MLS Five-a-side:The skinny on five things that matter this week in Major League Soccer:
1. The big decision in L.A.: We can all settle down a bit for now on the speculation about what might shake down regarding the new Galaxy management. AEG president Tim Leiweke was quite candid on Thursday night during an interview with ESPN2 announcers Rob Stone and John Harkes.
Bruce Arena is the primary target. Will it happen? We should know soon. Leiweke said the team deserves a quick resolution, although he didn't offer any timetable. There can be no doubt about Leiweke's top choice, however.
The ESPN duo talked to Leiweke during the first half of Thursday's Galaxy-Chivas USA contest, peppering him with good questions just minutes after he dined with Arena at the stadium. Here's what Leiweke had to say:
"If I could convince Bruce to join AEG and join the Galaxy, he'd be the ideal guy to come in here. There's not a better candidate, there's not a better coach. ... We'd be honored to have him. Whether or not that will happen, time will tell. But we have the utmost respect for him."
Leiweke was a little more cryptic about the role Arena might play. As the entire organizational structure of the club seems in flux (GM Alexi Lalas was let go at the same time the club lost manager Ruud Gullit), Arena or another manager might request the position of director of soccer. He held a similar title at Red Bull New York, which allowed him more sway over personnel decisions.
"I've known Bruce a long time," Leiweke said. "We have a lot of respect for him and obviously he's been a part not only of the national team program, but part of Major League Soccer from early on. So the ability to talk to him about what we're going through here, to get his input and advice is invaluable, and I consider him a friend to the organization.
"We'd be honored and privileged if Bruce was part of the organization, but the conversation tonight was really geared towards his input and his feelings toward on what we've done right and what done wrong with this franchise."
2. What Arena could bring: There can be no doubt about one thing when it comes to Arena and a possible relationship with the Galaxy: he would immediately mend an issue that seems to have hampered the Galaxy cohesion in 2008.
Landon Donovan, for one, has spoken publicly about a perceived lack of respect from Gullit toward the players.
If you speak to players who wore the national team shirt (or the D.C. United shirt, or even the Red Bulls shirt, for that matter) under Arena, almost every one will say the same thing about the dean of U.S. soccer managers: they enjoyed serving under him because he treated the players with respect. He kept them informed through open channels of communication and he always seemed to have their best interests in mind.
Clearly, players have typically enjoyed serving under Arena.
3. Cunningham knows how to "cowboy up": Time will tell if Jeff Cunningham can get along in Dallas after his trade from Toronto, where a relationship clearly deteriorated with manager John Carver.
Cunningham will get a chance to start immediately as FCD manager Schellas Hyndman said he didn't bring in the high-scoring striker (or new Dutch flank attacker Victor Sikora for that matter) to challenge for a spot. He brought them in to make an immediate impact.
Cunningham has already made an impact -- on his teammates. He showed up at D/FW Airport and, soon after, at Pizza Hut Park, wearing a cowboy hat. And think for a second about how hard that must be to find in Toronto. (He had to go to a thrift store to find one, he said.)
"I know the boys here probably heard some things about me," he said, "because I know the coaching staff in Toronto had some uncomplimentary things to say. So, I wanted to do what I could to make things less uncomfortable."
He said everybody had a nice laugh. "And then they told me to retire it," Cunningham said.
This much is certain: Cunningham had his best year as he played under John Ellinger at Real Salt Lake. Ellinger, now an assistant at Dallas, says he never had a problem with Cunningham. He called the veteran striker a hard worker and said Cunningham's reputation as a malcontent is wholly undeserved.
4. Lemonade out of lemons: Sure, most of us had rather the U.S. Olympians still be in Asia at this moment, dealing with the swampy air while prepping for a huge quarterfinal. But they aren't. They're back in the States, dreaming of what might have been.
On the other hand, that means a lot to several MLS teams, who might now be equipped with additional reinforcements. So, who's gonna play this weekend?
Sacha Kljestan made it to The Home Depot Center for Thursday's match, although not in time to suit up for Chivas USA. He said hello to teammates, then watched the thrilling 2-2 draw from beneath a baseball cap.
Chicago Fire officials say Brian McBride probably won't start Saturday's home match against D.C. United. Rather, it looks like the highly respected striker will begin his second MLS tour that evening off the bench. McBride trained with his new club on Friday.
Stuart Holden's team and Robbie Rogers' team play at home, so they could get some minutes. Houston plays host to Real Salt Lake and Columbus entertains Dallas. It's not quite as manageable for Michael Parkhurst, whose Revolution travels across three time zones to face San Jose. So the U.S. defender is being given a few days off and should be available next week to face United.
Maurice Edu and Marvell Wynne get an extra day to reset their body clocks as Toronto doesn't play until Sunday (when the Red Bulls visit BMO). Wynne could certainly step in quickly for a Toronto side that's thin in the back.
Edu, of course, could join him, but he might have other reasons for sitting this one out. Published reports have linked the fast-rising midfielder -- or should we call him the fast-rising defender-midfielder, based on a strong showing in the back for Peter Nowak's Olympians? -- to Glasgow Rangers. While the MLS international transfer window closes Friday, players may transfer out of MLS to foreign associations until Sept. 1.
Dax McCarty got back into Dallas on Thursday evening, but he won't be with the team as it travels Friday to Columbus. Pizza Hut Park management chose to rest the young midfielder.
5. Little mileposts along the way: Somewhat forgotten in the hoopla of Olympics and management shifts at the high-profile Galaxy is a little landslide of personal accomplishments.
Landon Donovan, Kenny Cooper and Edson Buddle are all enjoying career-best years in goals scoring with a third of the season still to play. Donovan got another one on Thursday and leads MLS with 14. All three have a chance to reach 20 goals this year. That's happened just once, during the inaugural 1996 campaign.
Cooper, by the way, is already FC Dallas' fourth all-time leading scorer, with a good chance to climb all the way to No. 2 this year, behind only Jason Kreis. Not bad for a fellow who is just 23.
In New York, defender Jeff Parke, enjoying a steady season for Juan Carlos Osorio's team, just passed Tony Meola in games played for the club. Parke now trails only Mike Petke.
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