Soccer is in the air in Southern California, as the LA Galaxy organization is currently in the midst of preseason preparations. That includes LA Galax
Soccer is in the air in Southern California, as the LA Galaxy organization is currently in the midst of preseason preparations. That includes LA Galaxy II, the MLS team’s USL side.
Entering its fourth season, the team popularly known as Los Dos is arguably going through the biggest changes yet in its short existence. Most notably, with former head coach Curt Onalfo’s promotion to the MLS team’s head coaching position, the team needed to replace a constant. They did that, but maintained continuity at the same time, with the hire of academy director Mike Munoz to replace Onalfo, announced last month.
Munoz is an intriguing appointment. His first professional head coaching job, the former midfielder who had a cup of coffee in MLS with both Chivas USA and the LA Galaxy went into coaching after his playing days, going from LA Galaxy’s academy to Real Salt Lake’s, and then Chivas USA’s during the Robin Fraser era, before moving back to the Galaxy in 2013. Named U.S. Soccer Development Academy U-16 Coach of the Year in 2010-11, Munoz has been a respected youth coach for a number of years and his rise to becoming academy director with the Galaxy reflects his experience and accomplishments.
So Munoz may be a new face, but he does keep the development pipeline for the Galaxy presumably intact, with a deep knowledge of the academy prospects who could be in line to sign a USL deal with Galaxy II, and extensive experience working with Onalfo, who is expected to rely on the academy products and Galaxy II standouts to a much greater extent with the first team than his predecessor Bruce Arena did.
In other news, Galaxy II are in preseason, with 11 players currently listed on the roster, all returning players from the 2016 squad, and tryouts that literally spanned the globe, from recent open calls at StubHub Center to tryouts in December in Tokyo, to considerable local fanfare. It’s safe to say the Galaxy have an advantage over the rest of the league in doing something like that, and if they find a player or two to bring stateside, it could really give them a leg up.
LA Galaxy II’s season officially kicks off March 25 at the StubHub Center against Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2. They have made the USL playoffs each of their first three years of existence, and with more MLS opportunities likely coming to those who set themselves apart on the USL stage, it could be the most important season yet for Los Dos.
