This is not the LA Galaxy that you are used to seeing.
The Galaxy have taken a surprisingly different approach to fine-tuning their roster this offseason, electing to acquire and sign several proven veterans as opposed to building through younger players capable of contributing right away. The club not only landed MLS staples like Mike Magee, Dan Kennedy and Jeff Larentowicz this winter, but also brought over seasoned European-based players like Ashley Cole, Jelle Van Damme and, most recently, Nigel de Jong.
Galaxy head coach and general manager Bruce Arena made other interesting moves as well. He sold long-time servants Omar Gonzalez and Juninho to Liga MX teams in order to free up cap space and make changes to a star-studded squad that suffered an early exit in the 2015 playoffs.
Since beginning to make the string of eyebrow-raising moves, Arena and the rest of the Galaxy brass have stated and maintained that the club is going to be better this year than it was last season. That bringing in proven players like Kennedy and Cole will help to improve a roster that has championship aspirations and still includes the talented Robbie Keane, Giovani dos Santos, Steven Gerrard and Gyasi Zardes.
Whether that holds true remains to be seen. Nonetheless, there are plenty of observers who have already grown skeptical of the Galaxy’s chances to win a sixth MLS Cup this year. Some believe the squad is too old and reliant on players who might struggle to make it through the arduous MLS campaign, whether that be because they are new to the league or injury prone.
Others, however, have only seen a very talented squad get better. Sure, the Galaxy may have lost key pieces in Gonzalez and Juninho, but they have also gained quite a bit of experience while also bringing on board MLS mainstays that can help carry the load during the dog days of the season.
Where do you stand on how the Galaxy will do this season? Will their talent lead to another MLS crown and plenty of success, or do you see the wheels falling off of this older squad and there being plenty of regret?
Have your say in the latest SBI Reader Poll by casting your vote below, and let us know which way you picked and why.
[polldaddy poll=9297381]
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What did you vote for? How do you think the Galaxy will do this season?
Share your thoughts below.
Too bad “who cares” wasn’t an option. Like LA doesn’t get enough media over-coverage already.
Dos Santos, Cole, Van Damme, now DeJong…as if I didn’t already have enough reasons to hate this bunch of f*cknuts.
They look a little ponderous on both sides of the ball. If Gerrard, Dos, and Zardes don’t rebound from poor years, they could be mid-table.
Mid-table if MLS had a table! “Mid-table” in MLS parlance means a team that either just makes or misses the play-offs.
Western Conference mid table to top was like a 2 point difference last year, like its a bounce of the ball in one game that can change it
The Galaxy will do fine, make it to the MLS cup and probably win it again. I’m optimistic as I think Bruce pretty much isolated the fault of the Galaxy collapse at the end of the season. By the way, winning just one of the last six games would have put the Galaxy in second, a first round bye, and an easier opponent in the Western semi’s.
The reasons for the collapse were 1. Awful goalkeeping; the Galaxy lost a chance of a win in the last 6 games from a Rickett’s howler. Ricketts was woefully lacking in mobility, but he just muffed one too many. He was not a good replacement for Penedo, as much as Cudicini was for Saunder (or Ricketts, the first time around) The addition of Kennedy, the vet and Diop, the new youngster who wowed everybody in the USL last year, seemed to relieve that problem. 2. Gonzales loss of form; While still one of the best centerbacks in the league, he was reduced to a mere mortal in many games this year. The pairing with AJ de La Garza was interupted as AJ suffered from several injuries during the year and could not adjust really well with Leonardo. The addition of Romney, a highly rated rookie from Los Dos, the Addition of Van Damme, and the improving Leonardo, as well as DLG return to health make that position even stronger and deeper than when Gonzales ruled with impunity at the back.3; Where were the fullbacks? With the Galaxy mainstay Todd Dunivant at leftback was plagued with injuries that eventually ended his career, Arena turned to Robbie Rogers with his laterality to fill in and did very , very well, but he was often exposed often against better midfielders with counters when he pushed forward. It is mainly experience, but Arena wanted a stable, experience fullback. Ashley Cole (whom Landon Donovan often got the better of when Chelsea and Everton met) was acquired at a very good price, Some may feel it was a gamble at 35 and few games in the last year, but he is healthy and motivated, So robbie has moved to right Giving a better backline than before.
And finally, we have the departure of Juninho whom many were surprised to see let go. Juninho’s agent had warned the Galaxy that Juninho would be looking at other options in his last contract year. With lots of offer from MLS and outside clubs, Juninho’s drop in his passing rate (due to more defensive duties) and his pay, the Galaxy did the prudent thing and sold him for a good penny and also sold him to a Mexican team but closest to his home in LA to TJ, a 4 hour drive down the coast. The Galaxy lost a mainstay of several championship seasons but his replacement was ever better. Dejong is more experienced, bigger and although some has speculated he may have lost some mobility due to some injuries, I am sure that the Galaxy did their due diligence.
