Is it too early to talk about Gary Kleiban’s failure as an agent?

Is it his fault that things haven't worked out? Is it his fault he got his client a loan for playing time and it still hasn't worked out? Were all the other interested agents not also pushing him toward Europe?

 

While I think it would be harsh to label Gary's agent work a failure at this point, you would be a fool not to question his philosophy that a player should sign in Europe at ANY cost, especially these days.

 

Maybe they won't want to work with him but I don't think he should be faulted for taking Uly/Alex/Kobe to Europe. Every single agent that was in the run for those boys were all looking to place them in Europe, partly because there was demand, and more importantly because that's what all three families wanted. So whoever it was that represented those boys, they would have burned bridges with LAG.. it just happened to be Gary.

Not that I'm a fan of Gary but I've seen a lot written about these boy's individual situations and somehow he's always to blame. He doesn't help himself with such stupid takes on Twitter but that's another story. People were complaining that he got them bad deals at $12,000/yr but that value is actually aligned with what German teams pay players that aren't clear first team players.. What do people think guys like Hoppe (Before his new deal) and Kayo are on? I've seen people complain about Mendez sitting on the bench at Jong Ajax when he could have been playing first team with Galaxy or further along with Freiburg... If I'm a young player and Ajax comes in for me I'm definitely taking my shot. Not to mention, the money he's on at Jong Ajax is much higher than anything he'd be making at LAG so in the end Gary technically did right by his client.

Europe is extremely difficult, especially for Latin players to adjust to the culture. I hope all those boys can turn things around.

 

Gee, I wonder why those players wanted so badly to go to Europe without even so much as a consideration of MLS (Efra excluded)?

Secondly, to imply that every agent out there would have burned bridges in a similar manner that the Kleibans did requires a pretty interesting imagination.

Furthermore -- and maybe most alarming -- the issues that these players are having go well beyond their ability on the field. It seems a common thread that none of them have been truly prepared from a fitness and/or mentality perspective for the environment that they were stepping into.

 

Still too early, but not the best outlook as of now. Mendez and Uly did get 1st team contracts though.

We know Cuevas is with Kleiban now, not sure if Perez, Alvarado, Neal, etc. are with him. Kleibans always pumped up Perez big time. Cuevas has a good chance of making it in Europe.

It's probably more family related (and not Gary), but Uly and KHF left the Galaxy on good terms with the club once te Kloese had taken over.

 

Signing with an agent with a lack of professional ethics is always a mistake.

 

Also a mistake to sign with an agent with zero track record and presumably minimal connections overseas.

 

Do you actually think there is ever a cordial relationship in that situation between an Agent and a Club where the player is leaving for FREE and the club says "ahh we're losing a player but at least his agent was friendly in the process? That's ridiculous. It didn't matter who the agent was going to be, the relationship wasn't going to be great afterwards anyways. You think NYCFC was ok with losing Reyna for free? Do you not think it was worse that his Agent also represented his Dad, who was an EMPLOYEE of the club? If it was Gary who advised Reyna to go to Europe instead of signing with NYCFC would the narrative be different than it has? Reynas agent reps half the MLS front office, isn't that a worse conflict of interest? At the end of the day, every club in the world will do business with ANY agent if they really want the player.

Who was supposed to prepare them from a fitness/mentality perspective for those environments? Surely that's what our MLS academies are supposed to do, no?

 

Perez is with Paradigm, Neal and Efra are with Wasserman. Alvarado doesn't have anything publicly available. The Kleibans might still have a player on the books with the Galaxy. They used to hype Jorge Hernandez, idk if they still do but he was with Galaxy II last season and he doesn't appear to have a normal agency.

 

As far as Gary goes.....................

If a kid wants to hire an inexperienced Cal State Fullerton physics professor as his agent, I guess that's his fault. Seriously, what's with that?

I can tell you as somebody that's a Ph.D. chemist...................I have no idea how Gary Kleiban has any time for his soccer agency. I have no idea how you prepare physics lectures & labs, direct your own lab research & graduate students, write publications, peer review other professors' publications, prepare and deliver lectures at conferences, serve on organizing committees of other conferences, deal with all of the university meetings, etc.......................and have any time left whatsoever for a soccer agency. Is he callling clubs in between Physics lectures? I REALLY don't get it. Its just really strange to me. The soccer agency is like a side job.

