LAG Confidential: All Posts by Alicia Rodriguez

Dennis te Kloese departs as LA Galaxy general manager

2021-11-27T10:45:29-08:00

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Executive heading home for next challenge.

After three years serving as LA Galaxy general manager, Dennis te Kloese has officially departed the role.

Te Kloese has been unveiled as CEO at Feyenoord, set to take over at the Dutch club in January, after it was widely speculated he would be departing his role with the Galaxy this offseason.

The GM’s tenure with the Galaxy was full of ups and downs. Charged with ironing out the academy-to-first-team pipeline and stopping the youth ranks from bleeding talented players going pro elsewhere, one could say he brought considerable stability in that regard, signing a slew of homegrown players, many of whom played minutes at MLS level as well. On top of that, te Kloese got the top two current homegrowns, Julian Araujo and Efrain Alvarez, to sign contract extensions to keep them around the Galaxy and hopefully increase their transfer value down the line.

On the coaching and transfer and results front, it’s been much more of a mixed bag. Guillermo Barros Schelotto turned out to be totally outmatched in MLS as a head coach, and while Greg Vanney has only had one season so far, he looks like an upgrade, in spite of a disappointing end to the season. Under Schelotto, the Galaxy were often glacial at making transfers, something the team desperately needed, while under Vanney, they may have swung a bit far in the other direction, turning over nearly two-thirds of the roster in 2021. Still, Te Kloese helped land Chicharito as a Designated Player signing, with the player enduring a terrible 2020 season before coming good this year. And finally, the Galaxy missed the playoffs two of the three seasons Te Kloese was at the club, which while he wasn’t the coach, isn’t a ringing endorsement for a team that expects to be competing for trophies.

I think Te Kloese is well-connected and his work to connect the academy to the reserve team to the first team may continue to pay off in real ways in the coming years, to the club’s benefit. But the stark contrast from signings made under Schelotto to Vanney seems to show that Te Kloese was not really shaping the roster as much as facilitating all the moves the head coach wanted. Given the results, it’s unclear if that was the right approach or not, but don’t be shocked if we see Te Kloese back in North American soccer again in the future.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

San Diego Wave FC appoint Richard Gunney as assistant coach

2021-11-26T07:28:00-08:00

Courtesy of San Diego Wave FC

NWSL-experienced coach joins Casey Stoney’s staff.

San Diego Wave FC have a coach, a player and now an assistant coach, as the club announced this week they have hired Richard Gunney ahead of their expansion 2022 NWSL season.

I am delighted to announce the addition of Rich to the San Diego Wave FC technical team,” said Wave FC head coach Casey Stoney in a club statement. “He is a proven winner within the NWSL and will add vast knowledge and experience of not only the league but of the college landscape as well. I am very excited to be working with him as we build the future of this team.”

Gunney is a Welsh coach, most recently serving as an assistant coach to Mark Parsons at the Portland Thorns the past five seasons. While in Portland, they won an NWSL Championship, an NWSL Shield and an NWSL Challenge Cup title. Before that, he worked in futsal in his native Wales, and for English club Fulham in the girls academy.

“I am delighted to accept this new challenge with San Diego in what will be an exciting inaugural season,” said Gunney. “I’m extremely grateful to Jill [Ellis] and Wave FC ownership for this intriguing new opportunity which I’m confident my experience and expertise in the NWSL will serve me particularly well, to support Casey, the staff and all the players as we embark on this exciting new journey together.”

San Diego announced their first player signing earlier this week, in U.S. Women’s National Team defender Abby Dahlkemper, and they’ll be adding the bulk of their roster for 2022 next month, through the expansion draft and college draft.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Happy Thanksgiving from LAG Confidential

2021-11-25T07:41:00-08:00

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Some things we’re thankful for on this holiday.

It was a year of ups and downs, like most of them are, and on the bright side, in many ways 2021 was better than 2020 was. Coming out of the pandemic, albeit slowly and in fits and starts, but the return of fans at games in person certainly warmed the heart, and a new, earnest rebuild of the LA Galaxy led to much optimism.

Obviously by season’s end, the on-field results weren’t quite good enough to fulfill that initial optimism, but seeing Chicharito become a top striker again was great, and there were several reasons to remain optimistic about the Galaxy moving forward even if 2021 wasn’t quite the year we wanted to see.

But on this Thanksgiving, we want to express warm wishes for the holiday to all of you, and express a few things we’re thankful for this year.

