Why this baseball map, showing the claimed territories of the various MLB teams on this futbol blog? Glad you asked. Jen and I got this intriguing email from a Portland Timbers fan, Rich – who is known to Portland Timbers fan message boards as MannyJello, about the team’s pending entry into MLS with the start of the 2011 season. He’s interested in replicating this in a mural on his wall, except with the MLS teams and their fan base territories.

This is great.

But. He’s new to MLS and he’s got some questions about where one might actually put the territories for the various teams in the league.

Specifically he asks the following:

If you had to take a stab at creating a map separating Galaxy support from Chivas support, how would you separate them? Do either team’s fan base spread far into Mexico, if at all? Also, how far into California and the surrounding states would you say the Galaxy support is spread?

Being a complete newbie to the MLS, if you have any other advice regarding the geographic boundary lines for supporters throughout the MLS, I’m all ears. A few questions I have are:

· Where does San Jose support start/stop in No Cal?

· Any idea how Real Salt Lake and Colorado support is demarcated?

· Dallas/Houston as well?

· Kansas City/Chicago/Columbus supporters?

· How far east does Columbus support exist, especially now that Philadelphia has a team?

· How far south does DC United fan support spread?

- How far east does Vancouver love spread?

- How far west does Toronto love spread, and does any of it leak into the US (Detroit or Buffalo areas)?

- With Montreal about to join the league, where does the Toronto/Montreal divide exist? Where does Ottawa stand?

So I thought we should crowdsource the answers to these questions, especially since I think a lot of this is up for debate. So let’s get debating. I’ll start.

*Galaxy vs Chivas USA – I’m pretty sure that there is no CUSA fan base in the United States, at least not judging by their attendance or the fact that not so long ago one of their bigger supporters clubs ditched a CUSA home game to catch grown-up Chivas in an international friendly. In Oakland.

But to take the question on face value I’d say most of CUSA’s fan base is concentrated in southern LA county and northern OC County with some intrigued fans as far south as San Diego looking at CUSA because they have the name “Chivas” attached.

The Galaxy, being an MLS original, have a fan base the stretches across SoCal and reaches as far west as Las Vegas, though I bet those folks are now splitting loyalty with Real Salt Lake.

*San Jose can claim the entire Bay Area and probably gets folks from as far south as Monterey and as far north as Sacramento.

*RSL gets all of Utah and probably up to Boise and is probably claiming parts of Nevada just for kicks.

*Colorado’s fan base is so paltry it doesn’t even reach from Denver to its actual stadium in Commerce City. Except on July 4th.

*Dallas gets about 15 miles north from downtown to North Dallas. Too bad their home pitch is 40 miles north.

*Houston gets the rest of the state and probably parts of Arkansas and Louisiana just for good measure.

*KC still gets all of MO plus the half of Kansas with people in it, despite what AC St. Louis says.

*Chicago gets everything from the Wisconsin border with Minnesota to Indianapolis.

*Columbus gets Ohio. Maybe some of Michigan. Maybe. No one in Western PA could with any self-respect root for a team from Ohio or from Eastern PA.

*DC gets from Baltimore to Atlanta.

*I’ve got nothing to say about Canadian teams because of Canadian treachery during the War of 1812. That and they are undercutting our glorious pharmaceutical industry with their reasonable drug prices and socialized medicine. They are dead to me.

Even though I’m sure that everything I said is the gospel truth, I’m opening up the floor to everyone else. In the comments, tell us where you think the territories are for the various teams MannyJello is asking about.

Eskandarian has been hobbled by injury for the past few years, and has yet to match the tantalizing promise of his 2004 season when he scored 10 goals for DC United and was the MLS Cup MVP. He was slowed by injury again this season with Chivas USA. He joined Chivas in January 2008 and has only appeared in 18 games, scoring six times in the process. This year he’s only started twice and seen the field in seven games.

Josh Tudela has been with the Galaxy since 2007 when he was drafted out of Indiana (Dema Kovalenko’s alma mater) and only recently moved off of the developmental roster. He was one of the survivors of the horrific 2007 campaign that saw a few games late in the season when only 14 players could dress because of numerous injuries. He held steady in the middle during the team’s improbable late season winning streak that almost saw them sneak into the playoffs. I thought he was improving this season, though I was never ready to label him ready to start regularly. I hope that some team picks him off the waiver wire – some place that needs a developing holding midfielder. The kid has heart, that’s for sure.

