Goal.com has a pretty interesting article with former LA Galaxy supremo Alexi Lalas as he injects his opinion as to what Bruce Arena will need to do to get the club back on track.

And any time there’s a question of leadership when David Beckham’s in your squad, you know that this type of article will be much discussed not just in MLS circles, but worldwide.

Image via Daylife

[NSFW]

Funny…

[Bill Archer via TrickHog]

AEG Chief Executive Officer Tim Leiweke and the LA Galaxy have accepted the resignation of Head Coach Ruud Gullit, with Cobi Jones stepping up as Interim Head Coach effective immediately ahead of Thursday night’s SuperClasico.

General Manager Alexi Lalas was also fired in the shuffle, whose contract was set to expire at the end of the season. Tom Payne, the teams Assistant GM will take over Lalas’ duties for now, with Director of Player Personnel Paul Bravo assisting Payne.

With Gullit throwing his LA crib up on the market just at the end of last month and Darth Leiweke making a throwdown appearance in the Galaxy locker room last week, was this really any surprise?

Gullit said in the Galaxy’s Press Release, “In truth, it has proved a lot more difficult than I anticipated for my family to settle in the area and the club has been very supportive and understanding of my decision. I would like to thank the players and the fans for their fantastic support and I wish the LA Galaxy much success in the future. I would now like to spend some time with my family before considering any other position in football.”

As for Lalas, Leiweke said, “With Ruud moving on, we believe that this is the right time to make more sweeping changes throughout the organization.  Our commitment continues to be focused on not only winning the MLS Cup this and every season but to build a club capable of competing at the international level. This decision is the right one for the organization, the right one for the players and the right one for our fans. We thank Alexi for the tremendous hard work and dedication he brought to his job each and every day.”

Wonder what Vegas has for odds on The Bruce for Head Coach or GM? I’m thinking the latter might be in the cards…

image via MLSnet

With Guatemala’s training camp open for business Monday, one notable absence was El Pescadito (although not so little anymore) due to his prolonged recovery from Lateral Meniscus surgery.  For those that don’t know, Lateral Meniscus surgery is either the repair or removal of the rubber band like tissue between the knee’s bones/joints that limits the impact of bone on bone.  Ruiz’s  surgery was under the “clean up” category, so he had the Meniscus removed and no longer has a protective portion but also doesn’t have to deal with the clicking, locking or pain that comes along with the injury.  LA’s and more importantly Carlos’ biggest issue he will face is his rehabilitation is his knee adjusting to life without the part of Meniscus removed (swelling, irritation, bone friction, etc), which ultimately led to Alexi Lalas’ refusal to release such an important part of the puzzle this season for the Galaxy, who’s still less than 100% fit for International Duty (Aka the game against Argentina February 6th in LA)