When we had to call Donovan out of retirement to help us in the playoffs I felt like that was the start of the decline . Had a couple decent years with dos santos and zlatan with us though
Exactly LA and NY were always meant to be the Crown Jewels of the league (a couple years after Beckham joined LA, Thierry Henry joined New York Red Bulls). LA rosters would always have interesting signings from Europe who you might be familiar with (Abel Xavier) paired with US “that guys” like Alan Gordon, Chris Kline or Pete Vagenas. It was always like they were trying to build galacticos on a then MLS budget, which you’re right, old folks will remember, was pretty much couch cushion $. Also behind the scenes they had Alexi Lalas and Ruud Guillit, the biggest self promoting loudmouth and biggest name coach save Bruce Arenas. LA was meant to grab headlines even before kickoff. Getting Landon from SJ was the biggest move and gave them a star (maybe first since Cobi Jones), but like you said, Beckham to America was a rocket. He had a commercial rollout, MLS games were going to get televised more often (a lot of non MLS city markets only got USMNT matches). To put it bluntly, when he showed up (after playing in Madrid) for his first match (a June friendly) ESPN kept a camera just on him. For a companion to this video check out Grant Wahl’s (RIP) “The Beckham Experiment.” The rise of LA was first their profile, then winning the MLS Cup in 2005, 2011, 2012, 2014, they had the best player in the history of the league: Landon Donovan and eventually Bruce Arenas came to coach. It’s not the whole story, but if you have the best coach and best player you have a good shot. The fall, kind of ties in to LA’s rise, as money has come in and the league has expanded the rest of the league stared building their clubs with higher mid players and when they brought in DPs, nobody was going to top Beckham, but they were bringing in strong players closer to their prime. Teams got smarter and even though LA could attract stars, maybe that wouldn’t be enough. Combine that with now the MLS putting $ into academies, there’s still a place for stars, but teams are finding a lot more pieces and guys they can develop into stars and transfer profits. The United v City comparison is apt, but I’d say LAFC taking LA from the Galaxy is like that on steroids. LAFC come into the league hyper focused and targeted on the squad they wanted to build and culture (fan and on pitch) and especially how to crush the galaxy. City probably did this with United, but keep in mind, city could also just keep throwing $ and outspend United, LAFC is beating them within the constraints of the salary cap. Also, LAFC took away the natural advantage LA had with being the only team who say “come to LA and we’ll make you a star” when LAFC has a legit shot at a NA treble.
As a LA Galaxy fan since 96 now living in Houston, TX it’s sad to see my team be second to LAFC. However, I believe one day LAG will be back in top as for now they need to make changes in the corp level and the fan base needs to grow as well because I believe some if not majority of the fan base left to join LAFC.
I feel like the problem is is there's no promotion or relegation, owners of clubs don't really care much, because there's no fear of not being able to play in top flight football for the US... MLS should merge with ULS and NISA
This is football. Now that the MLS is a mature league teams will noticeably rise and fall over longer periods of time. How or if they recover is the interesting thing.
Bruh i became a soccer fan in 2017 and chose the Galaxy i have known nothing but pain. Only bright spot i have seen is Zlatan for those 2 years and yet the team still sucked.
@@elgalactico4185 you did see me mention defence, in an interview Gonzales said it himself , once he got the DP contract he felt he didn't need to try as hard anymore.
They’re struggling on the field but it’s still the most popular team in the state let alone the city. You have to remember that for 20 years they were the only SoCal team and the closest team to cities like Bakersfield and Fresno where they still have a strong following
LA Galaxy is dead, it’s LAFC’s turn to dominate the league. LAFC is the true team for LA the Galaxy never was, LAFC actually plays in LA too. Dale black and Gold
We have had ten years of mediocrity ever since Klein too over as president. Then we have a mediocre coach who has had three years and two rebuilds to have a team in last place and absolutely lost to even qualify for playoffs much less have any chance of winning any cups. Just sell the team. This organization is stuck reliving old accomplishments.
MLS used to be a gimmick. MLS is now a legitimate league in the world of Football-Soccer. The 2015 season is the dividing line. Seattle, LAFC, Atlanta, are the class of the league... they define what MLS is now.