As for Eskandarian, I’ll take him over Jovan Kirovski in a minute, even if he can’t stay healthy, even if he’s been having trouble being dangerous since he was shipped out of DC. If nothing else he’ll bring personality. I will forever remember him scoring against New York after the rebranding as Red Bull, grabbing a can of the stuff from the sideline, swigging it, and spitting it back on the field. More of that please.

But this isn’t the last roster change in the offing. With David Beckham (and you saw this note about our sneak peek at the new book about the Beckham Experiment, right?) the current roster lists 25 players. The roster limit is 24 and it still seems like Chris Birchall is coming on July 15th. That leaves two more players to get the ax. I’ve been chatting with some folks over email about possibles. Names mentioned include: Yohance Marshall, Tristan Bowen, Julian Valentin, Leonard Griffin, and Kyle Patterson. I think that the rules say you can’t cut someone who is on the Disabled List, so Marshall is safe until he comes off. Valentin is recovering from a broken foot, so he’s on the DL. Tristan Bowen is Generation Addidas and thus doesn’t count against the salary cap, so there’s value in keeping him.

So, what do you guys think? Was getting Eskandarian the right move? What about Tudela? Will you miss him? And, finally, who are your candidates for the cuts needed for Becks and Birchall to be on the roster? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

And those words are: Edson Buddle.

Two appearances in the last two games, both with less than 30 minutes to go in the match and two goals displaying heads-up play and clinical finishing. In the words of 100 Percent Soccer’s Nick Green,

“The reporter in me wonders how many more games the now 2-1-9 Galaxy would have won if Edson Buddle, who has now scored his only two goals this season in the last two games, had managed to stay fit.”

Yes, exactly.

Buddle can’t get game fit fast enough, especially now that Landon Donovan is going to be out with the Men’s National Team in the Confederations Cup, which starts a week from Monday. Through 12 matches the Galaxy have managed to put their defense into a tie for 4th best in the league, allowing only 14 goals, but their offense is tied for fifth worst (granted the G’s are in a 3-way tie and there’s a tie for 4th as well), scoring only 15. The fact that these stats are part of a 10-game unbeaten streak puts Coach Bruce Arena’s statement last night, “I think our team refuses to lose, and that’s a positive sign” in its proper context.

Two weeks ago I talked about the frustration of going to Frisco, playing a man up for the bulk of the game and still only tying – in fact, giving up the equalizer while up a man. Last week, I …, well, I didn’t write anything because I was on the road for work for 8 days, but I was both frustrated and happy with the Kansas City result. I mean, you have to win at home, right? But at the same time, Edson Buddle made sure that the team didn’t lose.

This week, after the Dichio rebound I was plunged into despair at the prospect of another tie. Actually, that’s not true. I felt resigned. The team was on the road, in one of the toughest venues in the league without Donovan, starting Alan Gordon and Mike Magee.

But then Edson Buddle happened. This game almost makes up for giving away the last vestiges of the Galaxy defense to TFC when we acquired Buddle back in 2007. Turns out that wasn’t that horrible a trade. Buddle’s having productive seasons and Lord knows that TFC isn’t using the defense we gave them (Kevin Harmse is mostly ineffective and Tyrone Marshall is playing for Seattle). I mean, as Nick Green said yesterday,

“The cynic in me now knows how bad a defense needs to be to make Alan Gordon (who had the opening goal and an assist today) look good.”

Ah, Alan Gordon. He’s like a big ungainly Labrador Retriever. He’s clumsy, he sometimes gets distracted, he often makes poor decisions with the ball at his feat, but he’s got a fantastic workrate and he’s, umm, dogged in his commitment to the team. Every time you get exasperated with him, he goes and does something endearing, like getting a goal and an assist to help the team to a road win. You have to wonder that, given Mike Magee’s inconsistency, if the starting forwards for the next month won’t be Gordon and Buddle.

