CARSON, Calif. – January 15, 2009, the day that the course of the LA Galaxy was changed forever.
In the ballroom at the St. Louis Convention Center, Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena, who had been hired by the club months earlier, set about rebuilding a team that fallen short of the playoffs since winning MLS Cup in 2005.
To do so, he built the spine of his club by drafting Omar Gonzalez (third overall) and A.J. DeLaGarza (19th overall), a pair of center backs from the University of Maryland.
Upon joining the Galaxy, the two were quickly taken under the wing of the team's veterans with Gonzalez getting almost personal instruction from longtime U.S. international Gregg Berhalter en route to his rookie of the year nod in 2009.
The rest, as they say, is history as the pair served as the spine for Galaxy teams that went on to appear in four MLS Cups over a six-year span, reaching the conference finals five times. And at the core of those teams have been four constants: the two Maryland men, defender Todd Dunivant and, of course, Landon Donovan.
“Since I came on this team, we’ve been a solid group and have been a contender late in the playoffs every single year,” said Gonzalez. “It has to do with the team that Bruce built because he’s an excellent manager and coach as well as the guys in the locker room, fighting for one another.
Said DeLaGarza, “He’s wanted to build chemistry which is something that takes years and seasons to perfect, but Bruce made an overhaul of his roster in 2009 and then kept a core of guys each year. He’s a very smart guy.”
But Arena’s ability to bring in reload his roster is not limited to central defenders.
Since 2009, the Galaxy have had a revolving door of supporting cast members that has included names like Kovalenko, Cristman, Stephens, Jimenez and Wilhelmsson. Those faces supplemented a spine that included veteran Todd Dunivant (re-acquired in 2009), Juninho (acquired in 2010), Marcelo Sarvas (acquired in 2012), and of course, perhaps Arena’s greatest addition of all, Robbie Keane (acquired in 2011).
How does Arena do it? The Galaxy boss says “it certainly isn’t easy.”
“It’s a long process, but over time, you figure it out because it comes from experience and the qualities of building a team,” said Arena. “I don’t think that there is a simple answer, but if I could, I’d write a book then go on tour and make a lot more money than I do now.
“I usually don’t get too bad a group of guys. I get people who understand the concept of a team and what it takes to be successful.”
Through the years, Arena was able to blend in a mix of veterans and youngsters who helped the Galaxy reach dizzying heights that have seen them labeled as a modern day MLS dynasty. But what has made those teams successful is not simply their talent, but the camaraderie, which each new player can sense from the moment that they arrive at StubHub Center.
“Everyone has extend their arms and welcomed me, and that made it easy to me to [be a part of] the team,” Sarvas said. “The new players that come, everyone always receive people with a smile and good intention. That's a very big thing with the Galaxy.”
Added Stefan Ishizaki, “I kind of felt as soon as I got here that LA Galaxy is more like a family than a team,” he said. “I would say it's the same as [at IF Elfsborg] the last team I played for. We were a small club in Sweden and we were always fighting against the big clubs, and we always did really well, so it was more like a family there, too.
“It was different when I played in Italy [in 2004 for Genoa]. It was more you went to your job, you did your job, and then you went home to your family. This team here is a family.”
As close as the team is, the future of the Galaxy’s core is an uncertain one heading into next season.
By the time 2015 rolls around, Donovan will have retired while players like Dunivant, Keane and Sarvas will be another year older. In the offseason, Arena will undoubtedly have to once again reshape a team that expects to enter each season as favorites for silverware.
While the future is loaded with question marks, if Sunday is truly the last ride for a core of players that have been around for nearly half a decade, they intend to make it a memorable one.
“You never know if you’re ever going to get back to a final so you have to take advantage of every opportunity,” Todd Dunivant said. “It’s funny because in 2012 when David Beckham was leaving it was the last time that group was going to be together, but in some respects it is a same situation now. We have to move on.
“The reason that we have a core group of guys is because we can adapt and adjust and find other ways to win games and win championships.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