Obviously, while the pandemic remains a part of our lives, it’s fantastic that the COVID vaccine became available and hopefully all of you eligible and able to get it have done so. It’s nice to see family and friends again in person, and to get out to games again, of course. There’s much to be thankful for in terms of seeing the world return to some normal.

I would like to thank our staff this season: Ilkay Can, whose postgame player ratings were a hit again this year, and Trebor Tracy, a midseason transfer into the group who settled pretty quickly and proved to be an immediate asset. I’m excited about the future directions we can go in with this site.

Thank you to the teams we worked with, obviously the Galaxy organization in particular, for fielding requests, sending out materials and setting up regular media availabilities this season. Their help helps us do our jobs better.

And obviously, the biggest thanks goes to all of your who read this site. We truly would not be here if it wasn’t for you, so thank you, enjoy your holiday, and let’s keep following this wonderful sport together.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

LA Galaxy 2021 Player Postmortem: Augustine Williams

2021-11-24T07:26:00-08:00

Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

USL Championship standout gets look at MLS level.

Augustine Williams is a forward who I think a group of LA Galaxy superfans have been hoping would make it to the first team for some time. Joining LA Galaxy II in 2019, he had a stellar 2020 campaign for Los Dos, and the striker seemed like the kind of player who may have earned his shot at MLS level.

In context, it makes even more sense: Starting the season, the Galaxy first team had only Chicharito and Ethan Zubak as pure strikers on the first-team roster. We know that Chicharito was going to take the lion’s share of minutes if he was healthy, and he did, and to his credit, Zubak started the season well as a sub/second striker playing off the Mexican superstar. But lack of striker depth was a glaring concern entering the season.

And in the end, Williams did get a shot, signing a first team contract in April, and making his MLS debut in July, with Chicharito out injured and the team playing through some major absences during the Gold Cup.

Here were Williams’ statistics with the Galaxy first team in 2021:

Williams got some run in a few games, playing at least 20 minutes in four games off the bench, but it didn’t seem like Greg Vanney thought he was ready to be a regular contributor.

The biggest indication of this came in mid-August, when he was sent on loan to San Diego Loyal FC for the rest of the 2021 season. I imagine San Diego approached LA about the player, and perhaps were willing to pay a few bucks for a loan, but this was a surprise move around the USL Championship. Los Dos hasn’t been afraid to loan out their players to rival clubs in the past, so it’s not totally unheard of, but it was surprising to see Williams get his chance and then get shipped out right away.

So in addition to the seven games played in MLS, Williams played six games in 2021 for Galaxy II, where he didn’t score, and then scored six goals and three assists in 12 appearances for San Diego. All in all, he played 25 games across three teams and two competitions, but that can make for a choppy season, too, which we saw to an extent.

Based on Williams going on loan, my guess is the 24-year-old won’t be retained by the Galaxy for 2022, but we’ll see what happens. I really liked him in 2020 with Los Dos, and think he still has a lot of potential, but we’ll see what the future holds. I think if nothing else, he’ll pretty easily find a USL team if he needs to, but time will tell what Williams’ path will be from here.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

LA Galaxy II’s Jorge Hernandez named to 2021 USL Championship All-League First Team

2021-11-23T08:44:59-08:00

Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images

Youngster part of distinguished company after strong season.

LA Galaxy II may not have had a successful campaign as a team in the standings this season, missing the playoffs in 2021 but remaining competitive throughout, but one youngster on the roster received a pretty important honor on Tuesday.

Midfielder Jorge Hernandez was named to the 2021 USL Championship All-League First Team, the only Los Dos player honored on either of the All-League teams this season.

A HUGE congrats to @jorgey_100 ‼️

Hernandez has been named to the 2021 @USLChampionship All-League First Team : https://t.co/moalUCHWgD pic.twitter.com/O7f80L7yib
— LA Galaxy II (@LAGalaxyII) November 23, 2021

Hernandez had a stellar season, with 12 goals and six assists while leading the league in chances created, with 91. The playmaker also was a maestro at direct free kicks and also led the league in expected assists on the season, with 8.52xA.

All in all, the statistics make the case for his inclusion on this list and he was consistently strong throughout the season. Still, for the 20-year-old, playing on an MLS2 team that didn’t reach the playoffs out in the West, I’m still surprised he reached the All-League First Team, just because the voting bloc (full disclosure: I voted in the USL season awards, as I have for the past several years) tend to favor a handful of high-profile teams, and the sheer number of teams and players in the league mean it can be hard to stand out from the crowded pack. But Hernandez did just that.