Okay, so the attack, once Buddle was on the field, stayed dangerous. Let’s look at the midfield. Dema Kovalenko had a solid day. For all his being a card magnet, he’s brought the midfield a level of toughness and bite that we’ve lacked for quite a bit. When he has a quietly good game, the team functions at a higher level, winning more 50-50 balls and controlling possession.

The return of Chris Klein to the midfield was also a boon. I don’t know what The Bruce has been trying to figure out, having him come on as a substitute, but the midfield is just steadier when he’s there and the offense gets a boost as well. Lewis out on the left finally had the kind of game I’ve been waiting for since he signed with us last year. He was a real force, combining well with Todd Dunivant and sending in several decent crosses, while shutting down the right side of the TFC attack. If he and Duni can do that against better midfields, then maybe, just maybe, the Galaxy can make a real season of it.

The defense did just enough to keep the game from getting out of hand. This was not a good game for the unit as a whole. Tony Sanneh, before getting injured, was routinely getting burned and his communication with the rest of the unit is still lacking, but he does have grit and a veteran presence. AJ Delagarza is still learning. You can see him making better decisions, but he still has a problem either just dumping the ball forward to no one, allowing the offense to reload quickly or not getting rid of the ball fast enough. On the other hand, his positioning is getting better. If he works hard, he could become the next Michael Parkhurst, a defender who shuts down plays more with positioning than brute force.

Leonard Griffin, making his first appearance of the season (really of the past 2-3 seasons), filled in adequately for Sanneh.

Which brings me to the real reason the Galaxy left with a win: Donovan Ricketts. 10 saves on the night, including stoning Dwayne De Rosario 4 times. That’s the real story of both Ricketts’ quality and the make-shift nature of yesterday’s defense. 11 shots on goal and 10 saves. Which brings me back to Nick Green’s first observation. If we’d had both Ricketts and Buddle available for the entire season, how many wins would the team really have right now?

So after 12 games the Galaxy sits firmly in 5th place in the 8 team Western Conference on 15 points, ahead of Real Salt Lake by three and behind Colorado and Seattle by two. If the season ended today, they still wouldn’t make the playoffs, but they are one or two points away from the five teams above them who would.

Which makes the impending upgrade of the midfield that will happen when David Beckham returns and Chris Birchall joins in July something that could determine whether or not the Galaxy really does make a respectable run at the playoffs this year. Next week is RSL at home, a team notoriously bad on the road. The Galaxy have mastered the “won’t lose” attitude. Now, in the words of Arena, “we need to have a habit of winning.” If they do so, the Galaxy could suddenly find themselves in the heat of the battle for third in the West, trading punches with Seattle and Colorado.

And wouldn’t that be fun to watch?

Man of the Match: Donovan Ricketts. Honorable Mention: Alan Gordon and Edson Buddle.

What others are saying:

The Official Internet Party Line
The Associate Press in The Daily Breeze
Slightly longer AP story in the LA Times
MLSNet Game Summary from Peter Mallett
MLSNet TFC Perspective from Mark Polishuk
MLSNet Galaxy Perspective from Peter Mallett
ESPN Soccernet by Ryan Johnson
The Sports Network via The Miami Herald
The Canadian Press (hosted by Google)
The Toronto Star by Daniel Girard
Goal.com by Rashed Abuodeh
The National Post by Eric Koreen
Another one from Daniel Girard in the Toronto Star

What about you guys? What did you see? Who played well? Who didn’t? What does the future of Edson Buddle but no Landon Donovan hold? What about July when Landon gets back and Birchall and Becks get added? Who was your Man of the Match? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

For a round-up of this story from the LA metroplex you can read the Grahame Jones story I linked to above, or check in with Nick Green at his 100 Percent Soccer blog (complete with snarky commentary). For some reason (sanity?) Luis Bueno is concentrating on some other team that plays futbol at the HDC. Some team named after a nationalistic herb or something – Chives USA? But I digress.

Everyone is reporting what we already knew: Becks stays with Milan until June, comes back the G’s in July, and then splits for good to the Rossoneri in November (though AEG continues to say “if” not “when” on this point). But there are two interesting pieces for the fans here.

