By ADAM SERRANO
The Los Angeles Galaxy have signed Juan Pablo Angel as the club's third Designated Player, the team announced on Wednesday. Angel was chosen by the Galaxy in the Major League Soccer Re-Entry Draft last December.
Los Angeles is in dire need of a forward after the recent departure of Edson Buddle to the German second division and the trade of Tristan Bowen to Chivas USA. Angel joins recent acquisitions Chad Barrett and Adam Cristman, as well as Mike Magee and Johan Kirovski in the Galaxy forward corps.
Angel scored 13 goals in 2010 for the Red Bulls and finished his time in New York with a final tally of 58 goals scored in MLS league play, the most by any player over the past four years.
The Galaxy will need Angel to increase his production in order to make a run at MLS Cup. The 35-year-old will be bolstered by service from Galaxy midfielders Landon Donovan and David Beckham, as the club seeks to return to the cup final for the second time in three years.
"I hope that I can fit into the club as soon as possible, so I can do what I've always done with every club that I have been to," Angel said. "With the service that Donovan and Beckham provide, there's a good chance that I can finish those chances."
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Do you think Angel will succeed in Los Angeles? Does his signing make the Galaxy favorites for MLS Cup? Does the club need more help up top?
Share your thoughts below.
I love Angel, but he’s pretty damn diminished in quality. They made the right move.
Well at least we got Barrett and Cristman. Along with Magee and Kirovski, that makes 4 mediocre forwards that we can now combine into one super forward that breathes fire. That’s how it works, right?
Who’s the 3rd DP?
Trading Bowen away was eating the seed corn. Bad move.
Angel is old but I predict a bounceback year, it certainly can’t hurt that Donovan and Beckham will be getting him the ball.
Yeah, in the USOC. Supporters Shield > USOC.
True…Wonder what took them so long to sign him. He’s going to make Donovan even better also.
Actually, only 1/3 (7 out of 21) of the team is at age 30 or above (including JPA and not including new draft picks). That includes Todd Dunivant at 30 and Ricketts at 33 (which is prime for a GK).
Agree…RBNY won’t know what they are missing until they play a few games. This rivalry looks ready to heat up!
Well said Ben… Good Luck Juan Pablo except when you play the Red Bulls!
Good Player? Best Striker in MLS history, my friend. 2nd best at Aston Villa also.
At 35 and on 1 leg, JPA is better than Buddle…It would have been nice to see them together though
Ya, he really missed a lot in NY. Which Angel were you watching?
I will always respect JPA. He always represented the club so well both on and off the field, certain people you should hang on to as long as you can. Handled his situation with dignity. I’ve asked for a RBNY Angel jersey for the my birthday cause i respect him that much. (Yes a middle aged man with a birthday list is just a bit lame.)
You guys are crazy if you think JPA is washed up! It’ll be funny when he scores 13+ goals and you guys change your story! The same people that are on here talking smack will be his biggest supporters. Your telling me that with Becks and Landy serving this guy up proper he’s not going to tickle the back of the net!? One word for you guys….Dillusional
So LA can get crushed by a second division side again?
That is because the Bruce Arenas tactics is to always go with players near the twilight of their careers, he just doesn’t trust the youth, which is 10 times better than what was coming out back when he coached the National team….I mean look at his roster for goodness sake, he almost has the whole 2002WC roster on his team (Not including eddie lewis and mathis who just retired: berhalter, hedjuk, kirovski, donovan. Not to mention half of the team is close if not passed their 30’s.
Bruce Arena is the George Allen of the MLS. He manages to get the most out of the old geezers and the young guns.
I suspect that Angel will not be a full 90 minute player for every game. The NYRB depended upon Angel for most of it’s offense and when you look at the Galaxy, the fact that Buddle had a career year does not take away the fact that the Galaxy still have Landon Donovan, who is a perennial 15+ goal scorer when asked to be one,and of course ther is DB, who is no slouch either.
I suspected the Galaxy may have gone for a European or SA name for the third DP, but with strikers at a premium in Europe, Angel and his familiarity with the MLS game is a good fit.
Red Bull is a joke- they thought JPA was NOT one of the ten best players on the team, and treated him as such. Henry & Marquez were both getting 4x his salary, and what did they have to show for it? Nothing. They are mailing it in. Angel has heart. He is pure class, with clinical finishing ability, in the air and on the ground. I hope he lights up RBA, like he intended, too bad if its in a LA kit.