Congratulations to Jorge, and hopefully this is just the beginning in his young pro career.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

LA Galaxy 2021 Player Postmortem: Danny Acosta

2021-11-23T07:40:00-08:00

USA TODAY NETWORK

Left back made long journey back from ACL tear.

Danny Acosta seemed to be seeking a fresh start of sorts when he signed with the LA Galaxy in 2020. That didn’t go as planned, however.

Acosta tore his ACL in the 2020 preseason, and the COVID pandemic took over from there, with the left back subsequently on the shelf for the entire season. So, he came back in 2021, after a long road rehabbing from the major knee injury, and finally made his debut with the Galaxy, a year later.

Here are Acosta’s statistics with the first team in 2021:

Now 24, Acosta split his time between the Galaxy and LA Galaxy II, where he played seven games, all starts, and went 600 minutes at USL Championship level.

While Jorge Villafaña was a fixture early in the season at left back, his body broke down during the campaign and left back became an issue for the Galaxy, as they brought in Niko Hämäläinen on loan midseason to bolster the ranks. To me, that seemed to indicate either Acosta had a lot of rust from the long time away or Greg Vanney didn’t see him as a starter, and Hämäläinen jumped ahead of Acosta in the depth chart.

The highlight of Acosta’s season, aside from getting back on the field, was making his long-awaited debut for the Honduran national team, the country of his birth. Acosta had nearly featured for them in 2019 before reportedly having a late change of heart with the possibility of representing the United States on the table. But at 24, moving around MLS and then suffering the torn ACL, with the USMNT enjoying a resurgence with a new generation of players, Honduras opened up as his true option at international level, and so far, he’s made two appearances for Los Catrachos.

Acosta is an MLS Free Agent this offseason, meaning he can take advantage of the new expanded Free Agent category and get more flexibility in terms of where he can sign by virtue of his seniority in the league. The truth is, I don’t think he’s in line to get an offer from the Galaxy, so he would be moving on regardless. It was a tough break for him to suffer that injury, and it was a good risk/reward move initially for the Galaxy to sign him, as a player with tons of promise that had yet to be fulfilled. But in the end, it didn’t seem to be the right fit, and so I don’t expect him back for the 2022 season. And I don’t know where he’s headed next, although his international career could open some new doors if MLS doesn’t seem promising. We’ll see what happens.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

San Diego Wave FC announce Abby Dahlkemper as first signing

2021-11-22T10:22:16-08:00

Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

USWNT defender set to anchor expansion team’s backline.

2022 NWSL expansion team San Diego Wave FC announced on Monday their first player acquisition ahead of their debut campaign is for defender Abby Dahlkemper. Her rights were acquired in a three-team trade involving the Houston Dash and North Carolina Courage, with San Diego sending North Carolina $190,000 in allocation money and San Diego’s natural first round draft pick in 2023.

The 28-year-old, who was raised in Southern California and played NCAA soccer at UCLA, most recently played the last half-season with the Houston Dash. She also played about a half-season with Manchester City, and before that, spent five seasons with the Western New York Flash/North Carolina Courage organization, where she really made her name. A three-time NWSL Best XI selection, she was also NWSL Defender of the Year in 2017.

Welcome to #WaveFC, @AbbyDahlkemper!
️⚽️

"Abby is one of the best centerbacks in the world and a proven winner at the club and international level. We look forward to welcoming her to San Diego and our club." - Jill Ellis#WaveFC #NWSL pic.twitter.com/vDs614W7t6
— San Diego Wave FC (@SanDiegoNWSL) November 22, 2021

A regular with the U.S. Women’s National Team, Dahlkemper was a fixture on the backline in the 2019 World Cup triumph, and also featured in the squad that picked up the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics this past summer.

“I’ve followed Abby’s career for a long time and always admired her qualities as a centerback,” said Wave FC head coach Casey Stoney in a team statement. “She’s had a stellar career with the United States and in NWSL, and I coached against her last year when she was playing in England. She’s a top player who I feel has a lot to offer any team on the field and in the locker room. Those qualities will be of great value to our club as we build a team to be competitive in this league. I look forward to working with her on a daily basis.”

I think this is a really intriguing first signing for Stoney’s first squad. Dahlkemper has been one of the best American center backs the past five years, but admittedly, 2021 seemed to be an off year for her in some ways on the field. Hopefully, a change of scenery and being the defensive anchor that the team can build around can help get the most out of her, and if that happens, then San Diego should be in good shape right away.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

LA Galaxy to open 2022 regular season vs. NYCFC on Feb. 27

2021-11-22T08:13:54-08:00

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Home opener for next season is now revealed.