(1) July 17th 19th friendly between the Galaxy and AC Milan at the HDC.
(2) 10% across-the-board reduction in ticket prices with refunds to be given to people who have already purchased tickets.

In this entire saga, these two things are the most fan-respectful things that the Galaxy have done. Besides canning Alexi Lalas, that is. It’s almost as if AEG is trying to get beyond the recent years of fan abuse and try to reconcile with us.

To which I say, “It’s a good start, but its just a start.” I fully expect that the AC Milan game will be a bonus game for season ticket holders. I except that the Galaxy will use the cap and roster space this deal creates to shore up the weak points in the team (take your pick here, but I’m hoping for a solid holding midfielder or a Michael Parkhurst-type centerback).

And I expect that they will stop this ridiculous “Superclub” self-promotion and remember that we play in a young league with a salary cap that is the equivalent of the minimum salary of the lowliest benchwarmer on real Superclubs. Let’s just win some games in MLS, maybe make the CCL and beat some Mexican teams, and maybe win the domestic treble before we get all knicker-twised about the possibility of playing a dinar-dripping friendly in Dubai or whereever. I’m just sayin’.

So. That’s all done. Good.

Let’s play some futbol.

After three years (including the 2009 season) David Beckham leaves the Galaxy and MLS for the greener pastures of AC Milan and Serie A. As numerous sources are reporting (but my favorite is the crusty reportage coming from LA Times futbol guru Grahame Jones – see today’s story here, which has lots of details, along with these stories from earlier in the transfer saga here and here ) Becks will complete the Serie A season with Milan on May 31, presumably get call-ups for two England internnational matches in June, return to train with the Galaxy and rejoin the club when the international transfer window opens on July 15. He will complete the MLS season, then end his contract with MLS and permanently join AC Milan.

During his loan, his salary will not count against the cap and his roster spot will be available for someone else to fill. Plus MLS and AEG get all the cash they were looking for and then some. From the perspective of the teams, the player, and the league, even the sponsors, it is win-win-win-win.

Which leaves us. The fans.

Personally, I’m just happy to get this thing over and done with. As a season ticket holder I don’t mind seeing Becks a few more times before he heads back to big-time Euro futbol. Honestly, his play wasn’t that amazing down the stretch last year, though he had little help from a mostly mediocre collection of role players. Becks shines when he is surrounded by talents players who read the game as well as he does and can handle his passes. He is not the player to carry a team on his shoulders, which is pretty much what the Galaxy needed last year. And the year before.

I’m happy, as an MLS fan, to get the cap space and roster spot for other players. I’m happy to be free of the drama. I’m happy to be free of the focal point for world media, since as an example of MLS futbol, the Galaxy was not who I would have chosen to make the poster child.

I’m less happy about how AEG used Becks to jack up ticket prices, attempt to position the Galaxy as a global brand, and blew up the team just as he was arriving on the scene. I’m less happy about the fact that he missed most of 2007, checked out about halfway through 2008 and has halved his 2009 commitment.

At this point, the issue is settled and the Galaxy have another roster spot and $400K to spend on players. I’m more interested in how we use these new resources than in anything involving Brand Beckham.

What about ya’ll? I know some of you guys are very very angry about how this played out and are not very happy about where this leaves us, the fans. So let’s hear from you in the comments.

If I were someone with the access and skill of say an Ives Galarcep or Nick Green or Luis Bueno or Andrea Canales, then I’d make a prediction of who stays and who goes based on an in-depth study of progress made during the preseason, how a player stacks up against the salary cap, and gut instinct.

But I’m not. What I’m going to do instead is list those players who I’d be happy if they found work with other clubs. Based on one Pan-Pacific Championship game. Cuz that’s how I roll.

Current Roster (not including trialists like Tony Sanneh):

GK: Donovan Ricketts, Josh Saunders, Josh Wicks

Forwards: Josh Boateng, Tristan Bowen, Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan, Alan Gordon, Bryan Jordan, Jovan Kirovski, Dema Kovalenko, Mike Magee, Israel Sesay

That’s 25. But there are at least two trialists spending extended time with the club: Sanneh and the Central American defender who’s name escapes me. I’m sure there are others (feel free to add them in the comments).

