Keane, Dos Santos, Gerrard, Cole, De Jong, Van Damme, Zardes, Kennedy, etc. On paper, I do not recall ever seeing so much talent on an MLS team and I have been following the league since day one in 1996. From a neutral fan's perspective, it is nice to see such a high quality team in the league but I am wondering how they got everyone to fit under the salary cap. I do not support the Galaxy but I enjoy seeing the quality of play rise in MLS as a whole.
Greatest team ever? Sure ... why not ... 1) 2016 Galaxy 2) late 80's AC Milan 3) late 50's Real Madrid 4) late 60's-early 70's Ajax Amsterdam 5) early 70's Bayern Munich
Shame we don't play games on paper.. But in terms of personal/past achievements it's probably hard to argue. Given current state of performances over the past couple of years probably not.
Zardes and Kennedy are not in the same salary category as the others but they are both proven American players in this league and I just wanted to recognize them as pieces of this puzzle which has given the Galaxy such a good team (on paper).
I was implying Zardes and Van Damme. Kennedy is completely unknown to me. I should have said 3 of these are not like the others fair point
Not to beat this issue to death but I believe that Kennedy is one of the most underrated GK's in American history. He played for low profile Chivas USA and did not get capped due to being a member of the golden generation of American goalkeepers. The Galaxy has a great keeper in him. I believe that he is as good as Rimando and/or Hamid.
So, he's a GK. Ok, thanks for the tip Now, nothing personal against him, I only said that I've never heard of him, although, to be fair, I'm not following MLS too much (I only watch occasional games when I have time, and if they're not at a late hour here in Romania, which usually tend to broadcast around 00.00 AM)
I would think New York Cosmos had one of the best teams ever "on paper", had all their players been at their peak.
After last night's historic disgrace, I want to re-emphasize that I consider(ed) the Galaxy the finest MLS club ever ON PAPER!
Yes, the current Galaxy is the "Greatest Team on Paper"..... Just like the Paper Tiger is the greatest Tiger.....on Paper.
I've always felt that the 98 DCU and 2000 Fire were two of the best starting line-ups assembled in MLS history.* However, the quality of depth is so much higher now that even good-but-not-great teams today would likely fare better over the course of the season. *Ironically, the only hardware for the two teams combined was one USOC trophy.
Easy answer - no, not even close. Biggest collection of former talent past their prime, yes. They won't be best LAG team ever, and won't be close to best MLS team this year.
As far as getting everyone under the cap, I believe De Jong's contract is structured so that he's paid much more in year two than in year one. He's not getting DP money this year, but his salary goes up significantly next year and he probably takes Gerrard's place as a DP.
Didn't DC win the InterAmericana Cup or whatever it was called in 98? EDIT: Yup, won CONCACAF in August and the InterAmericana in December