Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By ADAM SERRANO
CARSON, Calif. — The rich got even richer on Tuesday as the Los Angeles Galaxy solidified their role as odds-on MLS Cup favorites by re-securing Brazilian midfielder Juninho on a year-long loan.
Juninho, who served as the Galaxy's midfield engine during the past two seasons, returns to Los Angeles after departing in December to return to Brazilian parent club Sao Paulo. His return adds to a wealth of options in the midfield for the Galaxy, who already boasted Landon Donovan, David Beckham and new signing Marcelo Sarvas, among others.
While the transaction came as a surprise to many after Juninho returned to Sao Paulo on a new three-year deal after the 2011 season, Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena admitted that discussions were always on going to facilitate his return to Los Angeles.
"We've obviously been in discussions to try to bring him back," Arena said after the Galaxy's preseason scrimmage against the Portland Timbers on Tuesday. "And we've been successful in doing that. … If we thought [back in December] it was going to successful, I don't think we would have lost him going back there initially. It's a series of things that impacted our ability to bring him back."
Central to Juninho's return to MLS was his inability to make Sao Paulo's first team despite reported assurances that he'd play a major role for the Brazilian club this season. These promises never came to fruition as he failed to make the club's game-day roster in its first five games, paving the way for his return to the Galaxy.
"I think (Sao Paulo has) a very deep team and a very good team, probably the best team in Brazil right now," Arena said. "It wasn't likely he was going to see a whole lot of time."
Not to be out done by the Brazilian giants, the Galaxy's midfield has plenty of depth as well, though Juninho's place in it is secure. In addition to Donovan, Beckham and Sarvas, the Galaxy midfield also includes U.S. Under-23 midfielder Mike Stephens, 2011 playoff hero Mike Magee, and recently acquired Kyle Nakazawa as well as 2011 draft choices Paolo Cardozo, Hector Jimenez and Dan Keat.
With at least 41 games — and potentially as many as 56 — competitive matches on the docket this season and international competitions making things more complicated this summer, Arena assures that there will be plenty of opportunities for playing time for his assortment of midfielders.
"With the CONCACAF Champions League and Sarvas cup-tied (to Alajuelense), it’s important to have Juninho here," Arena said. "Beckham and possibly Stephens could be gone to the Olympics. We need that position to be a position with depth and quality, and I think we have that now."
In addition to playing a vital role on the field, Juninho's impact can be measured in the Galaxy locker room, where his upbeat personality has made him a favorite among his teammates. Following the Galaxy's scrimmage with the Portland Timbers, members of the Galaxy were in high spirits upon learning of Juninho.
None was more pleased than Beckham, who served as the Brazilian's midfield partner last season. Alongside Beckham, Juninho emerged as one of the league's top two-way midfielders, providing a true counterweight to the Englishman. With Juninho providing defensive cover and linking into the attack, Beckham was provided the space to assert himself going forward, ultimately leading to his most successful year in MLS.
"Getting Juni back is a big thing for us," Beckham said. "I said it at the end of last season: He's grown into a mature player over the last couple of years. It was disappointing, obviously, when I arrived back that he wasn't here, but we're all happy to know he's coming back."
Juninho is expected to re-join the club next week, less than a month ahead of the Galaxy's Champions League quarterfinal against Toronto FC. With his midfield partner back in tow, Beckham is eager for the challenge ahead.
"We've got a lot of good players in our team, and it's about getting a good squad, because last year it was that kind of thing that helped us go all the way and win a championship," said Beckham. "We need that again this year."
please drop Barrett and get another $250k! use it on a Omar replacement.
I missed that one. Thanks for the info. The numbers probably will make sense when the list comes out, maybe it’s just that the Galaxy build the team so well compared to the rest of the league that it seems off.
AND I WILL BE T U N E D In!
Bring on the LA hate. We love it. If u idiots ignored that dirty rasta wannabe Beckermann you would realize how many old overpaid players Bruce shed this year, just need to lose Barett now and that frees 250k
As for Beckermann, haters gonna hate
DC will score some goals also
Wow!!!!!!!
Basically, LA has added Sarvas, Buddle, and depth from the draft.
They could have done the past few seasons instead on signing old, overpaid scrubs like Eddie Lewis, Greg Vanney, Tony Sanneh, Clint Mathis, Gordon, Kovalenko, Berhalter, Birchall, Kirovski etc.
Arena has finally caught up with the times. The team has an eye for good young American talent and they have brought in quality foreigners.
Galaxy will be the new Cosmos….only bigger
It’s about time MLS wised up.
1-0 championship games was not going to bring in the fans like this type of football.
Teams like Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, New York, Chicago, Portland will be bringing the offensive heat this year.
Hard to believe considering the glut of mediocre players there.