(Here’s another aside: beyond the fact that the official LA Galaxy roster still lists players who were cut last week, it has bits of lingering weirdness such as listing Dema Kovalenko as a foward, a position I’ve never seen him play in all his years in MLS.)

Okay here’s my cut list:

Keeper: Take all three. If there’s anyone position where it pays to have an excess of caution, this is it. See: USA, Chivas, 2008.

Defenders: If the Central American trialist works out, then I think you have to consider cutting Sanneh. He’s not any faster now than he was two years ago, though his veteran savvy is considerable and he is more maneuverable than Greg Vanney was. If the CA trialist doesn’t work , then you keep him. Take everyone else.

Midfielders: I think there’s a reason Leonard Griffin was out of MLS before Bruce brought him back.

Forwards: I have to say that if Bryan Jordan is progressing well from his injury, then you cut Alan Gordon. I know that Gordon does score 4-5 goals a year and he has a high workrate, but can you imagine him getting substantial playing time on any other MLS team? He’s had five years in MLS to live up to his USL scoring championship and I’m certain that day isn’t coming.

That would get me down to 24, based on the players I listed.

What about ya’ll? Who stays and who goes? Consider this the thread for roster compliance over the next few days.

UPDATE – March 2, 9:02 AM - Charlesj put a roster in the comments that included Yohance Marshall, whom I left off, and the name of the CA player: Osman Chavez.

UPDATE – March 2, 4:24 PM – Several sources, including the Galaxy’s official blog and Nick Green’s 100 Percent Soccer, are reporting that Josh Boateng has been cut. That site also says that the roster has 26 players but some are not under contract so the team is roster and cap compliant. Which I guess means that there will be a couple more cuts to come by opening day.

Also, this story by Grahame Jones in the Los Angeles Times says that David Beckham has been loaned to AC Milan for the rest of the season and will therefore miss at least the first 17 games of the MLS season (and most likely more depending on World Cup qualifying). Hat tip to George and Justin for bringing those to our attention.

Well, kids, it looks like we are going from rumor to reality in the Becks-to-AC Milan sweepstakes. David Beckham has now said publicly that he wants to stay at AC Milan and has directed his lawyers to work out a deal between MLS and Milan. The good folks at MLS Rumors have the video.

The press coverage has been building (I did my part two days ago, though I’m sure no one would mistake these modest postings for “press”) on this story for a little while now and over the last two days many of the soccer journalists in the US have weighed in.

Here at ground zero, Grahame Jones did a surprisingly snark-free piece for the Los Angeles Times and Nick Green did a straight-forward news report for The Daily News, (which I found posted at his blog 100 Percent Soccer). The real gem from Nick, though, was his next post called The Failures of David Beckham. And, sad to say, I really couldn’t find a way to disagree with his thesis.

And now Beckham has failed in MLS, playing no small role in transforming what was the league’s flagship franchise into its worst. A player who was supposed to bring star power and credibility to MLS instead merely exposed the inherent weaknesses of a league with a relatively low salary cap and small squads.

In the end, Beckham proved he’s no Pele or even a Juan Pablo Angel.

Sadly, yes.

But at least I enjoyed him when he actually played well for us. And I’m not saying that SoCal’s resident thrower of brick-bats and channeler of Groucho Marx mixed with WC Fields and Will Rogers, Galaxy season ticket holder Dan Loney, thought he couldn’t make a fine pass now and again, but he sure isn’t sucking down cans of happy juice.

David Beckham was on “Sesame Street” this morning. My daughter saw him, and started crying.

What a bright, perceptive, intelligent little girl I have. Me and Tim Leiweke should listen to her more often. Turns out Ben Olsen was right to beat the crap out of Dawson for wearing that douchebag’s jersey.

Now, let’s get one thing straight. If you think I’m just going to go off on some poisonous, semi-literate rant calling into question Beckham’s desire, class, integrity and honor – boy, have you come to the right place. My only mission right now is to make Nick Green look like Simon Fuller.

For my part, I’m kinda glad this David Beckham thing is winding down, both on the field of the Home Depot Center and in the never-ending soap opera of his next move. Just leave already, though we’d better make Milan pay a pretty penny. Sell it while it’s hot, son, to phrase some paras.

