The LA Galaxy are going to look a lot different during the 2017 season.
The core of players the Galaxy have relied on for the last few successful seasons are starting to disappear. The team let Robbie Keane go at the end of the year, lost Steven Gerrard to retirement and sent A.J. DeLaGarza to the Houston Dynamo in a trade for $175,000 in allocation money.
Dealing DeLaGarza to the Dynamo was the most recent move the Galaxy made, a difficult one that sent an eight-year Galaxy veteran away from So. Cal. LA’s general manager Peter Vagenas said the move was for financial reasons.
“The ultimate trick at the end of the day is when you’re a quality team and you have quality players, at some point you have to make difficult decisions because you do not necessarily have the ability to sustain a roster for a long time,” Vagenas told reporters about the Galaxy’s recent offseason moves. “A.J. means so much to our club and has contributed so much over the years.
“But at the same time, looking to manage our roster and potentially position us to acquire positions of need, it ultimately comes to down, and as unfortunate as it is, it comes down to the financial piece of our roster and obviously that’s important.”
With two DP spots open, there is no shortage of rumors for who the Galaxy will add. The team has been recently linked to Jonathan dos Santos of Villareal, who would join his brother Giovani. Additionally, LA is said to be negotiating for NEC midfielder Gregor Breinburg as it tries to shore up its midfield.
One player the Galaxy are a lot closer to signing, however, is Jermaine Jones. The team is reported to be working on bringing Jones home to Los Angeles. Vagenas said he “won’t comment” on contract talks with the U.S. international, who LA acquired the rights to on Dec. 13.
Some needs for the Galaxy going into the 2017 season include a replacement for Robbie Keane at forward and a central midfielder to replace Steven Gerrard. Gerrard’s time in LA had ups and downs, and the team could use a consistent central midfielder to provide some stability.
With less than two months remaining until the start of the MLS season, time is of the essence in order to have the roster ready for first kick.
I must alone
I saw a team with close to zero chance of winning last year and no chance this year.
I would not want to be in Vagenes’ shoes right now, a rookie GM who has no experience in the position and in the int’l transfer has to rebuild an iconic and Marquee team of the MLS. I wish him well, but he needs to make some really good personnel choices, or he will be looking for another position by next year.
The MLS has grown very much, but very uneven. If the MLS can get a killer TV contract the next time around, we might see MLS team have the money to create some awesome teams, otherwise its small, incremental growth and we will not have the capacity to engage the really big soccer teams around the world.
I have seen some good players leave because of Salary Cap decisions before, tings may work out. Still, with Bruce gone, its gonna be a wild ride this season.
It’s Chicago Fire bad, but LA might be having the worst off season of any club – especially considering their “stature” in the league.
Not a lot of time before the season to make “big” name signings unless they’re waiting until summer (which rarely make any immediate impact as the player gets used to the league).
Big fat F so far.
The problem with wholesale changes is that even if you get replacements who are as good or better, it will take time for the new team to gel. And, if some of those replacements came in the summer transfer window, you lose most of your MLS season without a fully integrated lineup. I doubt the Galaxy will have a better season in 2017 than in 2016.
“Competing with top leagues within a decade” is how the often spoke refrain went. When the glamour, deep pockets team in your league dumps a stalwart player and character guy in the locker room for financial reasons and gets piddly 175Gs in allocation money in return…. it is laughable to think you are anywhere near ready to compete with the big boys. Sorry, but even as a supporter, I regretfully say….it looks to me MLS will be splashing around in the kiddie pool a while longer yet…
Either that
Or
It was a line to not burn a bridge.
Get your own username bro. I’ve used this since SBI was blogspot.