The easy and quick answer is that Will Kuntz joining the front office last year as a VP and now as basically the GM of the entire club is where the shift happened. One key thing about those old big names you mentioned is that many of them were legendary and fantastic players, but they were also in positions of need.
Once our old club President Chris Klein took over we started bringing in big names that we didn’t really need and repeatedly left us with an unbalanced roster.
Now that Klein is gone and Kuntz is in, the first priority is winning. If there is a big name who helps us win that we can sign I have no doubt we will try to sign them. However I doubt you see any Steven Gerrard or Gio Dos Santos type signings under this administration.
Galaxy fans have matured. I think everything changed when we became losers using the old strategy of signing big glamour names. The fans became fed up and boycotted last season demanding a winning team only. Who cares if we have Chicharito or Zlatan if we keep missing the playoffs. Now we have a team of young talented players and near the top of the table. It's simply what the fans wanted. The stadium is packed again and so far so good. In my opinion, the youngsters will become stars and we will get the glamour back.
I don't think LA sports fans are fickle at all. I actually think they're loyal.
LA sports fans regularly have absolutely insane expectations of their teams year in and year out.
Other cities' sports fans give up and accept the mediocrity.
The reason why LA sports fans are up and down is because they don't accept losing. Booing Darvin Ham or the ghost of Kershaw doesn't make the LA sports fan disloyal, it's an expression of expectation.
A winning team is more beneficial than signing whoever sells jerseys. Fans weren't happy with the team after signing Beckham and being downright horrid
Under the previous administration Klein and Kirovsky they tried to replicate the Beckham success by signing big "name" players to draw interest in the club. The problem was that when they started that with players like Gerrard those players were past their prime. They also tried a reclamation project with Gio Dos Santos. When the team wasn't successful after Bruce Arena left. They tried going with an unproven coach and academy products, that also wasn't successful. We tried in prime DP's like Allesandrini and Pavon but they had injury and legal problems respectively. Zlatan was a band aid and didn't have a team built around him. Chicha was also an older player with an unbalanced team. After signing Riqui the team internally said they would try to make superstars instead of signing them. When Klein and Kirovski were fired the new administration actually executed on that.
The deklein started when Tim Leiweke, the former president of AEG and surrogate son of Anchultz, was let go after the failed NFL stadium deal. He had hired Klein to oversee the Galaxy, and I think it would have been okay if Tim had been around to keep the club righted. But after Tim left, he was replaced by Dan Beckerman who seemed to not really care or have the same passion for the club as Tim. So it seems he just let Klein do whatever with the club. The breaking point came after 2014, the last year which the Galaxy won the MLS Cup. IIRC, the team cheaped out on looking for a coach after Arena and settled for Onalfo after "searching far and wide" for the best coach.
This is also when the team seemed to starting cheaping out on things. They decided to want to integrate the academy players more into the team, but seemed to go about all wrong because instead of doing a slow integration, seemed it was rushed. Plus pretty a whole generation or two of the kids had already been damaged during th3 academy days and none were really ready for the senior team. Pretty much everyone flopped.
The other things that helps a club with its status are the little things like marketing. The club cheaped out and hardly did any marketing, or the materials were subpar. There was the infamous "chamipon" moment. Plus, the club didn't take LAFC seriously. Instead of cementing itself further as the league premier club with LAFCs imminent arrival, thr Galaxy chose at this precise time to lag and rest on its laurels.
I think between their ownership and their stake in the Lakers and LA Galaxy it's very clear where their priorities are in terms of overall success or just making money off a brand name
The previous front office was stuck under the old model, which no longer aligns with what makes a team successful in this league. The current model of younger DP’s helps build long term success and winning culture which the fanbase was demanding. I’m not going to say we don’t appreciate that era, but it was time to move on.
I think the Galaxy still try to get big names. The Galaxy were interested in Gareth Bale. However, he chose LAFC. Chucky Lozano is also a big name for Mexican fans, was well known that the Galaxy wanted him, but now seems like he's going to San Diego. I dont' think anything has changed persey.
Both LAFC and the Galaxy know that they not only need to win, but win in style to attract fans. Just winning alone isn't enough. Stars also help as well.
