Could Los Angeles Galaxy win MLS with only California players? I could use San Jose, but LA won the title in 2002. Could LA do it with a California born and/or raised only roster? They would need to drop from their current roster... Chris Albright Mauricio Cienfuegos Simon Elliott Ezra Hendrickson Hong-Myung Bo Ricky Lewis Tyrone Marshall Hamid Mehreioskouei Alejandro Moreno Carlos Ruiz BTW, Lalas is not on the roster. Is he a free-agent? The biggest shoes to fill would be Lalas, Cienfuegos, Elliott, Hendrickson, Bo, Marshall and of course Ruiz. They would also have to swing trades with clubs to get the replacements, but lets assume that wouldn't be a problem - in other words reality doesn't count when it comes to re-building LA's squad. I've also heard that MLS rosters will be 26 players this year: 18 senior players and 8 TI's (2) and DP's/P40's (6) players. The following could be LA's roster... GK - Kevin Hartman GK - Joe Barton DF - Danny Califf DF - Scot Thompson DF - Brian Dunseth* DF - Ryan Suarez* DF - Carlos Bocanegra* DF - Orlando Perez* DF - Joe Franchino* MF - Jimmy Frazelle (DP) MF - Guillermo Gonzalez (P40) MF - Cobi Jones MF - Jesus Ochoa (DP) MF - Peter Vagenas MF - Sasha Victorine MF - Kelly Gray* MF - Francisco Gomez* MF - Ryan Futagaki* (DP) FW - Isaias Bardales (P40) FW - Gavin Glinton FW - Arturo Torres (DP) FW - Ante Razov* FW - Landon Donovan* FW - Joe-Max Moore* *new players. Could LA repeat with this line-up? Starters: Hartman - Suarez, Califf, Bocanegra, Franchino - Victorine, Vagenas, Gray - Jones, Donovan, Moore. Bench: Barton, Dunseth, Perez, Ochoa, Gomez, Razov, Glinton. For those that might question Joe-Max Moore being from California he played youth soccer and went to high shool in the State as well as playing for the Galaxy's U21 squad: UCLA.
It was a joke based on the silliness of the exercise. If you want to take all of the California players and put them on one team, it doesn't matter whether that team is the Galaxy, Quakes, or the Fusion, for that matter, except for the home-field advantage in MLS Cup 2003.
Leave Ratface off that list and I'll take it. Lalas isn't currently under MLS contract by he is practicing with the G's. Contract should be in place shortly.
California use to be king of soccer in the USA, but now the new generation of players are from all around the country. Some other great Californians include Eric Wynalda and Marcelo Balboa. Both attended SDSU. Also now that Frankie Hdejuck sp? is back, you can add him to the list.
The whole exercise is based upon Chivas using only Mexicans (not to be confused with players only from the state of Jalisco, where Guadalajara is), or Athletic Bilbao using only Basque players. Your comment of "If you want to take all of the California players and put them on one team, it doesn't matter whether that team is the Galaxy, Quakes, or the Fusion," has nothing to do with the exercise. Atletic Bilbao takes only Basque players, but they don't play in Barcelona, Valencia or Seville. They play in Bilbao, or could actually play anywhere in the Basque region; which includes France. But since they're a Spanish club they might stay in Spain. Now the Chivas example might be the same as what you're suggesting, but they use players from all over Mexico, not one particular state or region or in other words my LA Galaxy or the Atletic Bilbao examples. This would be the same as any MLS club using only U.S. born players. So, no you couldn't take an all Californian squad and have them play in Miami or any other city in the United States when you really use your brain and think about what I'm basing this on. Half the crap on this board is silly, so get over yourself. ---- Regarding the Moore issue. I said born and/or raised in California. I know where Moore was born. However, he played three years of club soccer with North Huntington Beach Soccer Club (I don't which club in California he played with other than them), while attending Mission Viejo High Shool in Orange County California. He then went to UCLA. His hometown has been listed with US Soccer as Irvine, CA for about 10-12 years now (though he hasn't lived there for a while). MLS has his hometown as Miami, FL.
i am not trying to get into a pissing contest with you, but jmm grew up in ok. just because he has lived other places or calls somewhere else "home" does not mean that he is from there. thats like saying clint mathis is from new york... so lets put him on an all-ny team.
It is a somewhat attractive idea, in the tradition of Guadalajara. Since the roster limits are big on foregin players, having a roster full of Americans wouldn't be that difficult. For a state-only team, you can only realistically suggest California. Maybe Texas or New Jersey as well. California has approximately 35 million people and is the 5th biggest economy in the world. It could be its own nation. That's why a California team is suggested. After all this, I don't think I would really accept it. The idea to me is really unAmerican. The attitude seems to be a little close-minded from my perspective. Maybe you could strive to build a team of green card players and players with dual citizenship!
They could, but I wouldn't guarantee it. Personally, I'm not too crazy about your midfield. Your goalie is ok. Your defense is above average, and your forwards would play well. How do you think the present Gals would do against them? LA's current team is probably slight favorites, but not overwhelming favorites.
OK ... so sequence of events ... You start a thread. I make a joke about it. You don't get it. I explain the joke. You jump all over me, and tell me to get over myself. You yell at me for calling it silly. At the same time, you openly concede that it's silly. You say it's based on Chivas's player policy, yet you never mentioned Chivas or that policy or anything remotely related to it in any message prior to mine. The Quakes are in California, therefore, putting all of the California players on one team makes equal sense if you put them on one California team or the other. What on earth did I say that was so infuriating?