That's not the same job. The PR guy feeds stories to the willing media. Alexi Lalas makes stories that the media has to cover. Al Davis and George Steinbrenner are in the news all the time. Any clue as to who their PR "guys" are?
From The Red Card, Luis Arroyave "January 06, 2007 "How 'bout we spice things up?" Soccer is supposed to be entertainment. That's why I like the growing Fire-Revs rivalry, Dempsey's goal celebrations, Cristiano's dribbling, supporter groups, Gooch's stare down with Borgetti, Drew Carey, the Beckham brand, Eric Wynalda, and Jose Mourinho's press conferences. These things are good for the game -- especially when it comes to attracting new fans. Leading this "entertainment" movement is Alexi Lalas. I don't read many soccer interviews (believe it or not, I don't read much in general), but I read the one he recently did with soccernet's Kristian Dyer. "I'm in the unique position of being able to generate interest because of my playing background," Lalas told Dyer. "If that's what it takes to get more butts in the seats, then I'm going to do it." When asked if MLS is lacking excitement, Lalas responded, "Hell yeah, it's lacking. For the most part, we've created a generation of players who are unwilling or unable to show any personality...somebody do something....." More http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/soccer_redcard/
Yeah, but those guys have accomplishments in their current positions while Alexi really doesn't. Creating the news is fine if you've had some success at what you do. But as of now, Alexi Lalas is the Paris Hilton of MLS GMs. We read about him for no apparent reason other than he decided to talk to someone.
Who the **** is Steven A Smith? Edit: OK, no need to answer again...I see this question has already been answered. I'd just never heard of him before, so it seemed odd that a relative unknown would give a "who the hell are you" look to probably the most well known and recognizable guy in the history of US soccer. My first response to this thread was, yeah, Alexi, please shut up already, it's getting old. But then reading through his points, he actually makes good sense.
I hear you, but let's remember that newspapers are in the business of selling newspapers, so a lot of the coverage of George is editors trying to create controversy by giving him ink, because people love to read it. George is a bit of a child and he loves to win the back-page war vs. the Mets, but many of those stories write themselves without him looking for them, without the PR guy looking for them, because the papers want to make it so. Take as an example the Mangini-Belichek headlines that have been ALL over the NY papers this week without Mangini doing one thing to solicit it. With Alexi, there isn't anywhere near the interest to cover him, so he looks to create a lot of that noise himself. Even with the noise he created, he would barely scratch the papers in NY. He created waves with his statements and- no doubt- brought attention to his team, but I think most NY fans will remember him more for his on-field lack of success and poor handling/firing of Bob Bradley than for the colorful statements he made. It's probably valid to say that if he draws attention to his team that he's doing his job, but far too often it seems like he's just trying to draw attention to himself (MLS vs. Chelsea all-star game comments come to mind, talking on TV about holes in his socks, etc.), and I think that's where fans start to lose patience. I don't hold any animosity towards Alexi for his time in NY, I just think he could have done better. I think his comment about being a Superclub, however, wasn't really a problem. He came into a NY front office that was used to losing and was often not held accountable for poor results. With superclub he was trying to set the bar higher, trying to change that culture. What he did to Bradley, however, just wasn't professional. (He came in and told Bradley that he was fired, but waited something like 8 weeks to fire him, during which time he made him jump through hoops with wearing a suit, etc.). But, we're feeding into his machine by continuing to talk about him, by continuing to think about him. Sadly, without Bradley at Chivas this year, that rivalry lost some steam just for me personally, because it was fun to root for the Gals to lose to Chivas for the morbo it would create.
There's no such thing as bad publicity Ever since he started shooting his mouth off in New York, I've been impressed. He's doing exactly what he's been hired to do. That's my take on it. He is the lightning rod. He's not paid to sit in an office and make phone calls to other soccer folks. He's paid to be Alexi "Look At Me" Lalas. And he's doing a great job.
The guy has been in NY, and now he is in LA; big media markets where the MLS team may be 8th or 9th top covered team (probably lower), struggling mightily for any press at all. Or course he likes colorful players to help him do his job. This past week, several extra reporters come to town for the USMNT camp. Is Lalas not supposed to talk with reporters who knock on his door? Is he not supposed to be a little "colorful" and get some more press for his team? USC is over, no Dodgers yet, Lakers are still early - this is a great time for him to get out there a bit and build some press, ramp up season ticket sales interest, and bide time until AEG figures out Beckham or whoever they are going to get. It's LA too - you have to be colorful to get attention.