At 23, Juninho has more upside than any of them…
Agree, he’d be 8th or lower.
If Keane and Donovan return, MLS sides will need to outscore the Galaxy, with all their firepower. Teams that play for 0-0 or 1-0 are going to be easy losers.
Now I’ve heard it all. Are you on crack? The LA Galaxy, who have yet to even start their season, besides the 4-1 LOSS to Portland, are now being compared to the Cosmos!!??
You people just need to stop with this. Come back to Earth.
The Galaxy……please….
Huh? How is a naturalized citizen different from one that was born here? This is America, dude. Americans are Americans.
I’d tweet that shiz to Beckerman, but it’s a little over 140 characters.
All it takes is some simple math to see why your concerns are unfounded. Take the 2011 player salaries for six departed players (Berhalter, Birchall, Hejduk, Kirovski, Lopez & Ricketts), which totals $675,125 in guaranteed compensation.
Now take what Juninho made last year ($100,000) and Buddle made in 2010 ($188,448), add an arbitrarily large percentage increase of 50% to further make my point, and you’re looking at $150,000 for Juni and $282,672 for Buddle; $432,672 total.
Ignoring the mysterious allocation money LA received for the MLS Cup and Supporters Shield wins, that still leaves $242,453 for Sarvas and others.
I can just see juninho driving a uhaul to the herbalife depot every two weeks to pick up his paycheck
Why Portugal uses naturalized brazilians on their national team, plus its pretty clear that he only came into his own once he joined the galaxy. His ball distribution skills would be valuable on the usmnt.
at the point where even kyle beckerman is tweeting wondering about how LA fits under the salary cup, it’s at least a legitimate question that deserves some thorough analysis. LA certainly did shed some salaries this off-season. unfortunately we probably won’t have a good answer until the 2012 salaries are released by the union, and even then we won’t know LA’s exact allocation figures.
Dude, this was explained in the last SBI article. They shed a lot of payroll with the Vets from last year; Berhalter, Kirovski, Hejduk, Rickets, etc. They also have allocation money.
When the list of salaries comes out, you’ll be able to satisfy how the math works, but in big round numbers it’s not that hard to envision.
But it’s so much easier for the haters to believe there’s a pro-LA conspiracy.
9/11 was an inside job, JFK was assassinated by Castro, there are alien spacecraft in Area 51, and MLS & LA are BFFs 4ever.
The Galaxy are now maxed out with 30 players on the roster and this does not include the 10 or so unsigned draft choices The roster deadline is march 1st so expect to see a lot of the marginal players or those “on the bubble” to try and make their case for a roster spot this month with the pre-season friendlies and the Tucson Cactus Cup!
Also remember players like Birchall and a few others from last season did not sign new contracts and are pretty much out of the picture.
There are a few players like Leonardo, the Brazilian Centerback who tore up his knee last season and was purchased outright from Sao Paolo this season, and is expected to return in April. ore cuts will be made when he returns.
Bruce Arena had always maintained you need a BIG roster to play well in all the competitions the team has, and it seems tha Galaxy have a lot of depth.
Also remember that a lot of “role” players, will play for less money on a team like the Galaxy with their facilities, big-name players, the weather and the ambiance of LA.
Look at the current roster. They shed quite a few old/overpaid guys from last year.
Who cares? There is no way Juninho is good enough to get any burn with the Nats, especially at his position.
Has nobody been paying attention? Ricketts, Hejduk, Berhalter, Angel, Lopez, etc. are now all OFF the Galaxy payroll. That, and we do have boatloads of allocation money. And it sounds like the team still has room to bring in one more player to replace Omar.
Just because you as a fan don’t get to see the exact figures doesn’t mean that the other GMs in the league don’t.
Could this team be better than the 1977 NY Cosmos? It’s about damn time MLS. Now it would be great if other teams would give their fans a reason to quit complaining and sign similarly talented rosters. It looks like this league is really ready to break though finally.
that’s funny
Juninho will be paid in Herbalife supplements.
Can anyone explain how the Galaxy are paying for all of this… under the MLS salary cap? I understand that 3 of the players (landon, beckham, keane) do not count, but still. I wonder if outside sponsorship money is guaranteed in leu of MLS salaries.
LA has midfielders and forwards out the yin-yang, but I’d trade a couple mids for a shiny, new Omar Gonzales.
Possibly but that’s far too off in the future to even consider right now. Besides, I would hope by that point we won’t have to rely on naturalized citizens to fill out our national team.
The Galaxy must have boatloads of allocation money to pull all of this off.
I’d like to see some analysis of LA’s cap management in light of this move.
Is it possible given the length of time juninho has spent in this country already that if he stays here juninho could get citizenship by the time he is 27-30 years old and play for usmnt?