Six LA Galaxy players named to MLS 25 Greatest

MLS unveiled “The 25 Greatest” on Wednesday, a group of the 25 “brightest stars” of the first 25 years of the league. And little surprise, but six players who played for the LA Galaxy were on the list.

• David Beckham (played for Galaxy 2007-12)
• Landon Donovan (2005-14, 2016)
• Robin Fraser (1996-2000)
• Kevin Hartman (1997-2006)
• Cobi Jones (1996-2007)
• Robbie Keane (2011-2016)

That’s a pretty distinct group! Collectively, they were on every roster that has won any trophies for the Galaxy in the first 25 years. Beyond that, Donovan and Keane were named MLS MVPs while with the Galaxy (and Donovan has the MLS MVP named after him now), Hartman was MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, Fraser was MLS Defender of the Year, and they were each named to at least one MLS Best XI.

Add to that, they collectively helped build the Galaxy into a standard bearer in the league, winning the most MLS Cups to date in league history and being the most attractive team to play for over time. They also helped push the league forward, with Jones not only being a USMNT star who played at the peak of his career in MLS, Donovan staying in the league when he easily could have played in a higher profile league abroad, and Beckham of course ushering in a new era with his groundbreaking signing.

The Galaxy had the joint second-most selections to The 25 Greatest list, with the Metrostars/New York Red Bulls edging them and D.C. United with seven selections. All in all, most of those Metrostars/Red Bulls players made their names elsewhere and had a cup of coffee in New York most of the time, though, while the D.C. and Galaxy selections more or less made those teams the dominant forces of the first and second decades of the league’s history.

Congrats to all six Galaxy selections. I think all of them are well-deserved.

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