Wel then, I hope they hired someone to, you know, actually run a soccer team. Because if all it takes to be a GM in this league is to shoot your mouth off and act like an jagoff, I should update my resume. He's not a GM. He's a court jester. And eventually he's going to run out of owners to fool and he'll be on TV where his schtick is actually relevant to the job description. I don't mind Alexi. I actually like him. But his act is growing tiresome while he's allegedly running a team.
Umm, he's only ever had one owner he's worked for, AEG, so he's not exactly exhausted any lists has he?
He was with Red Bull for a while, right? Alls I'm saying is that if he wants to be the GM who gives colorful quotes, he should actually do his job at the same time or else he's not going to have a GM job.
Not really. He was on his way out the door to LA as soon as the ink was dry. Remember, AEG was moving Hamilton upstairs. Lalas does his job. And frankly, despite the public persona, he's incredibly intelligent, and is learning the business side - but, yes, other folks in the organization are definitely helping run the club. As has been reported, Tim Lieweke is the one handling the negotiations with Beckham.
I actually knew that,believe it or not. Except in this case the media is not so willing is it. So basically Alexi is a media whore.Bet he knows it too. If i had to guess i'd say Donald Trump and Rosie O'donnell.
I think Alexi would have acomplished as much if he had their money and was associated with the NFL or MLB.When you look at it in that context his own''acomplishments'' don't look so shabby. If that's so why aren't other GMs stepping up to the plate.Could it be that many of them don't know crap about the game of soccer. Or maybe because someone decided to ask him some questions.
40 (now 41) posts and counting. those outside our tiny soccer world might have lifted their eyebrows just slightly too.... if so he's doing part of his job.
Other GMs are stepping to the plate. Teams are winning. Business deals are going down. Players are coming to teams. Alexi traded for Quaranta. He could have answered them without sounding like he was at open mic night at the Improv. Is he an aspiring comedian or a general manager?
What Lalas needs is a team that doesn't "bore" on the field. What he's had during his tenure at the Galaxy so far - not to mention his other stops - is nothing short of a scandal, possessing the one exciting young "superstar" of the league and still being the most boring animal at the same time. It's almost as if Lalas could choose between an edgy, semi-popular character who sucked on the field versus a solid but, let's say, more boring player who might help win a Championship, Lalas would choose the former for sheer entertainment value. I think Alexi forgets that before he became a caricature of himself, he was actually a reasonably decent player, who did his darndest to win at all costs.
I'm not sure how much time some of these activities really take out of his schedule. If he does an interview such as this, isn't it probable that he still had plenty of time to run his soccer club the rest of the day? These aren't either-or options - do publicity and speak about MLS or be an involved GM.
For someone who supposedly "likes Alexi" what did you intend to say by "Alexi traded for Quaranta"? Following the axing of Steve Sampson by Alexi, he "stepped up to the plate" and brought in Frank Yallop. Their team played better soccer and actually started "winning". So please tell me what more could he have done as GM for the Galaxy? Considering it wasn't his first full season and three players (Donovan, Albright, Glen) were off with international duty for sometime, while other players dealt with injuries (Jones, Vagenas, Glen). Yes they missed the playoffs for the first time in 10 years, but things certainly wouldn't have changed if Steve Sampson was still coaching the team. 2003 should have been the end of the streak, thanks to a horrible Dallas it didn't.
Then he really belongs as a PR guy for MLS in general. GMs have to do other things than just publicize the team. I'm sure Mo Johnston can fill us in on just how effective Alexi is in his other duties.
And the media would just ignore him. They ignore PR guys all the time. The title is important. Alexi's job isn't to please a few "purists" on BigSoccer, it's to draw attention to the Galaxy. If that attention starts with himself, so be it.
I'd say unless your name is Tim Leiweke, you have a right to get annoyed but not much more. If you're a Galaxy fan, you probably have a right to get more annoyed, seeing as how you're not seeing the results on the field that you would like. Lalas isn't a traditional GM. He just plays one on television.
And don't forget that under Lalas the galaxy is now trading away all its latino players in a city full of latinos, how smart is that?