Fired Lalas finally speaks out on Galaxy http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/galaxy/la-sp-soccer7-2008nov07,0,3571368.story
boy, from harkes to lalas... everything tv was meant to be! i do have to admit i found the donovan comment interesting and i agree with it. ld's reputation overseas is a notch (or two) below what it is here. the comment about beckham calling arena was trivial, imo. the issue around this move is a lot deeper than arena not getting a courtesy call. the coach should be in the loop from the start on a player move. that arena wasn't seems to speak about beckham's priorities in this case, which were not the la galaxy.
The problem with the team was leadership, huh? This was after you traded youth for age!! See, alot of guys inside sports overrate character and underrate talent. Lalas is a prime example of such "thinking." Sabermetricians have been screaming about this for 20 years. The problem with the Gals was roster depth, and a lack of speed, and a lack of younger, cheaper, and presumably healthier players who could play. Every ounce of that is on Lalas' philosophy on how to build a team.
Of course. Domestic players tend to be rated more highly (and priced more highly) than foreign players. This is why few English players play outside the EPL and few Mexicans have traditionally played outside Mexico -- other leagues don't rate them as highly so aren't willing to pay the fees and salary to lure them away.
Sturigs and Findley for Klein + Cannon for a quart of beer + Albright for some razors = Lack of Leadership
I'll give you the bottom two but the neither Findley nor Sturgis has developed into any sort of leadership role with RSL and Klein is definately one of the few that has shown any type of leadership on the Galaxy. Plus there is no way of knowing for sure if that was a Yallop move or a Lalas move. Consensus seems to be Yallop.
I liked the Landon comment too. Stuff like that is why Alexi was always a better fit on TV than in the front office.
So, apparently, is Schellas Hyndman, if you read the 3rd Degree site. It looks more and more like Andre Rocha, certainly one of the top new foreign players in the league this year, won't be around Dallas much longer because he's not somebody Hyndman can "trust", whatever that means. And neither is Dax McCarty. Part of being a professional coach/GM is dealing with egos and oddballs and making it work. It's called man-management, and it isn't done--especially in a salary-cap restricted league where every talented player can mean the difference between playoffs and none--by putting "character" as the first hurdle for any signing.
I found Lalas' comments interesting but I find it hard to believe that the fundamental problem on the Galaxy was a lack of leadership or the interests of certain players being elevated above the team. While those both may be true, he never said anything about the fact that the Galaxy had the worst defense in the league thanks to trading Ihemelu, Albright and Cannon and using foreigner slots on stiffs like Pires and Eduardo Rodriguez (was that his name?). Alexi Lalas is not a good general manager but he is good on TV.
Alexi didn't say LAG had the worse defense in the league but he did say he was responsible for the product on the field. I can take that to mean he owned up to the mistakes he made. I agree, he's a well spoken guy and would love to see him as a regular TV commentator.
of course of course. but yanks go abroad all the time, notwithstanding the differences you point out. lalas was saying that in ld's case, otoh, the gap in valuations might lead to a real impasse. it's above and beyond the usual difference, it seems. i don't want to adjudicate ld's true value. but i think i see what lalas is talking about in this case. so now you're agreeing with me... what's that line from the end of casablanca?
Well I think that's right and wrong. Right: Donovan is more bankable than other MLS exports like Toja, Dempsey and EJ. He actually sells tickets, whereas other MLS exports sold fewer or none. Wrong: there have been valuation differences in the past that have prevented sales from occurring -- Cooper not being sold because Rosenberg/Cardiff did not offer enough for FCD (although enough for MLS) Joseph not being sold because Celtic did not offer enough Johnson not being sold to Benfica because MLS wanted more, for some reason Dempsey sulking through a half season because MLS would not sell at a discount to Fulham MLS looks at LD and says "he's worth more to us than Altidore and Jozy went for $10 mm. So we want at least five for Donovan" and Europe says "we'll give you $2 mm.
true. which is why the negotiation isn't easy. ld sells tix here. in europe, not so much. so the respective valuations diverge even more. well, dempsey and johnson got done. cooper came close, we'll see, and he's younger than ld. joseph decided he doesn't really want to go. what makes ld complicated is that the deal has to happen now or never, pretty much. we'll see...
Interesting discussion about character versus talent. I note that Dom Kinnear has made character his #1 priority when considering players. Seems to work for him.
Lalas is a complete & total clown, whether in the GM's office or as TV analyst. It's embarassing MLS retreads him over and over, as if he actually might know what he's doing which he clearly does not, no matter what he's *ucked up totally once again. Hopefully he'll take a job in the USL so he can wreak his destruction on another league.
So has Ted Thompson, the GB Packers GM (and the NFL GM of the Year in 2007). But you can't draft/sign character alone. I am sure Greg Vanney and Chris Klein are great guys who provide a solid locker room presence. But they don't provide any foot speed and that means that a guy with a shady character but awesome wheels can zoom by them in a flash. BTW, if this was about "character", why did Lalas trade for Carlos Ruiz? PS. I think Lalas is very good as a TV analyst/studio host and was that way back when ESPN2 had an MLS highlight show with him and Dave Dir. Of course, he can also become Mr. Hype, as when he thought that anything less the a quarterfinal birth would be a disappointment for the US in the 2006 WC. But, as Mr. Hype, he is at least harmless.
It's tough to be a reasonable or good analyst when one is trying to comment on something with which you were recently involved. Alexi Lalas (and he's not being retreaded here by MLS, as this is Disney/TV work, not league work) could develop nicely into a Charles Barkley type studio voice for the coverage of the league -- but for now, it is too close to his team management work, and his comments will seem comical. although, down the road, his comments will likely remain comical, but at least he'll be more removed from any of his mis-steps in his previous roles in the league.