I will say this. I don't blame him for what's going on with Mendez, Llanez, etc. Your job as an agent is to get kids opportunities. Once in the door, its up to the kid to succeed. From everything we've heard, Wolfsburg was (still is?) very high on Llanez. Mendez has had injury problems this year that hurt his ability to advance up the depth chart at Ajax. But Ajax doesn't waste their time. They signed him because they believed in his talent.

Sometimes the players get to Europe and don't succeed at first. Did people blame Junior Flores' agent because he didn't succeed? Did people blame Blaine Ferri's agent for his failure in Germany? There's a significant "failure rate" with these kids regardless of who their agent is.

I don't mind the "rage against the machine" stance that 3four3 embodies. DIssenting views and opinions are always valuable. The Kleibans couldn't be PART of the machine at the Galaxy while also working to undermine the machine. That was the problem. The resulting behaviours led to Brian being fired, and as far as I can tell he still doesn't have a job in the pro game. Or anywhere? US soccer is worse off for that.

 

I'm not faulting players for not signing with LAG. There's a track record there, and it's not a good one. These players were not presented with the best alternative to trying to make it in Europe.

Signing with Kleiban is not something I'd advise though.

 

the only reason why the galaxy hired Brian Kleiban was to get at his players from Chivas. Uly/Alex/Efra all played for them at Barcelona USA/Chivas. This is what the galaxy do. They got Mike Munoz to join the galaxy and he took most of his players from Chivas to the galaxy. Good for the Kleibans because the galaxy would have fired Brian Kleiban already. Munoz was fired when Te Kloese was hired. Can't blame them for looking out for themselves.

 

Is it true that they actually burned bridges? I seem to remember the TD at the Galaxy posting something on twitter about how Uly was welcome back any time.

 

Yeah the Galaxy have a crap ass development record, so players should clearly seek out other options. But a good agent doesn’t automatically close any doors. Odds are, Europe is a better choice than an MLS team that doesn’t prioritize a platform for academy kids, but, there could be some cases where it makes sense to sign the HG contract.

Gary is such a radical anti MLS system guy, that it logically makes sense that he closes the door on MLS for his clients, thus minimizing options for these kids.

 

Lots of players take a crack at the big Euro leagues. Sometimes it doesn't work out, and that's not necessarily anyone's fault. I find Gary Kleiban's twitter account to be insufferable and obnoxious, but even when one sets aside the visceral dislike of the Kleibans, there were plenty of other people pointing out some obvious and major problems with the Galaxy's approach toward youth.

IMO, the biggest problem with how this group of kids was handled is that the Kleibans hyped up their own guys so much that none of them are going to meet the overly inflated expectations that were set, even though all of them have talent and many of them will likely have solid enough careers.

 

i dont know enough about the particulars here, but i will say hypothetically the type of agent that styles themselves as a mentor and family friend from a very young age before transitioning into an outright agent bears some responsibility for placing a kid in a high pressure situation far from home when they arent mature enough to handle it.

 

Aren't Kleibans kicked Hoppe of the Galaxy academy when they brought their kids? Isn't that ironic considering who is actually successful?

 

For as much schtick as Gary Keliban gets, and deservedly so, its not in any agents job description to kick a ball, pass a ball or defend.

An agent is supposed to open doors for clients through their relationships. They hope their players take their chance and earn a contract, because that is the only way the agent gets paid.

We can laugh of some of the ridiculous player evaluations that Gary has stated publicly, but I find it hard to blame his players performance (or lack there of) on him.

 

But a good agent should have a much more holistic approach than just looking at the soccer side of things. This is especially true for an agent who, like dougtee mentioned above, has been so influential throughout his "client's" life.

 

I would say that the younger a player the more their personality should be taken into account. Are they going to be able to move to another country where they don't speak the language, fit with the culture, the food? I would even add if you're from a more southern part of the US (like LA) then even the difference in weather and when it gets dark in the winter can be jarring especially when in accordance with the other factors. Once a player has already done a lot of this it's much easier to measure fit with teams. I guess I'm saying it's harder for 16-18 year olds than veterans on the finding the right fit.

 

Donovan's agent was Richard Motzkin, who is now in charge of Wasserman's Global Football Group. He is very well respected in the business, but doesn't personally take on many players any longer.