Lalas Makes Way Back to L.A.

Shawn Hunter, president of AEG Sports, welcomed Alexi Lalas as the new president and general manager of the Galaxy on Monday, saying Lalas was the right person to lead the defending Major League Soccer and U.S. Open Cup champion.

“He’s obviously had tremendous experience in the world of soccer, and he’s also shown us great leadership in the front office these past couple of years,” Hunter said. “I think it’s going to be a tremendous fit.

“In our opinion, Alexi was the only guy that we felt” could continue “the vision and the momentum that Doug Hamilton had created for this franchise.”

Lalas replaces Hamilton, who died last month while on a flight to Los Angeles from Costa Rica.

“I did not want the franchise to go an inch backward from the success that Doug had created in the stands and on the field,” Hunter said. “There really wasn’t anybody out there that we felt comfortable with, other than Alexi, of stepping into those shoes.”

Lalas, 35, retired as a player in 2004 after seven MLS seasons, the last three with the Galaxy, and was immediately hired by AEG as president and general manager of the San Jose Earthquakes. For the last 10 months, he served in the same capacity with the New York Red Bulls, formerly the MetroStars.

“This has been a tremendous ride for me over the past couple of years and it has given me a wonderful perspective on a game that I thought I knew very, very well,” Lalas said.

In returning to Los Angeles, Lalas has become the man to whom Galaxy Coach Steve Sampson will have to answer. The two have had their differences, especially at the 1998 World Cup, when Sampson was the U.S. coach and kept Lalas on the bench for the entire tournament.

Speculation had been that Sampson would sooner or later be shown the door if Lalas took charge of the Galaxy. Lalas says removing Sampson is not on his agenda.

“There are certain things that I look back on in my career and my life that I might have done differently,” he said, “and 1998 was probably one of them.

“Any problems that Steve and I had in 1998 were long put to bed. Since then we’ve had a relationship, we’ve talked, I’ve followed his career, and I was as excited as anybody last year,” when the Galaxy won two titles.

“He has my full support.”

Echoing the AEG line that the Galaxy needs to be about entertainment as much as about winning games, Lalas said the players have to be aware of that.

“Just because we were able to win a championship last year doesn’t mean that we can’t get better,” he said, indicating that he will not hesitate to make whatever changes he feels are necessary.

“Right now, individually, we certainly have quality there. We have guys like Landon Donovan and Tyrone Marshall and Peter Vagenas and Kevin Hartman who obviously I know well from either having played with them or having been their GM.

“I have a history with a lot of these players. But the fact is, although I know them personally, I still have expectations of them. And those expectations supersede any type of personal relationship or any history that we have.”

The decision to return to Los Angeles was his, Lalas said.

“There wasn’t a Eureka moment where I sat up in bed and said this is what I have to do,” he said. “Ultimately, it comes down to gut and where you feel that you need to go and where you feel your future is.

“I don’t have all the answers ... [but] I’m very honest and upfront in my approach. I’m very no-nonsense. This is a game I know and love and that I have a passion for, and that passion was renewed with the opportunity to become a GM.”