I think this is right on. Angel was looking way past prime and missing some real sitters. Maybe he’ll find a fountain of youth for half a season, but not likely.
May he score goals for LA and be subbed off at the half against RBNY. 😉
“For the first time since 2009”
LOL give me a break
Why did they sign him especially as a DP? Then why not make Buddle a DP?
Is it because Bruce thinks he can revitalize JPA and make him play like when they where both at NYRB?
What a waste. The Galaxy are getting Old. They should have kept Bowden and gone after I younger forward
Good pickup, but I definitely don’t think he is worth throwing away a designated player slot. He’s a solid player, but they lost more with Buddle gone than they will gain with him.
I like JPA but not crazy about using the 3rd DP slot on him. Hopefully the Gals give it another good run before Becks departs and LD moves to Merseyside.
plus + a slap in Buddles face, to sign an old past prime player who is not a penalty taker to a a multi year dp contract. and refused to pay buddle his worth .
I feel the same way. I like Angel a lot, but they would have gotten more out of keeping Buddle.
I predict Angel has one great year for LA(15-20 goals) and then one forgettable year after which he’ll retire.
its only a surprise they used a DP on him. I wonder how much hes making now….
Sad thing is that Angel would manage to miss those topokes dane gave him, so Dane became selfish and started scoring himself. Galaxy fans are in for a surprise if they think its service Angel was lacking in NY.
If that means the Galaxy keeps picking up Supporters Shields and automatic spots in the CCL, I’d take it.
You mean the second half of the season, after NYRB essentially told him to go kick rocks? Yeah, I’d be real motivated too.
Plus, I’d say that the service he’ll receive from Beckham/Donovan will be 1000x better than whatever Dane Richards manages to toe poke towards him.
Maybe should have made that 3rd DP Buddle… He’s years younger and has been scoring much more than the PKs Angel has. That being said, I do like Angel. 🙂
Speaking of the Spurs, I think you hit on the perfect analogy! The Spurs just like the Galaxy — Best record in the regular season. Come playoff time, fizzle out.
So is this the “big announcement” alluded to during the draft about the Galaxy? Because this doesn’t seem that big or much of a surprise.
Angel had good service and natural grass and couldn’t put it together in the second half of the year. He is too slow, can’t take on defenders and was only able to score one goal from the run of play from August on. Dude is just washed up. Henry should have been enough to take attention off of Angel, and he wasn’t.
Good point. I actually think the Galaxy have a good mix of old & young.
Go ask the San Antonio Spurs about having a team that’s “too old.”
The only problem with this deal for LA is that it is multi-year. Hopefully for them after the first year it is their option whether to continue. To me JPA is the best striker in the league the past 4 years but at 35 you never know how long it will last. I will miss watching him in a RBNY uniform. Hopefully Henry lives up to the hype this year.
Except that the core of our backline is made up of guys under 25. Heck, Beckham and Angel are the only starting XI players over 32.
From a RBNY fan, good luck JPA. It’s good to have someone with his class still in the MLS.
Angel is a good player, but not having Buddle hurts. Then giving away Bowen was stupid.
What trade? NY did not get anything out of this. Red Bulls let him go on free after his contract expired.
Good luck JPA, and There IS only Juan Pablo Angel! (We will cheer you at RBA until the whistle blows for kickoff)
The Galaxy are by far the oldest team in the league. If they don’t win the Cup this year then it’s going to be a long time until they have another shot.
Personally, I had hoped to see JPA and GBS on the same team.
I also came away with the same impression. That 2009 MLS Cup game was forever ago!
Old team with a ton of skill, but boy do I wish they still had Buddle, they would be even more fun to watch.
I feel that they struggled against faster teams last year, and haven’t really addressed that this year, other than Landon pretty much all their good players are quality but on the slow side.
I think Angel is going to benefit from Donovan taking a lot of attention away from him on the field, not to mention the natural grass surface. If Angel can contribute 10-15 goals, it’ll be a success.
Win/lose.
We still don’t have the depth nor the striking support for JPA. We’ll do well, but gas out towards the playoffs and sputter off without the cup.
Funny…”first time since 2009.” Ah, those poor long-suffering Galaxy fans.
we are screwed galaxy just made the worst trades ever