Mark your calendars, as MLS revealed the full slate of home openers for the 2022 MLS regular season on Monday, and the LA Galaxy will begin the campaign at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday, Feb. 27 against New York City FC.

The home opener is the second game we know of for the Galaxy’s 2022 season, alongside the previously announced first road game, on Saturday, Mar. 5 at expansion side Charlotte FC.

With the season kicking off on Feb. 27, the regular season will run to Decision Day on Oct. 9. MLS Cup is scheduled for Nov. 5, and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is slated to begin on Nov. 21, so there will be no World Cup break as per usual because the scheduling of the World Cup itself has been pushed back several months.

More information on the full regular season schedule for the Galaxy will be coming out in a matter of weeks, so stay tuned when the full picture on the next season drops.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

LA Galaxy 2021 Player Postmortem: Daniel Aguirre

2021-11-22T07:04:00-08:00

Courtesy of LA Galaxy

Rookie works his way up to MLS deal.

Daniel Aguirre is one of the kinds of rookie stories you can really root for. The UC Riverside product wrapped up his college career with a cancelled 2020 season due to the COVID pandemic, and he was not drafted.

But he got an invitation to the LA Galaxy’s preseason in 2021, played his way into a USL Championship contract with LA Galaxy II, and then leveraged that with a contract at MLS level by midseason.

Primarily a holding midfielder, the 22-year-old played a lot of professional minutes in 2021, making 28 appearances (2,228 minutes) for Los Dos, even scoring three goals, and then getting five shifts, most very short, off the bench for the Galaxy in MLS regular season play.

Here are Aguirre’s statistics for the first team in 2021:

Aguirre plays bigger than he is, and he impressed at USL Championship level in my opinion. If that is his ceiling, he should have no trouble finding work around that circuit in the years to come.

At MLS level, his sample size was truly tiny and so it’s hard to making sweeping generalizations about his suitability, honestly. Unlike many teams, where holding midfielder can be a real problem position, the Galaxy had a pretty deep stable of d-mids of varied profiles, from a star (Jonathan dos Santos), a newcomer who started red-hot (Rayan Raveloson), a versatile deep playmaking-style holding mid (Sacha Kljestan), and another youngster getting run (Adam Saldaña). Admittedly, Kljestan didn’t play this role much and dos Santos may or may not return to the team in 2022, so it’s possible Aguirre could find the path open up for him, or not. We’ll see.

It can be hard to really notice defensive midfielders in general, because most of their contributions are off the ball or are the uglier parts of the game, winning the ball off the other team and starting a new possession sequence. I think Aguirre has some potential, but time will tell if that’s at MLS level, and if it will be with the Galaxy for the foreseeable future or if 2021 was just a taste that was short and sweet.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

2021 LA Galaxy Player Postmortem: Jonathan Perez

2021-11-21T08:57:26-08:00

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Homegrown attacker made his MLS debut.

Jonathan Perez is a player I’ve liked watching the past couple years. The LA Galaxy academy product has shown himself to be a canny attacker at USL Championship level, someone who does the unexpected, or ghosts in plain sight into the box to get a fantastic scoring chance.

He was signed to an MLS Homegrown deal ahead of the 2020 season, but didn’t see any playing time in that star-crossed campaign. He did finally get his chance to at least take the field in MLS this year. After featuring a fair amount in preseason and scoring, he made his bow in competitive action midseason.

In the end, he made late cameos in three games, making his debut on May 2 in a road loss against the Seattle Sounders, before appearing twice more, in July against Sporting Kansas City and the Portland Timbers. In such limited minutes, there wasn’t much to analyze about his time on the field, obviously.

Once again, the 18-year-old got the bulk of his competitive minutes with LA Galaxy II, making 17 appearances and a little over 1,100 minutes at USL Championship level, where he scored a goal and three assists from a variety of attacking slots on the field.

Perez is a Mexican youth international, and there’s a decent chance he could keep getting call-ups for them and see real playing time in the coming year or two if he doesn’t quite break through to the first team in 2022. I think his skillset is really intriguing, and he seems versatile, hopefully not to his detriment. Perez strikes me as very much a “tweener” in positional terms, but on the bright side, the game is more amenable to hard-to-define attackers than it has perhaps ever been.

But at a club that is clearly trying to actually make use of the homegrown players it produces while also going for the big-name stars, time will tell if Perez will crack the first team in earnest. He’s still very young so I don’t think the book is written on his fate yet, but we’ll have to see what the future holds for Perez.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.