By RYAN TOLMICH
Four days into the post-Landon Donovan, the Los Angeles Galaxy are on the hunt for their next superstar.
Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena revealed as much shortly after the team’s rally celebrating their championship victory, a record fifth. With Donovan having officially embarked on his journey into the sunset, Arena wants to ensure that Sunday’s championship isn’t the club’s last by making the correct winter addition.
“We won’t replace Landon,” Arena said, while also stating that the potential signings each brought “different qualities.” “But we’re going to get another good player, no question about that. We’re far enough to have some options. We’ll see what happens in the next month or so.”
Defender Omar Gonzalez echoed Arena’s point that Donovan will prove irreplaceable in the coming months and years. With six MLS Cup trophies to his nam, there are few players available that can match the winning caliber of the American great, but Gonzalez is confident in his side’s ability to find a piece to better the team going forward.
“We’re going to have to figure it out. Obviously losing Landon is a big loss for us. He has giant shoes to fill,” Gonzalez said. “It’s up for Bruce to get the team together and make us focused off the bat in 2015 and go from there.”
—-
What do you expect from the Galaxy in 2015? Which players would you expect the team to target?
Share your thoughts below.
Man I am so happy that Donovan saga crap is over. Wow! 6 MLS titles and a 3 weeks European experiences at Everton. Wow big fricken deal!! Did you guys see Donovan taking a shot in the box in the final game vs Revolution? even my little girl can hit the ball harder than Donovan..
You would think LA would like to be sure about Keane’s intentions before replacing Donovan.
I’m surprised that ‘Cubo’ Torres wasn’t handpicked by Mr. Garber for the Galaxy already.
have been wondering about that as well.
I’m not so sure that Cubo is even what LA is looking for, unless Keane leaves. Donovan played more of a midfield/setup role, while Cubo is a pure striker. If he came, where would Zardes play?
in some other club
The Galaxy would have to switch to a 4-3-3 if they brought in Cubo.
The Galaxy are also sitting in the #2 Allocation Ranking currently for the next few weeks. Which means if they can work a deal with, out of contract midfielder, Mix Diskerud the Galaxy would have to personal to make Keane, Zardes, and Cubo work in a 4-3-3 formation.
Given what I heard when Mixx’s dad (his agent) nixed the deal, I think he has his heart set on an eventual move to a big 5/6 league. He would only come here if it facilitates that. That being said, I think MLS might be a good destination for younger EU player (under 24) who are looking for consistent playing time. Coming to MLS at that stage won’t hinder a move back at say 23/24/25 (depending on the position – I still don’t think EU values attacking MLS players well).
This might sound odd but if you throw enough money at him I think Keisuke Honda would be possible in the next year.
He is 28 and while Milan sounds good on paper but… they are kinda terrible and there isn’t that much money floating around the Italian league anymore. He was in Russia so he doesn’t mind really being out of the big leagues. Throw enough money at him and it might be possible to get him.
Throwing darts.
Well of course, but its fun to try to guess who would even be a viable option.
Throwing darts at a board… Okay
The Los Angeles Galaxy replaces Landon Donovan with Steven Gerard since he will not sign that contract extension at Liverpool football club
The New York Redbull will replace Thiery Henry with another old man who can play as a striker and left wing in Samuel Eto’o
Now, if Seattle Sounders FC could purchase down the contract of Ozzie Alonso and pick up a play maker like Keisuke Honda that will be amazing!
That could be fun. And the Red Bulls have 2 DPs currently. Cahill & Wright-Phillips. Hope they still stay engaged in the league.
Comment does bring to mind the sad, sorry state of Serie A and how quickly a leagues fortunes can turn in either direction if they play their cards right or wrong.
Yup, that’s one reason I think its possible. Milan is going no where in the short term. It’s gunna be years before they are effective again. They don’t even own their stadium.
Jozy tweeted to the LA Galaxy a month ago and told the Galaxy “stop calling my agent, no means no!” So Jozy will not be the next DP, I heard hes going to France. Sneijder when asked about the MLS laughed and basically said never. I heard Ronaldinho could make a move to MLS but I doubt that would happen before the summer, if at all. Drogba is also an option although I dont think his legs can carry him for a full 90 anymore. Also Cubo Torres could be a huge signing, probably not DP level though.