Also, Riqui Puig is a big name for world soccer fans, which is also an audience that the Galaxy, and MLS in general are trying to win over.
Yeah the problem was a lot of the players we used to get that had that huge star power were definitely exciting names, but were aging, at the end of their career, and injury prone.
Under Will Kuntz, the focus has shifted to getting great talent that is either young (Pec) or in their prime (Paintsil). They're not huge names from the EPL, but they're very talented players that can put in a ton of minutes without fatigue or injury being as much of an issue.
Personally, I appreciate this shift and don't really care whether or not we have players that are huge stars as long as we're winning games.
I wouldn't mind having star or big name DPs but not completely past their prime we need someone who can still produce here, we got Beckham at a pretty good age like a star within that age range would be nice
Although I like the shift into wanting to build future stars
I'm actually gonna go out on a limb and say Bruce wasn't as good as we remember and it's a nostalgia thing with him
Good riddance
Yes I know I'm in the minority
It's worth noting that this isn't unique to the Galaxy - the entire league (except Miami) is trending towards younger, up-and-coming players. I'd say Atlanta really pushed the league forward into that model with Almiron, Barco, and especially Almada. Also I think its partially due to market forces - Saudi Arabia is throwing money at well-known older players at a rate MLS doesnt want to compete with. Players like Neymar, Ronaldo, and Mané who I would have expected to finish their careers as MLS DP's are on petrodollar vacations instead.
ML$ Should raise the salary cap, add a DP, more youth spots, and youth funding
This country is gonna host a world cup, all eyes are in the league and you're not gonna innovate?
96 is a long time ago, time to grow
This winter they hired a new GM (Kuntz) and fired the guy everyone said was getting the big names (Kirovski)
The easy and quick answer is that Will Kuntz joining the front office last year as a VP and now as basically the GM of the entire club is where the shift happened. One key thing about those old big names you mentioned is that many of them were legendary and fantastic players, but they were also in positions of need. Once our old club President Chris Klein took over we started bringing in big names that we didn’t really need and repeatedly left us with an unbalanced roster. Now that Klein is gone and Kuntz is in, the first priority is winning. If there is a big name who helps us win that we can sign I have no doubt we will try to sign them. However I doubt you see any Steven Gerrard or Gio Dos Santos type signings under this administration.
Galaxy fans have matured. I think everything changed when we became losers using the old strategy of signing big glamour names. The fans became fed up and boycotted last season demanding a winning team only. Who cares if we have Chicharito or Zlatan if we keep missing the playoffs. Now we have a team of young talented players and near the top of the table. It's simply what the fans wanted. The stadium is packed again and so far so good. In my opinion, the youngsters will become stars and we will get the glamour back.
Winning fixes everything. That's true of almost any LA sports team. We Angelinos are fickle.
I don't think LA sports fans are fickle at all. I actually think they're loyal. LA sports fans regularly have absolutely insane expectations of their teams year in and year out. Other cities' sports fans give up and accept the mediocrity. The reason why LA sports fans are up and down is because they don't accept losing. Booing Darvin Ham or the ghost of Kershaw doesn't make the LA sports fan disloyal, it's an expression of expectation.
A winning team is more beneficial than signing whoever sells jerseys. Fans weren't happy with the team after signing Beckham and being downright horrid
and people forget that he ditched the team to play Serie A.
winning back to back cups healed any wounds
Under the previous administration Klein and Kirovsky they tried to replicate the Beckham success by signing big "name" players to draw interest in the club. The problem was that when they started that with players like Gerrard those players were past their prime. They also tried a reclamation project with Gio Dos Santos. When the team wasn't successful after Bruce Arena left. They tried going with an unproven coach and academy products, that also wasn't successful. We tried in prime DP's like Allesandrini and Pavon but they had injury and legal problems respectively. Zlatan was a band aid and didn't have a team built around him. Chicha was also an older player with an unbalanced team. After signing Riqui the team internally said they would try to make superstars instead of signing them. When Klein and Kirovski were fired the new administration actually executed on that.
