will it be to fire sampson since that is what everyone wants or will he try to get amada guevara come over with him. maybe they will trade pete and memo for him. can you amagine donovan and guevara in the middle with each other
Thanks for pointing that out. And I dont think any of us would be overly happy to see Guevara here also. And it isn't going to happen anyway.
I predict that Lalas will sack Sampson just before the May 13 match v. RSL, with a string of poor road performances being the excuse.
I don't think it will be the first thing he will do but I have a feeling SS will get the sack before the middle of this year unless there are drastic changes in your results. I know the man has helped you win the double but he still sits below .500 all time with this team. He has built a team that relies way too much on one player and I have a feeling that during the WC that SS will get the sack because of that. I'd look for some small roster moves to be the first things lalas does though. He has done reasonably well at making trades and building teams (obviously in SJ, and he really did help make NY better despite what some people will say) so I think he'll start there.
lalas is too smart to fire "a double winning coach" straight away for a couple of reasons. first it's what 90% of knowledgeable fans want. lalas can't be seen as a tool of vocal fan groups because, well we're not always right (e.g. donovan/ruiz trade). secondly the bad blood between sampson and lalas will cast a shadow of doubt over any dismissal that happens, regardless of the fact that sampson deserved to be fired about 8 months ago. what i suspect we'll see are minor changes. i'm guessing lalas will have some input on the lineup. in fact i wouldn't be surprised if saturday's line-up didn'y have something to do with agent lalas. certainly if they're announcing this move today then it's been known for a couple of days. finally sampson will know categorically that his job is on the line. a bad run of form for any reason and his ass is gone. i'm guessing the world cup will be his undoing.
He will raise the rent on ChivaZZ so they get the heck out and move to East LA Collage. He will perform at the Half to irritate visitor fans. He will move the supporters group behind the Goal so they can take revange on the chivAZZ
I will lose all respect for Lalas if he fires Sampson because of something Sampson did to him in WC 98. I assume Lalas is a better GM than that...atleast I hope so. This should not be a personal vendetta but rather a sound business decision based on Steve's lack of peformance with the Galaxy. I keep going back to winning the double. How do you fire a coach the year after winning the double? Winning the double is a two edged sword....great that we did it but in my mind it bought Steve atleast another year. I don't care how he did it...he won two championships last year. Given his changes and the Galaxy win this past weekend I just don't see how you can realistically fire him at this point. Now...another .500 season and we don't win any "major awards" (and I'm not talking about a shapely leg table lamp either) then his time has come. I hope Lalas has the ability to judge Steve based on his work at the Galaxy and leave his personal feelings from WC98 out of it. Best case scenario (if you want to get rid of Steve). A .500 season where we win nothing and get bounced early from the playoffs....Fire Steve and hope Klinsy wants to coach the Galaxy next year. I'm not yet convinced...based on results so far that firing Steve in the middle of the season without a good replacement coach is such a good idea.
Lalas is hopefully smart enough to not interfere with the lineups, or if he does that Sampson has enough integrity to resign on the spot. If Lalas interferes and the team does poorly, how can he justifiably fire Sampson without firing himself (I'm sure he could justify it, it would just be hypocritical). If he wants Sampson gone, he needs to stay out of his way and let him hang himself with his own rope. Tinkering with the roster is a different story I fully expect Lalas to look in to that. I think Sampson's time is drawing to an end, but it won't happen until after the WC when Klinsmann will be available.
What I really hope happens is that he becomes best friends with our supporters sections. Smoke bombs, tailgating, sparkelers whatever. Someting to tip our guys from being good to great. Other than that fire Stevie and dont mess with our core of guys... oh and get Cobi and Pete to step aside plz. What is this my Christmas list?
Excellent post, I totally agree. Although Lalas might want to, he won't fire Steve anytime soon. Its going to take losses on the road and at home (especially) for Lalas to give Sampson the boot. I mean if he kicks him out now, who will take the job that has both the experience, and wants to be here? Klinsmann is a definite, but he has job that runs till the end of June, at the very least. The only other possibility is Juan Carlos Osorio, Manchester City assistant, former Metro assistant coach.
I think his first move should be to get us a real striker! His second move is to ship Pete out! Then he can get rid of Sampson if he wants.
So Lalas moves here, him and Stevie are not so happy about that. Stevie gets the ax. NY gets a new GM and fires the old regime, Mo. Mo comes to LA reuniting with Lalas and can actually be of use to our youngsters. NY hires the MLS Double winning coach SS2 and their franchise continues to live in the crapper.
His first move is going to start proclaiming that we need to be MLS' first real "superclub". Hey - at least he has better material to work with than Metrobull!
we are mls' first super club. best stadium in the league, 2nd most trophies, biggest awareness outside of america, landon donovan, current double winners, tied for most supporters shield wins, holder of several league records (most wins in a season, fewest losses, most goals, biggest win, etc...)
While those are all traits consistent of a superclub they do not make us a superclub IMHO. Maybe within the league we are one of the top clubs but outside of MLS we are still a minnow and have yet to prove otherwise. When I think of superclubs I think of clubs able to continuously dominate or battle for top honors in their league while also showing their class outside of the league. Going down in the first round of CCC doesn't help....playing very few meaningful games outside of MLS is even more damaging in this regard. Playing .500 soccer and winning the double is good...but no superclub. Just like a clasico...a superclub takes time to evolve. Even at 10 years I don't think the Galaxy are on par with Manu, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Rangers, Celtic, Chivas, etc. etc. Maybe in 10 more years...with 5 more league championships. 2 MLS cups just ain't enough.
And the only team in the league to make the playoffs every year of MLS' existence, but yes, would agree with Dogmatic here. It's going to take time, but we are the closest thing going....
Ok here it is folks the 2006 Lalas Agenda: 1. Sampson is axed when the G's exit the playoffs or after they win the final. 2. We bring Klinsmann after he is run out of Germany after the round of 16 exit in the World Cup. 3. Klinsmann convinces Ballack (now with Chelsea) to come play for the G's for one season, he loves the nightlife and HDC Bacon Wrapped Weenies and he signs a 4 year deal. 4. With Donovan and Ballack attacking we are labeled the first official "MLS Dynasty" after 5 consecutive MLS Cups. The End.
i think if that's your definition of superclub (and i'm not disagreeing) we'll never be a superclub. when we're celebrating 100 years madrid will be near 200. while man united or barca might be vying for their 20th champions league title we'll be stuck competing in little known competitions in the americas. i was just thinking in relation to mls clubs, the galaxy is clearly the premier club in the league.