LA Galaxy: How the mighty have fallen

Call me spoiled.

Started following the LA Galaxy in earnest after the 2010 World Cup when Donovan scored that last last gasp goal for team USA to advance past the group stage. So it was easy enough to follow him and the LA Galaxy when the World Cup ended and the MLS season continued to its conclusion.

2010: Lost in Conference Finals
2011: Won MLS Cup
2012: Won MLS Cup
2013: Lost in Conference Semi-Finals
2014: Won MLS Cup

Thus, in the first 5 years of my following the team regularly, they won THREE MLS Cups!

Under GM and Coach Bruce Arena, LA Galaxy were the mighty ones astride the MLS landscape.

However, with MLS salary rules and improvements across many clubs in the league, the final two years of Bruce Arena were more modest. Nonetheless, they made the playoffs.

2015: Lost in knockout round
2016: Lost in Conference Semi-Finals

The USMNT collapsed and Klinsmann was fired and Arena was hired to rescue the World Cup qualification campaign and thus, left the LA Galaxy. Ultimately, team USA, in a perfect storm, lost their last qualifier and two other CONCACAF teams won their matches leaving the US out of the World Cup.

With Arena away in the 2017 season, the LA Galaxy front office was juggled with existing people taking on bigger responsibilities, given a mandate to work in the younger players, and told to spend less money. Combine these three changes with the injuries that decimated the team, the result was LA finishing with the worst record in MLS.

2017: 11th in the West (last) and 22nd overall (last).

2018 started off with some optimism. Sigi Schmid and the front office released a large number of players and brought in new ones. On paper, it looked like the team should be competitive, perhaps not MLS Cup contenders, but at least able to make the playoffs.

A report card at this point: D.

An outright F would be given if they were last in the West and near the bottom overall. Currently, they are 8 out of 12 in the West and 15 of 23 in the Supporters Shield. I would give them a C if they were considered to have a shot at the playoffs (6 or 7th in the West) and showing some potential. They would get a B if they were solidly in playoff contention (4 or 5th place in the West) and an A if they were in the top three of the Western Conference.

Report cards on the new players brought in:

Goalkeeper Bingham: C+
Some of the goals given up are his errors but most of the time it is the defense in front of him that has left him with no chance.

D-Midfielder Kitchen: B-
He knows he should be defense first and he does that; however, he doesn't seem very good at helping move the ball forward in the transition from defense to offense.

Forward Ibrahimovic: incomplete
On one hand the guy has 5 goals and can single-handedly change the game (see 4-3 win over LAFC). On the other hand he maybe a disruptive presence in the locker room and causes the on-field Galaxy formation to be twisted into a pretzel.

Forward Kamara: A-
He also has 5 goals and has been a good soldier about being played out of position on the left wing in many games. There are no reports of him being a disruptive presence in the locker room.

D-Midfielder Carrasco: B
He was not brought in to be a game changer but a serviceable guy to fulfill a role and he has done that. Kitchen is more skilled overall and as such has gotten the lions share of the minutes. In fact, he may have played every minute so far? But in the expectations game, Kitchen has been a disappointment relative to expectations while I don't think that is the case with Carrasco.

Central defender Skjelvik: C+
Has shown moments of what was hoped for but at other times has looked lost. The grade would be higher if it weren't for the fact of the expectations that come with paying someone $900K! MLS thinking is more speed on the attack and Skjelvik when out of position isn't fast enough to recover.

Midfielder/Forward Pontius: B
Just like Carrasco, he was brought in as a role player and has given what would be expected.

Central defender Hilliard-Arce: B
Is he ready to start on a regular basis? No. But he was selected as a young player with a high ceiling and he has shown some ability. Expectations on THA aren't going to be (and shouldn't be) as high as for Skjelvik. If the Galaxy goes to three in the back going forward, I think THA might get the nod over Steres or Romney.

Right back defender Klimenta: B
Is he ready to start on a regular basis? No. But he was selected from USL who could help with squad rotation and injury fill in. Expectations on Emrah aren't going to be (and shouldn't be) as high as for Feltscher. With Feltscher out Klimenta should divide time with Romney at the RB position. Certainly, Steres should not be let anywhere near the RB position any more!

Right back defender Feltscher: B
After a slow start, he appeared to be shaping up to be a good addition at right back. Unfortunately, the LA Galaxy curse of injuries to right backs struck again as he got hurt in a freak fall in training. Will be hoping that when he returns from injury he will be able to contribute to the club. Speed however is a concern as with the entire defensive line.

Central defender Ciani: C+
He was brought in late last year in desperation to patch up the back line. This year he started with a fresh slate and full preseason workup. Has shown moments of what was hoped for but at other times has looked lost. The grade would be higher if it weren't for the fact of the expectations that come with paying someone $600K! At the moment, the Skjelvik-Ciani pairing is the best the Galaxy have. They should be playing the bulk of the minutes. As a fan, if they were getting paid half of what they are getting paid, the grade might rise to "B." We just expected more when you are paying well over a million dollars for these two guys.

In the end, this is a cautionary tale of the challenges of scouting in Europe. Skjelvik was a solid defender in a team that dominated in the Norwegian top league. How does that translate in comparison to the MLS? Ciani was at one time a solid defender in a mid-table team in the top French league. He aged out and lost his starting job. Where does that fit in the talent scale in moving to the MLS? Feltscher was a fringe first team player in an English Championship squad. How does that rate comparison to the MLS?

Returning player grades:

Midfielder Alessandrini: B-
I think the arrow is pointing upward but the grade would be for the season as a whole up to this point. Clearly, the hamstring injury hampered his play. When, he finally got back on the field he didn't have the stamina and speed and just seemed out of sorts. He seems to be getting back into form and hopefully he will reach the levels he got to last year.

Midfielder Boateng: B
He has settled into the role of a substitute after last year getting many minutes due to injury to other players. His speed is his asset giving LA some energy on offense and making defenders nervous. However, his crossing isn't consistent and his dribbling into traffic is a problem.

Defender Cole: B-
It is hard to be too critical of arguably the best left back ever to play the game. He has the heart of a fierce competitor and street smarts honed over many years at the top of his game. However, at age 37, can we dare say that he is a defensive liability sometimes? Will we see more 3-5-2 formations with Cole as a wingback?

Midfielder Jonathan dos Santos: C-
Hasn't been very impressive considering his resume. He is getting DP money but isn't making the kind of difference you would hope for. When I was at Stub Hub watching the match against San Jose, JDS lost the ball in midfield more than a few times.

Midfielder Giovani dos Santos: D
GDS is also getting DP money and at a higher amount than JDS! Thus, you want to see GDS making a very big difference and that simply hasn't been the case. Very disappointing.

Midfielder Lletget: B-
Good to see him back on the field after the terrible injury from last season. However, one wonders if the injury has left him a bit short of his previous heights? Don't know how much of it is simply getting more minutes on the field and regaining his touch and instinctive movement on and off the ball. Hope he can regain and surpass the promise he showed prior to his injury.

Defender Romney: C+
He wants to play center back but the reality is that on this current roster he is going to be plugged in at right or left back. One wonders how high his ceiling could be if he got more consistent minutes on the backline.

Defender Steres: C
For some reason, the coach has put him in at right back on a few occasions. Round peg into a square hole doesn't yield good results. In terms of center back per dollar spent probably a better value than Skjelvik-Ciani. However, in terms of raw capability, probably not ready to be a full-time starting center back in the MLS.

As you can see the grades for the individual players are not all bad. This appears to be a case where the whole is worse than the sum of the parts.