The LA Galaxy helped Landon Donovan get the storybook ending he deserved when they won the MLS Cup in 2014. Now their supporters hope the beginning of a new era can be celebrated in similar style. The defending champions didn’t rest on their success when they found an immediate replacement for Donovan with the biggest splash of the MLS offseason in signing Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard. Gerrard isn’t in the prime of his career anymore but he still has plenty to offer an LA Galaxy team that is once again poised to challenge for an MLS Cup in 2015.
Adding A Suitable Replacement
The obvious task at hand for LA Galaxy entering this offseason was to find a marketable star capable of filling the tremendous hole left by Donovan in terms of both skill and star power, and it appears as though they found exactly that in Gerrard. The Liverpool skipper will make his way to the United States after his contract expires following the Premier League season and will fill the open Designated Player spot left by Donovan.
Gerrard will join the Galaxy on a reported 18-month contract that will pay him $6 million per year and it will be very interesting to see how quickly he is able to fit in. Word of a hamstring injury that will keep him sidelined for the next three weeks overseas could complicate the situation but at this point, it appears as though the injury isn’t too serious. He isn’t expected to join the team until July so it appears as though the team will have to make due without him in the early going of the 2015 season. Gerrard’s vision, experience, talent, and leadership will be huge for LA and they deserve credit for finding such a perfect fit following the retirement of an MLS legend.
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A Relatively Quiet Offseason Otherwise
Gerrard’s vision and touch on the football will help make the most out of the talents of league MVP Robbie Keane and 19-goal-scorer Gyasi Zardes to comprise one of the most lethal attacks in all of MLS. This is a team that scored a whopping 69 goals last season, which was the most in the MLS.
The Galaxy committed to building around that core but they did take a risk when they traded midfielder Marcelo Sarvas to Colorado after he had a tremendous campaign a year ago. Sarvas would have been the perfect player to keep in the middle until Gerrard arrives, notching nine goals and 19 assists in 88 regular season appearances. But the team pushed him out of town and now it will be on Juninho to fill a bigger void until Gerrard is ready. In an ideal world, they would have kept both but assuming Gerrard is healthy, they really don’t need both.
LA won an MLS Cup with the four defenders they will bring back in 2015 but an offseason that was relatively quiet other than the signing of Gerrard leaves questions about the depth in the midfield and defense. They have been fairly strong defensively, though, leading the Western Conference with the fewest goals allowed in each of the last two seasons.
Outlook
The LA Galaxy didn’t do much in terms of the starting 11 that won it all a year ago and while the loss of Sarvas could hurt in the middle early on, it’s more likely that someone steps up and holds down the role until Gerrard’s arrival. Head coach Bruce Arena was convinced to return for at least one more year and now he gets the chance to lead one of the most talented team’s in the league in their bid to repeat. Keane and Zardes represent the most dangerous forward tandem in the MLS and if Gerard can stay healthy, this team will be tough to stop at any point on their quest to repeat.