My money is on Pirlo coming to the Galaxy, he said he wants to end his career in MLS and isnt getting a lot of playing time with Juventus. Plus. Im a huge fan of his style of play.
Theres also some guy named Xavi who’s been linked to MLS in the past.
The Jozy tweet was a joke that was blown out of proportion. link
If you believe that. I think he was serious
I don’t know his personality/tweeting style enough to speculate on whether or not he was joking (or being serious). I do know that a player in his situation should be appreciative of any and all transfer interest – regardless of source.
Speaking of Jozy’s situation, he missed a sitter in the dying minutes of the first half this morning. Embarrassed for him.
that was embarrassing for America. I mean seriously. That being said, the ball was behind him.
I’ve seen better strikers miss easier “sitters”.
But if he were not so out of sorts I’m guessing he would have figured out a way to put that in..
meh. He could just go back to AZ. I don’t think Jozy’s “situation” is a particularly bad one, he has a ton of options, he’s not Freddy Adu.
I’d like to see Sneijder’s aforementioned comments about MLS; he’s in fact mentioned it as an option in the past, not laughed it off. His wife’s an actress, and a move to LA might suit his family, especially because he has a school-aged son.
And lets be clear…he is most definitely in it for the paycheck.
I wonder if they’ll go for Altidore.
This is, of course, assuming The Don doesn’t block them ala Kljestan or force them to give up half their roster to trade up for the position in whatever convoluted draft set-up they have. Re-entry is it?
He doesn’t want to come to MLS at this point in his career.
Speculation or confirmation via link/interview?
Well, there was the (now deleted) “no means no” tweet telling LA to stop calling his agent…
wasn’t that tweet a response to a LA tweet saying “who?” when a fan asked them to sign Jozy?
http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/transfers/sunderlands-jozy-altidore-slams-the-la-galaxy-on-twitter-for-chasing-him-deletes-tweet/
This pretty much sums up his feelings IMO
That’s surprising. However there’s no date on this tweet. Was it recent? Or 2013 when he was still in form after his stint in Holland? Because May 2013 Jozy had some bargaining power. December 2104 Jozy has, well, more or less none other than “I’m still only 23 and I scored a bunch of goals a few years ago in Holland, but who doesn’t score a lot of goals in Holland?”
Franky I don’t see Altidore as a good fit with the Galaxy. They’ve got Keane and then most of their top academy products are strikers (Villareal, McBean, and of course Zardes). More likely Galaxy will try to find a number 10, to replace the playmaker/creativity that donovan gave them. Schnejder, for example.
It was a couple weeks ago.
Cubo Torres to Galaxy is my bet.
There’s is plenty of dps for MLS, but it depends if you want a Beckham DP , Valeri DP or American DP like Dempsey.
Galaxy have the money and guts to go after Beckham players, plus their market is top notch.
But before mentioning names, does Gonzalez plan to stay and does keane have any more gas in the tank, given that in MLS cup he looked unhappy and ready to leave.
Gonzalez has nothing to loose if he leaves to Mexico or Europe and keane wouldn’t mine being trade within MLS right, like New York 🙂
As for dps galaxy can go after are, Jozy, sneijder, Giovanni do santos, chicharito, robinho or even someone from ligaMX.
Giovani would come for the right money since the world cup is years away and chicharito is delusional of playing time in Madrid and a lot of money would be needed to bring him to MLS.
But like I said before, do you want a Beckham signing or a Veleri DP.
With all respect, Valeri is not a DP, the money and rules make him one and that’s not good for MLS.
Keane looked unhappy? Alert the media
Giovani said no to MLS several times and has stated that money isn’t his motivation (he practically has a secured place in Club America once he decides to retire from Europe anyway), Robinho and Jozy would be more reallistic but you would need to offer them enough to convince them, Sneijder could probably attract some decent offers from Europe so I don’t see him coming to MLS for at least a couple of years.
