CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy will have a markedly different feel in 2017, but don’t expect the high-profile club to significantly cut their spending in the new year.
Contrary to recent rumors that LA have a mandate to cut costs, multiple sources at other clubs have told MLSsoccer.com over the past few weeks that they expect the Galaxy to continue spending big on impactful, expensive Designated Players.
Those DPs just might look a little different in 2017.
Instead of targeting big-name Europeans in their 30s like Robbie Keane or Steven Gerrard, LA are expected to shift towards signing younger Designated Players who are plenty talented, but perhaps lacking the same name recognition of Keane, Gerrard or ex-LA DP David Beckham.
This is LA, however, so the sources expect the Galaxy to consistently have at least one marketable DP on their roster. They currently have that in 27-year-old Mexican star Giovani dos Santos, whose younger brother Jonathan, a 26-year-old defensive midfielder currently with Villarreal, and Olympique Marseille winger Romain Alessandrini are reportedly being targeted by LA to fill their two vacant DP spots.
Neither Jonathan dos Santos nor Alessandrini have anywhere near the same star power as Giovani, Keane or Gerrard, the latter two of whom left LA this winter, but they’re both talented players in their prime who wouldn’t come to MLS cheaply.
Speaking on Tuesday at the MLS Combine, new LA general manager Peter Vagenas and new head coach Curt Onalfo -- both hired after former head coach and GM Bruce Arena left LA to take the US national team coaching position in November -- gave some credence to the idea that the Galaxy will continue targeting significant players in 2017.
“I think utilizing the Designated Player spots is in our DNA and part of what we do and I don’t anticipate that changing,” Vagenas told MLSsoccer.com when asked if the Galaxy would fill their open DP spots prior to the start of the 2017 season. “Guys like Robbie and Stevie leaving are obviously tremendous losses, not only on the field but in the locker room as well. You can’t really replace players like that, but certainly we’ll do our best to find the right fits for our team.”
Onalfo sounded a similar note.
“Things you can expect is what you always expect from the Galaxy," he said. "We’re going to put a team on the field that we expect to win. We have the DNA of always attracting world-class talent."
In addition to making changes in how they structure the top end of their roster, the middle and bottom tiers of the Galaxy squad will look drastically different – and vastly younger – in 2017. Gone are Keane, Gerrard, Landon Donovan and fellow veterans Mike Magee and Jeff Larentowicz, all of whom are over 30 and all of whom – except Donovan, who signed late in the year – started at least 16 games in 2016.
Longtime MLS forward Alan Gordon could also depart, as he’s currently a free agent and has not yet signed a new contract with any club.
Some of the departed veterans’ minutes will likely shift to younger players, with candidates for increased time including 2016 part-time starter Emmanuel Boateng and Homegrown players Jack McBean, Raul Mendiola and Jose Villarreal, among others.
The Galaxy also have the rights to 35-year-old US international Jermaine Jones, though the club did not comment on the status of their negotiations with the out-of-contract veteran midfielder.
Onalfo is very familiar with many of the Galaxy’s younger players, having coached several of them while leading LA Galaxy II in USL from 2014-2016.
Onalfo, who managed Kansas City from 2007-2009 and served as D.C. United head coach for the first part of the 2010 season, pointed to shifting from a heavy focus on the starting XI to looking more towards depth as a main thing he’d learned in the six-plus years since he last led an MLS club.
“I would expect yes, that they will have an increased role,” Onalfo said when asked about his plans for the Galaxy’s younger players. “But the way it’s being built is that they’re depth, and given the opportunity through national team call ups, through injury, they will have an opportunity where maybe in the past an older player was called in. That’s the only difference. And I feel that that’s a great formula for a successful team when you have a top end of your roster that’s experienced, that is world-class and then at the same time you have youth – not too much, but just enough – that’s really hungry.”