Buuuuut, that’s just some people with some media platforms talking (though, just so you know, that does, in fact, make us better people than you). What do you guys think? Are you ready for this things to just be done? I know that Charles and Diane and Justin and Trent and George and Rusty and Eugene and David and Steve were all going on about this a couple of days ago. (And all while I was at work – what is it with you people, don’t you have jobs?) Oh I kid, I kid.

Actually you all had way more insights into this than I do and you make some pretty compelling arguments as to why this was just fine. And some about why this wasn’t so fine. So now I’m confused. And since I’m confused and you know more than I do, I’m just going to turn this locomotive back over to you. Becks to Milan. Good or bad for Becks, the Galaxy, AC Milan, MLS, and Posh and the kids?

Alexi Lalas‘ firing was at least a year too late and was a laughably inept hire in the first place. Lalas was good at many things, like being a salesman extraordinaire, doing color commentary, creating funny ESPN Sportscenter promotional spots, even defending for the US MNT. But his history of running teams in MLS was about as lustrous as the attempts to market the Ford Edsel to Americans or the Chevy Nova to Mexicans (Nova = no va = it doesn’t go).

Perhaps AEG thought he didn’t have enough time in San Jose because it became Houston or in NYC during the run-up to the Red Bull acquisition to be accurately evaluated in terms of his GM-quality. However, I would say that the sacking of Bob Bradley was a flare-lit tip-off that Lalas’ personnel acumen was as sharp as a soup spoon made of soap. About the only good thing Lalas accomplished was firing Steve Sampson.

Now, in fairness, a GM, unless s/he’s a brilliant soccer mind, should probably not be dicking around in personnel matters. That’s what a Direct of Soccer/Futbol is for. And I suspect that Lalas was fairly adept at actually selling tickets, elevating the Galaxy brand, and managing sponsor relationships. If only he didn’t have to have left a trail of smoking landscapes and twisted wreckage to get to that point.

And at this point we find ourselves. As Tim Leiweke said in the Daily Breeze,

“I think because of the Ruud situation, it was an opportunity to once and for all look for a fresh start,” Leiweke said. “Alexi’s been with us a long time. I’m very appreciative of everything he’s done for the Galaxy. That one is painful. We haven’t made the playoffs for two years running, and we’re headed for a third year. You can’t blame Alexi entirely. I do think we need a fresh start.”

Fresh start indeed.

Which brings me to AEG. Who, exactly, was responsible for bringing Lalas to San Jose, New York, and Los Angeles? Who, exactly, dealt with the crew that brought Ruud Gullit on board? (And who, exactly, has final responsibility for the skating abmomination masquerading as an NHL team called the Los Angeles Kings?) In short, when, exactly, does Leiweke get the ax as well? If you can’t blame Alexi entirely, can you also blame Mr. Leiweke?

Anyway, if the idea from AEG’s point of view is to have a global brand and therefore global brand-type revenues from the Los Angeles Galaxy, maybe they should concentrate on putting a product on the field that people will actually want to watch. Having David Beckham and Landon Donovan on the same team is great! Having them play on a team that plays enough eye-bleeders to require me to have a standing appointment at the optometrist after Galaxy games is a sure way to become a global laughing stock.

So maybe what they do is get away from this star-struck notion that a global brand deserves a global coach and understand what works in MLS. The foreign coaches who win in MLS are intimately familiar with the American game and with MLS itself. They know how to operate within its constrictures, they understand the personnel, they understand how to build a stable team. Gullit, with an impressive player pedigree, but a decidedly mixed history as a coach, was simply not the right guy for this job.

On the other hand, I think Cobi Jones will make an excellent head coach in MLS. I even think he’s ready enough to be able to have an impact over the next 11 games. If he does, I bet he stays for next season. But if, for whatever reasons that isn’t in the cards, then there are other guys who are good options. Paul Mariner at New England. John Spencer at Houston. I hear Bruce Arena’s free. (Joking. Sort of.)

