Galaxy sack Lalas, Gullit

The Alexi Lalas era of the Los Angeles Galaxy is officially at an end, as the club fired Lalas and his first and only coaching hire Ruud Gullit after a less than impressive 2008 in MLS. Former MLS and U.S. national team star Cobi Jones has been named interim head coach.

According to the press release, Lalas, who was named president and general manager of Galaxy in 2006, was "relieved of duties" while Gullit left "for personal reasons" (as in the entire team hated his personal guts).

"Both parties have agreed on mutually-agreeable terms to part company," said Timothy J. Leiweke, President & CEO AEG, investor/operators of the Galaxy. "It is an amicable arrangement and we appreciate and respect the issues that Ruud has highlighted with the club and are very grateful for all the hard work he has contributed while with the organization. Hopefully, he has laid the foundations for future success for the Los Angeles Galaxy."

The Galaxy hired Gullit just last November, but expectations for the 2008 season were extremely high. Los Angeles sits in the bottom half of the table with just 23 points in 19 matches. Grumbling was heard as early as a month ago out of the owner's box, as AEG billionaire Phil Anschutz was unhappy with the inconsistency of his club, given the high profile moves that they had made in the last year. Chief among those moves was of course the signing of Beckham, which Lalas had little to do with (Leiweke is the man credited with bringing in Golden Balls). Lalas was responsible, however, for the addition of Abel Xavier which proved to be a complete bust, and the addition of Gullitt as well, which might have been the final straw for him:

"With Ruud moving on, we believe that this is the right time to make more sweeping changes throughout the organization," said Leiweke. "Our commitment continues to be focused on not only winning the MLS Cup this and every season but to build a club capable of competing at the international level. This decision is the right one for the organization, the right one for the players and the right one for our fans. We thank Alexi for the tremendous hard work and dedication he brought to his job each and every day."

Gullit, meanwhile, had reportedly lost the locker room due to favoritism and a lack of communication. There were reports that Landon Donovan was considering a move to Europe in part because of the atmosphere under Gullit. For his part, Gullitt deflected attention away from the turmoil of the club by citing personal reasons for leaving:

"In truth, it has proved a lot more difficult than I anticipated for my family to settle in the area and the club has been very supportive and understanding of my decision. I would like to thank the players and the fans for their fantastic support and I wish the LA Galaxy much success in the future. I would now like to spend some time with my family before considering any other position in football."

According to the press release, Paul Bravo will continue as Director of Soccer, so the "sweeping changes" Leiweke spoke of were really just the sacking of Lalas and Gullitt.

American Revolution, Part II

Ok, King George is back from the dead and he’s trying to quell yet another American revolution. His troubled spirit is taking the form of various British journalists … British journalists, there’s an oxymoron.

In preparation for Becks arrival in the New World, the Mirror and the Guardian published stories that quoted Los Angeles Galaxy general manager Alexi Lalas, as he watched his new acquisition finish his tenure with Real Madrid as a champion.

"The fact that a segment of the world worships an inferior product in the Premiership is their business…There’s this delusion that if it’s English then it’s great. But a whole world exists outside of England. That’s reflected in the difficulties they had when everyone ran to the Premiership. Maybe it’s OK for the fan but, for the average development of the players, their game is struggling."

Was Lalas serious when he referred to the EPL as an "inferior product"? I guess it’s possible he was, but I think he was just being a good GM and selling his league. He is right about one thing. The sun has set on the British Empire. The top players in the world are not English, no matter what the British press expounds. That’s what Lalas is talking about when he says there is a "delusion" in England.

And this "delusion" is propagated by a British press that cannot present a story without building in layer upon layer of subjectivity -- a bias lasagna, if you will.

Check out this dish served up by an unnamed London AP writer:

Brian McBride and Clint Dempsey are among the American players in the Premier League, although they play for modest Fulham. None of the American players in England are stars of the caliber of those at teams such as Manchester United and Chelsea.

It is blatantly self-contradictory. How can the EPL be the best league in the world if the only two teams getting high caliber players are Man U and Chelsea? Fulham, who also features another American, Carlos Bocanegra, as a regular starter may not be the cream of the crop, but to belittle the American impact in the EPL by mentioning only two players on a "modest" team is misrepresentative. And need I remind the British of their former colonies’ cry, "No taxation without representation."

First of all, the writer chose to ignore the contributions of Tim Howard at Everton (and before that ManU, where he was named EPL goalkeeper of the year in 2004). Tony Burns, ESPNsoccernet’s voice of Everton, called Howard, "An excellent signing and up there with Nigel Martyn as one of the best keepers we’ve had post Neville Southall." The AP hack also ignored contributions of fellow keepers Marcus Hahnemann (a mainstay at Reading) and Brad Friedel (a veteran at Blackburn), not to mention the field players: defender John Spector (West Ham) and midfielders Bobby Convey (Reading) and DaMarcus Beasley (Manchester City).

The American player has always gotten a bad rap from the European press, and deservedly so 10 years ago, but Europe (and England is the biggest culprit of this) does not recognize the strides that the U.S. has made both in terms of its player exports and its domestic league. The media continues to misrepresent the U.S as a bunch of amateurs who can’t hold a candle to the superior play of the EPL.

But the character assassination doesn’t end with our players; look how the London AP writer misrepresents Lalas in his initial paraphrase:

Despite criticizing the Premier League for sloganeering and over-marketing, Lalas claimed that, when he arrives, Beckham will have a higher profile in the United States than Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan.


"The U.S. will never have dealt with an athlete who has had this kind of international impact,” Lalas told The Mirror. “Tiger Woods has that international appeal but, with due respect to Woods and Michael Jordan, David Beckham is at an entirely different level."

Lalas is discussing Beckham’s unprecedented international appeal, not his "profile in the United States." He is talking about the interest in MLS that will be generated in all corners of the globe due to the Beckham signing, not only among the U.S. fans.

The AP hack closes with "several" papers’ laughable criticism of LA’s win over Real Salt Lake. How does someone who refers to Fulham as "modest" compare Manchester United and Chelsea to MLS’s two worst teams at the moment?

The Guardian also tries clumsily to make this point by discussing Lalas’ belief that there would be "a lot of stars who would struggle [in MLS]." You can’t even call the response journalism:

However, given that many players, including the likes of Paul Dalglish, Ronnie O'Brien and Terry Cooke have left England and found a modicum of success in MLS, is Lalas really being fair with his criticism? Or is it he that is misguided regarding a league that did provide three of this season's Champions League finalists?

Paul Dalglish, Ronnie O'Brien and Terry Cooke? Really? That’s the best you can do. O’Brien and Cooke are solid, serviceable players, but Dalglish isn’t setting the world on fire. He had two goals in 11 games last season and no goals so far this season. And I thought Lalas was criticizing the EPL, not the Champions League. Last time I checked, no North or South American teams were invited to that party.

But with all that said, the comparison between the EPL and MLS is really unnecessary, and those doing so hide agendas of denigration of either or both. Our leagues, like our nations, can co-exist peacefully, but MLS should not allow itself to be tyrannized by a British press that sees itself as the sole proprietors of quality soccer. With the Fourth of July right around the corner, I’ll let our second president John Adams speak for me:

"The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution."

AP Hack
Guardian Trash
Mirror Idiots