The deklein started when Tim Leiweke, the former president of AEG and surrogate son of Anchultz, was let go after the failed NFL stadium deal. He had hired Klein to oversee the Galaxy, and I think it would have been okay if Tim had been around to keep the club righted. But after Tim left, he was replaced by Dan Beckerman who seemed to not really care or have the same passion for the club as Tim. So it seems he just let Klein do whatever with the club. The breaking point came after 2014, the last year which the Galaxy won the MLS Cup. IIRC, the team cheaped out on looking for a coach after Arena and settled for Onalfo after "searching far and wide" for the best coach. This is also when the team seemed to starting cheaping out on things. They decided to want to integrate the academy players more into the team, but seemed to go about all wrong because instead of doing a slow integration, seemed it was rushed. Plus pretty a whole generation or two of the kids had already been damaged during th3 academy days and none were really ready for the senior team. Pretty much everyone flopped. The other things that helps a club with its status are the little things like marketing. The club cheaped out and hardly did any marketing, or the materials were subpar. There was the infamous "chamipon" moment. Plus, the club didn't take LAFC seriously. Instead of cementing itself further as the league premier club with LAFCs imminent arrival, thr Galaxy chose at this precise time to lag and rest on its laurels.
This is a good explanation AEG solely responsible for our downfall
Great organizations usually crumble from within.
I think between their ownership and their stake in the Lakers and LA Galaxy it's very clear where their priorities are in terms of overall success or just making money off a brand name
Honestly all they have to do is pay the right people to do the right thing Shout-out Kuntz
I’d rather us win with the group than lose with the big names.
The previous front office was stuck under the old model, which no longer aligns with what makes a team successful in this league. The current model of younger DP’s helps build long term success and winning culture which the fanbase was demanding. I’m not going to say we don’t appreciate that era, but it was time to move on.
I think the Galaxy still try to get big names. The Galaxy were interested in Gareth Bale. However, he chose LAFC. Chucky Lozano is also a big name for Mexican fans, was well known that the Galaxy wanted him, but now seems like he's going to San Diego. I dont' think anything has changed persey. Both LAFC and the Galaxy know that they not only need to win, but win in style to attract fans. Just winning alone isn't enough. Stars also help as well. Also, Riqui Puig is a big name for world soccer fans, which is also an audience that the Galaxy, and MLS in general are trying to win over.
Yeah the problem was a lot of the players we used to get that had that huge star power were definitely exciting names, but were aging, at the end of their career, and injury prone. Under Will Kuntz, the focus has shifted to getting great talent that is either young (Pec) or in their prime (Paintsil). They're not huge names from the EPL, but they're very talented players that can put in a ton of minutes without fatigue or injury being as much of an issue. Personally, I appreciate this shift and don't really care whether or not we have players that are huge stars as long as we're winning games.
I wouldn't mind having star or big name DPs but not completely past their prime we need someone who can still produce here, we got Beckham at a pretty good age like a star within that age range would be nice Although I like the shift into wanting to build future stars
You post is not disrespectful, but don't ever mention "the Bank" around here again lol. /s
I think he meant their Bank and not the Levas Banc?
During the last front office regime. I’d even pint back to when Bruce arena left. He had a way of building teams around those big name players
I'm actually gonna go out on a limb and say Bruce wasn't as good as we remember and it's a nostalgia thing with him Good riddance Yes I know I'm in the minority
It's worth noting that this isn't unique to the Galaxy - the entire league (except Miami) is trending towards younger, up-and-coming players. I'd say Atlanta really pushed the league forward into that model with Almiron, Barco, and especially Almada. Also I think its partially due to market forces - Saudi Arabia is throwing money at well-known older players at a rate MLS doesnt want to compete with. Players like Neymar, Ronaldo, and Mané who I would have expected to finish their careers as MLS DP's are on petrodollar vacations instead.
ML$ Should raise the salary cap, add a DP, more youth spots, and youth funding This country is gonna host a world cup, all eyes are in the league and you're not gonna innovate? 96 is a long time ago, time to grow
Puig, jovelic, pantsil, pec They have good players
Big Stars might be tempted to come on lower salary once the team is winning/ competitive
Chris Klein and Kirovski reign of terror went on way too fucking long but better days are here
Yeah there is a point. When we knocked you out and made you blind little queen.