The Galaxy did well to improve a team that fell short of expectation, to. on paper, a better team and one of the most fearsome in the MLS.
It’s up to Arena to “gel” this team in 2-3 weeks time, to get the all important CCL win against a formidable Mexican foe in seasonal form. Do that, and the season will be off to a formidable start. But even falling short there, the “new” Galaxy will probably double their resolve to seek a 6th MS as a compensation for missing a CCL opportunity.
On pitch, they will be a boring team. But they will make the playoffs. That’s about it.
So…. I’m assuming that we’re going to have a daily poll on each of the teams?
I’d consider them favorites if MLS was an Over-30 league!
I voted that they make the playoffs, but honestly I would love to see them swim to the “Quadruple” or sink to the number one pick in the draft. I really just hope and predict they’ll be far from dull whatever happens.
I want drama and comedy, ups and downs, moments of sheer brilliance. . .it’s HollyWeird, as us insiders call it, and gosh darn it I want to be entertained.
Make playoffs. That’s it. Aging roster and with all the travel these Euros are really going to feel it late in the season. I think initially the Galaxy will fly out of the gates and set the pace for the rest of the league but then taper off, due to age and travel, late in the season and be eliminated before the Final.
I choose Option Z – The Quadruple: Supporter’s Shield, MLS Cup, Champions League, US Open Cup.
i think the Galaxy are going to have themselves another solid season. i also think Villarreal will make his way into this team…somehow. looking forward to seeing this play out.
Well I didn’t vote because I’m tired of giving out my name, creating another password, etc. all for a poll that is meaningless. Why not just sign up with Facebook like so many other sites? While this one claims that won’t send you spam, etc., well, maybe not now, but in the future, who knows. Anyway, to the issue at hand, I would vote make the playoffs, not not the MLS Cup. Their most important addition is Kennedy. Ricketts basically gave away a couple of games at the end of the season and in the playoffs, so I’m not sure they needed to completely redo their defense. Also, it will take several months to get all the new players integrated and playing like a real team so they will probably struggle in the early part of the season. And who knows if Magee will come close to regaining his prior form. You wonder how long Keane can keep up the production and dos Santos was, in my mind, a disappointment. He wasn’t bad, but he had little impact. Lletget was far more important than either dos Santos or Gerrard. If those two don’t pick it up and if there are still problems in the D, they will be no better than above average. Maybe by the end of the season they will be in the good to very good range, but I doubt they will be good enough to win the championship.
Well I didn’t vote because I’m tired of giving out my name, creating another password, etc. all for a poll that is meaningless.
I didn’t have to sign in to any third party website to vote. Not sure why it would have made you.
I said playoffs, but I think marginal making the playoffs
Personally, I wish one of the options were “CONCACAF Champions”. I’m not a fan of their approach this offseason, but they still represent MLS and I’d hope they can finally bring that trophy to the States.
Also this poll highlights how irrelevant the regular season is with no “Supporter Shield” trophy option. As a fan of the league, there’s very little incentive to pay close attention to the league matches until the end of the year.
The fact this was left off this poll doesn’t indicate anything. To me the SS, while imperfect due to the imbalanced schedule, is still a far better indicator than MLS Cup of which team is the best in a given year.
To me the SS is still a far better indicator than MLS Cup of which team is the best in a given year.
…and was left off the voting entirely. If you think this is an isolated viewpoint highlighting the irrelevance of the SS to writers, some managers/clubs and the MLS League Office you’re not paying attention.
Furthermore, if you asked 10 people who actively follow MLS I believe you’d be hard pressed to get 50% of those 10 people to answer correctly on who won the SS in 2015. That percentage would significantly decrease for 2014 and I imagine nearly no one would remember 2013. That’s the fault of the league, not the fans.
Maybe I’m in the minority in actually placing value on it, although I don’t believe I am, but there’s so little emphasis on the value of the SS across the board that is absolutely indicates everything of my original point: The regular season is irrelevant.
An old discussion. In principle, I agree about the season long record…. However………. when a leagues stated format emphasizes a playoff to declare t’s championship- team’s strategy, roster decisions and priorities change along with it. Throw in the significant factor of an unbalanced schedule and it’s all but a moot point- the integrity of the shield as a measure is tarnished quite a bit. I say this as Galaxy supporter who was and is proud of the SS they’ve collected. But… I’ve also watched and although frustrated- understood while Arena sacrificed a few SSs that were well within reach to meet higher priority goals/League Championships.
of note: winners of the supporters shield were given a hefty increase in the the recent CBA, and winning it also give you the CL birth which is 200k allocation/cap relief.
The league also doesnt own the actual shield or its rights, so promotion of it does not benefit them to the extent it might if this was not the case.
Interesting, Mouf. Thanks for the information – I’ll look more into that.