What do you guys think? Who should be the next head coach? What makes a good MLS coach? Is Cobi ready? Will this have a salutary effect on the team heading into the last 11 games? Let it rip in the comment!

So the hammer comes down.

The Los Angeles Times, in a story by Grahame Jones, reports that AEG has axed BOTH Alexi Lalas and Ruud Gullit in a meeting held today.

Jones reports,

In a pair of sweeping changes brought about by a Major League Soccer season in meltdown, the Los Angeles Galaxy today removed Alexi Lalas as team president and general manager and Ruud Gullit as coach.

In its official statement on the changes, AEG, which owns the team, said that Gullit had resigned “for personal reasons” and that Lalas’ contract was up at the end of the year and that the team decided to part company now rather than wait.

Cobi Jones will take over from Gullit as the Galaxy’s interim coach. The team’s longest-serving and best-known player before the arrival of David Beckham, Jones had served as assistant coach under Gullit since November.

Tom Payne, the team’s assistant general manager will take over Lalas’ duties on an interim basis, concentrating more on the business side. Payne will be assisted on the soccer side by Paul Bravo, the Galaxy’s director of soccer.

All I can say is WOW! I didn’t expect a dual beheading. I thought it would be one or the other, with one winning the internal power stuggle. But I guess the turmoil was one too many frustrations for Gullit who was probably confused by all the rules constraining rosters and player movement in MLS. He wouldn’t be the first high-profile foreign coach to crash and burn over here, unable to adapt to the peculiar structure MLS has.

Related to this I wonder what this says for David Beckham’s influence, since many reports suggest that his team was responsible for bringing Gullit into the team in the first place.

Personally, if Lalas was really responsible for the personnel moves that started in 2006 (epitomized for me by the trade-in-search-of-a-problem-to-solve of Hartman to Kansas City, Cannon to LA, and Herculez and Ihemelu to Colorado) then I have really no sympathy at all for him. If he had a hand in all that he blew up a team that didn’t need blowing up and continued that approach for the next two seasons.

As for Gullit, I thought he had a fine tactical sense and seemed to be bringing some of the newer, younger players along, like Sean Franklin and Brandon McDonald. That might be missed. On the other hand, if there’s someone with a primo futbol brain and a comprehensive knowledge of MLS, its Cobi Jones. So I’m not so worried there, really.

Some of ya’ll have already talked about this in the comments in this post, but feel free to repost here and continue the conversation. As in, what do ya’ll think? Was this the best answer? Do you think it will actually help the team heading into the most important section of the schedule? What would you have done? What would you do now?

UPDATE: Links to news reports and blog postings.
News
Los Angeles Times
The Daily Breeze
The Associated Press
Soccernet

Blogs
Sideline Views (Andrea Canales)
Sideline Views (Luis Bueno)
Soccer By Ives
100 Percent Soccer (Nick Green)
WVHooligan
Dan Loney says it all
Official LA Galaxy Blog (with full press release)
USSoccerPlayers

Goal (Jack Bell of the NY Times)
The Offside MLS Page (by Laurie who also blogs here)
Soccer y Futbol (Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle)

I’m on record in the comments of my last SBI Supporter’s View saying that I wouldn’t have used the allocation for Cory Gibbs due to his injury history and cost against the salary cap (not like I actually know what that is, of course). But I am not the guy(s) in charge of personnel over at the HDC (that can only be a good thing) and I guess their calculus told them to pull the trigger. I mean what with Benny Feilhaber dithering around not making up his mind about his next destination until after Bejing and all, go with what you got, right?

Let’s say that Gibbs is both healthy and game-fit, which would make him an instant starter. Do you pair him with Franklin and keep the midfield that same? And by “same” I mean using Vagenas, Pires, Randolph, Allen, McDonald, and/or Jazic somewhere in there. Or do you pair Gibbs with Vanney and push Franklin up to d-mid (a kind of stopper role in front of a sweeping Gibbs) and hope that helps with the linkage between defense and offense?

I’m open to both arguments, though I would personally lean towards Gibbs and Franklin.

What do ya’ll think? Is this a good pick-up for the Galaxy? What should the formation look like now? Who pairs with Gibbs? And, of course, how does this pick-up help move the G’s forward in the underwear model category?