Lalas: “There is nobody that is untouchable” OR: Landon, Watch Your Back!

By: Laurie | April 19th, 2007

The Zidane rumor isn’t dead. (No, I’m not doing the happy dance. At this moment. That you can see.) Andrea Canales from LA Soccer News had a chat with Alexi Lalas about how this would work. He was extremely nonspecific, of course, but he did offer some tantalizing details. Including this:

“Because the DP rule limits teams to two slots (the one that every team is given, and an extra one should they be able to trade for it), only the grandfathering of Donovan this year would make it possible to also add Zidane and Beckham.

Lalas was a little cagey while allowing that the fact was currently true.

“According to the rules as of today, we would only be allowed to have Landon Donovan and two other designated players for 2007.”

Though many have assumed that Donovan would be the Galaxy’s marquee player for the future, Lalas did not rule out a possible trade at some point.

“There is nobody that is untouchable on our team,” Lalas said. “It doesn’t matter what your name is, you have expectations that we need players to live up to and if you don’t then we make changes.”

Hmmm… Are we about to witness the infamous Contract Spalmato? Be afraid, Landon. Be very afraid.

(And also, Landon? You might want to score a BOATLOAD of goals against Chivas, just in case.)

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Laurie

You're right, Diane. It would be possible to have Beckham, Donovan AND Zidane, for this year only. I guess I was just hoping that we were talking long-term. (If such a thing for a soon-to-be thirty-five-year-old exists.)
Diane

Donovan doesn't need to be traded for one year of Zidane. Lalas can have all his cakes this season with Donovan grandfathered in. It's impossible for me to believe that Zidane will stop by at all, but if he does (and Adidas who are allegedly brokering the deal do keep saying that Impossible is Nothing :) ) I can't imagine that he would stay for more than the one year--no Laurie?
Zidane is beauty to behold in motion, and anyone who watched him and Becks together at RM knows those boys are exquisite to behold playing together.
sandrahn

still not believing any of this--zizou has persistently said no to all offers--he's not after the money. if he accepts any of these offers (and he's had several from Asia and the Middle East as well) it will be because he really wants to play again without the pressures of top flight european football. and btw, laurie, you are absolutely right in wanting to see him play live--even tho he is not the zizou of 2000 or 2002 or even 2004 anymore. I've had the privilege of zizou play 7 times--twice at Juve, twice at Euro 2000, 3 times at Madrid. And I'm not the only one was in awe of him. the passing, the elegance, the total control of the ball, I long ago stopped trying to find the words...there's a reason why Atletico Madrid fans (who despise Real Madrid with a violent passion) voted zizou the player they loved the most in the entire primera liga for 3 straight seasons.
Laurie

Lane, makes no sense, does it? My assumption was that Landon would be traded to a team with no relation to the purchased DP slot. But seriously, there are only so many teams and so many DP slots in MLS.

Perhaps Alexi just likes to hear himself talk and wants to put a little fear into Landon while he's at it.
Lane

I've also got a question. If a team trades their DP slot for Donovan - then what does that team do next year when they need that DP slot for Donovan? So a trade for a DP involving Donovan doesn't make sense. What am I missing?
Lane

I really can't believe Lalas would be so stupid as to trade Donovan, a 25-year-old, soon to be all-time leading scorer on the Men's National Team - for 1 (count 'em - 1) year of Zidane. Donovan won the title for them in 2005 - and he almost single-handedly got them into the playoffs after coming back from the World Cup - there was no one else on the team who could even score. And he's threatening to trade this dude? Silly, if you ask me.
Martha

Laurie! You can't go soft, not yet!
DJR

Landon might want to start looking for a roster spot on another club.
Laurie

Pretty amazing that he would say these things, no? Can you imagine what the price of a DP slot shot up to after these comments? This is me, actually feeling sorry for Landon Donovan.
Martha

You know, Lalas is actually making me like the RBNY front office -- he's a much bigger fool than they are, even with all their heads together.