped for two more years. Says that Efra is valued between $5-$10 million and remains close with Zlatan. He's also been the subject of Europe conversations, but nothing specific like Araujo. https://espndeportes.espn.com/futbo...-la-galaxy-seleccion-mexicana-copa-oro-europa
Daniel Aguirre is a 𝕲.The #LAGalaxy sign @ambitiouschiri.— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) July 7, 2021 Yes, I love Daniel! Now we have a real box-to-box guy if Jona is out.
That's a great signing. He's been a real find for the Galaxy II and clearly outclasses his younger teammates.
What a rise for this young man. Good to show everyone we will reward hard work and performance. do we need another central mid? Tonight sure but when everyone is here ?
In addition to signing Daniel Aguirre, the #LAGalaxy acquire defender @JoshDrack on a short-term loan from @LAGalaxyII pic.twitter.com/R3z1jN68Hx— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) July 7, 2021 Drack signed only for tonight's game I believe. Aguirre until the end of the year. Tomorrow I will make a post about Aguirre, his weaknesses and his strengths. @Benny Dargle seems to love him too, right ?
It might have more to do with the post-Jona era. I could see Aguirre being a starter in the next few years.
Aguirre has the ability to switch the point of attack over the top in a positive rather than merely lateral level that only Vazquez seems to be able to do in the current squad. We saw that during the preseason.
Not so much now. Our next addition should be a journeyman forward if we can find one. Or a young forward that is riding the bench on a good team. Just has to be several times more lethal than Zubak - I don't think that is a high bar.
That skill is something Vanney has mentioned as being “too slow” on many occasions in his press availability. he also noted that Ravasolon made some of these types of passes while he was playing dm in last match.
I wish both Lletget and JDS did more of this. I was watching Lletget closely last game and he was very conservative with his passing. I think both have the skill to make those Vasquez type passes more frequently but they tend to opt for short back or lateral passes. We need more aggression - not more possession!
I noticed several times last night that Lletget was making more daring and aggressive passes into the channels. He must have read your post.
So the summer window opened yesterday. The funny thing is that our winter transfers have worked out so well, it takes a lot of stress off this window. Our winter adds (with age, salary): Cabral (21,1440) Grandsir (24,938) Williams (28,821) Coulibaly (25,) Raveloson (24,) Bond (28,502) Villafana (31,487) Vasquez (34,439) Kljestan (35,247) Fisher (29,148) 7 starters. I'm pretty much happy with each of them with Cabral still being the big question mark. In terms of 2022 planning, maybe a DP forward (if we switch to a 4-4-2, which has some issues) but I don't think we're going to do anything with Jona this year. Villafana will need to be replaced at some point but we can certainly get another year out of him. Otherwise, our starters are good ages and should be here for a while. Summer window isn't probably the place for cheap backups from around MLS and we need to see how our current youngsters develop. @skydog 's suggestion seems right. A young forward who we don't expect to start but can provide minutes off the bench. Maybe use the third U-22 spot on a player from South America (of France; you can't have too many French players!) Wasn't there rumors of someone else coming?