Bahaha! Don’t be daft. MLS may be growing steadily, but it is still an amateur league in the eyes of the rest of the world, especially Mexicans. Dos Santos has already said no and plays in a much better league.
And Chicharito? The guy plays for one of the biggest clubs in the WORLD. MLS could offer him gobs of money, supermodels to lick his feet every night and a beachfront mansion and he would STILL (rightfully, I might add) turn it down.
Marquez and Blanco…
both over 30yo when they moved to MLS, Marquez was injury prone and believed he couldn’t play at the highest level anymore so he decided to grab the cash, his own words.
Vic you are dreaming tho I wish you were correct. Indications from Austria are RB will do nothing but tread water and look for a new buyer no doubt? What a shame, what a shambles NYFC must be licking their chops hoping to pik up thousands of disheartened RB fans?
No one knows for sure, however that report about them selling was about a story from a few years ago. Since then, they built a 6 million dollar training facility that they’re currently expanding further to make room for academy and USL teams. From all indications Red Bulls are in the process of having a USL team in the near future. I heard about 8 months ago that Red Bulls wanted to sign younger DPs in the 800k-2 million dollar range (for various reasons which I can expand upon if you’re interested). I haven’t seen any indications that they’re changing their mind. We will have to wait and see.
I think there is some confusion here. Don’t forget Red Bull owns two teams – New York Red Bulls and Red Bull Salzburg, which obviously is in Austria.
Who’s confused? Also Red Bull owns 3 teams, Red Bull Lepzig in Germany as well.
LA Galaxy close to inking a deal with Julian Green. Source: http://img.topyaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Punk%E2%80%99d.jpg
I was hoping for a funny picture… I guess it kinda was… Ashton Kutcher’s face was there.
=/
Oh fine! Something like this then? http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/13300000/Landon-Donovan-Crying-fifa-world-cup-south-africa-2010-13355943-320-180.gif
Hurray!
You put a spring in my step and a song in my heart!
Let the record show that Increase0 is made happy when Donovan cries.
You are probably the reason he had to take that sabbatical.
Paging Mr. Petke. Paging Mr. Petke. Please call RBNY fans and tell them something — anything — about how you are going to replace your best attacker and your best defender.
Was thinking the same thing except Mike isn’t the one making decisions on player acquisitions. But I’d love to hear from someone, anyone, at RBNY about how the club plans to replace Henry and Olave. All indications are it isn’t by signing players of similar quality (and before anyone says Henry is irreplaceable – there are plenty of players in Europe right now at 2014 Henry level).
The difference is striking though – Mike has to ask for patience and understanding from the fans and media while Arena just says they’ll go get another good player. Gee I wonder why one club has 5 MLS Cups and the other has zero.
Yes, that is the one remark that gave me pause. There is no way that fans will accept beginning the 2015 season with Cahill as the only DP. I appreciate and recognize the benefits of a new stress on younger, “mid-level” players, but I am worried that we’re going to get a year of “we’re waiting for the right kind of player to become available.” Let’s hope that by “patience,” Petke meant a month or two, not a year or two.
Well, the fans won’t have to deal with that scenario unless they get rid of BWP between now and then (though I know what you mean)
Yep. Thanks for not pounding me for that error. Do you think that making BWP a DP at a (presumably) six-figure salary is sign of things to come re: additional DPs? That is, a reluctance to spend Henry/Cahill money on other DPs?
There are also plenty of players in Europe right now at 2014 Donovan level. “Irreplaceable” must have more to do with their intangibles, like Donovan’s knack for winning and Henry’s overall soccer intelligence.
Red Bulls won’t be signing players with the same salaries as Galaxy but I’m sure the signings will be significant. They have alot of cap space right now, there is going to be even more space most likely with the new CBA and possibly another DP. If Red Bulls sign four DPs at 1 million each that will still be better than most other MLS teams.
i will say one thing Mike Petke is a fantastic coach. if no moves are made it is not his fault
Agreed not signing a DP wouldn’t be Petke’s fault, but Petke is on OK coach at best. His cluelessness in Leg 1 of the Revs series (subbing Cahill in for Alexander) lead directly to the second NE away goal that cost us the series.