When Ives Galarcep posted chatter about a rift between LA Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop and general manager Alexi Lalas, at least one interested party quickly picked up on the story. My Soccer Blog directed me to the latest comments from Santino Quaranta, who had a thing or two to say what things looked like during his time in LA - who, if you'll recall (and I can't find the original article) was once quoted just days before being traded as viewing LA's locker room something like freaked-out.
Now, just because I once called Lalas "a tool" some may suggest I'm biased against the man. Not at all - and I did leave out the word "gigantic." The main thing is, I find Lalas useful in the same way as the reflectors on my pedals keep me from getting hit by cars at night: he's good for getting people's attention and that's about it. He's only GM material in the sense that he doesn't mind being a bastard.
Still, given where they sit in the standings, it's hard to say things are going well for LA. Perhaps Yallop is part of the problem - though his record in San Jose, which was good enough to get him hired as head coach to Canada's national team, argues against that. Perhaps it's the instability, something that might grow from the panicked atmosphere Quaranta describes and the trading at a pace that reminds me of my (extremely high-risk, often-wretched pay-out) approach to Monopoly.
In other words, if sides must be taken in this one (and, clearly, they don't), I'm on Yallop's. My advice: fire Alexi, let the team settle down a bit, and see what happens. (I'm not a cruel man, though. Lalas' provocateur schtick would do so well in a column; in fact, I think that's his calling (though would Greg Lalas view this as his brother muscling into his turf?). Worst case, hand the man some plastic bags, dress him down a bit and have him yell his opinions at heavily-trafficked street corners. Oh, fine...you can pay him for it.)
Toward the end of his post, Galarcep gets into what might happen if LA fails to make the playoffs. Galarcep figures both men would be vulnerable, though I'd like to think just Alexi would go, seeing as so much of the mess in LA coincided with his watch. But the more interesting question is what happens if the Galaxy does make the playoffs. Would Ghosts of the 2005-06 Off-Season lead to a renewed round of spazzing or would the front office stand pat as they so fatefully did back then?
With Alexi at the wheel, I'm seeing more spazzing. I think it's all the man knows how to do.
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