Galaxy Head Coach and General Manager Bruce Arena, ably assisted by Assistant Head Coach Dave Sarachan, revitalized the fortunes of the once-moribund Galaxy this season and has the team in the Western Conference Final against the Houston Dynamo at 8 p.m. Friday at Home Depot Center.

And deservedly so after leading the Galaxy from worst to first in MLS and adding a second MLS Coach of the Year honor a dozen years after first claiming the award with D.

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Since we didn't have many significant domestic league matches this week, and I have time to kill on a train from Amsterdam to Brussels, here is the next edition of our Annual Rankings. This time, we are up to 1989.

1989 was one of those seasons in which the European Cup winner did not manage to finish atop the World Club Rankings for the year.

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Former Newcastle United owner Freddie Shepherd has been having his say on Keegangate, as is his wont in such situations these days, and of course that called for a comparison with his time at Newcastle and how things were so much better back then. Freddie said: "There are no winners [I say no winners, you listening to [. Click to continue reading...

Chirs Hughtoin hardly welcomes the limelight, but he was interviewed today within the context he is the second black manager at Newcastle United. Chris Hughton - when he arrived in Newcastle a year last February Ruud Gullit, who had a year at the club from 1998 until 1999, when he was replaced by Bobby Robson, was the [. Click to continue reading...

El ex-futbolista holándes, Ruud Gullit habla sobre lo que es un equipo:

Un equipo es como un buen reloj : si se pierde una pieza todavía es bonito, pero ya no funciona igual.

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The Amsterdam Arena, Wednesday, 7:45 KO

Cue cheesy Boogie Nights porno soundtrack...

Ah yes, right now, I'm about to embark on a whistle stop tour of Europe's sexiest city along with Soffo the Greek, Champagne Briggsy, Big Baz & fellow scribe Dan "Remi" Church, all in the name of UKFF of course, it's work isn't it?

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Nothing to say other than to have a laugh and post this excerpt:

With its basement spa and pool, home cinema and roof terrace, could this house in Chelsea be the £10 million home that lures David and Victoria Beckham to London?

The couple's spokesman confirmed today the couple were looking at buying a property in the capital.

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The English Premier League is one of the most popular football leagues in the world for many reasons, especially its coaching soap opera. No other league has managed to turn coaching vendettas and spats into a complex, highly entertaining mix of both low and high art in the manner that the EPL has achieved.

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Il Tupilo Nero was Ruud Gullit's Nickname While Playing For AC Milan
In our last installment we looked at the arrival of a controversial figure, the former Portuguese international Abel Xavier. Now in our fifth and final excerpt from Grant Wahl's excellent book "The Beckham Experiment" we look at Xavier or "X"'s exit from the Californian club. Click to continue reading...

Grant Wahl's The Beckham Experiment is an incredible behind the scenes look at Beckham - the brand, MLS - the struggling US soccer league - and is a tale of footie adventure in the US recounted through Wahl's amazing unprecedented access to players, coaches, staff, and handlers.
Wahl is in the locker rooms, on the field, in the hotel room lobbies, at dinners, at parties- you name it - but his work is more than just an inside look at Beckham's brief stay in the US. Click to continue reading...

Celestine Babayaro in a rare appearance with the LA Galaxy at an Adidas store in Seoul, South Korea.
With the release today of Grant Wahl's text "The Beckham Experiment" we continue to post interesting, or funny excerpts likely overshadowed in the whole Beckham vs Donovan brouhaha.
One of the more fascinating mini plots of the whole Beckham to LA Galaxy saga was one that occurred last off season when Newcastle man Celestine Babyaro was brought in to bolster the Galaxy right side. Click to continue reading...

He's the best manager this nation has ever produced. Not only is he the best, but the gap between Bruce Arena and the second best American manager ever (Bob Bradley, Dom Kinnear, Mooch Myernick, etc?) is so wide it's not even worth debating. Bruce Arena has done what no US manager has ever done and may never do again.

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Ruud Gullit clearly didn't get it.
An advance copy of Grant Wahl's much talked about hardback landed in the MLSR mailbox today from publisher Crown Publishers. And we are currently pouring through it for over looked bits of juice and hilarity.
All week on MLSR we will post an interesting but perhaps overlooked excerpt of the book each day. Click to continue reading...

Oranje in 1982 standing from left to right: Dick Schoenaker (Ajax), Ben Wijnstekers (Feyenoord), Michel van de Korput (Torino), Ruud Gullit (Feyenoord), Hans van Breukelen (FC Utrecht), Frank Rijkaard (Ajax). Sitting: Gerald Vanenburg (Ajax), Peter Boeve (Ajax), Edo Ophof (Ajax), Wim Kieft (Ajax), Willy van de Kerkhof (PSV). Click to continue reading...

"I think people at the top have demeaned this competition"
It is rare that we get a snarky comment out of Colorado. But luckily we now have one courtesy of one English manager, Gary Smith. One part snark, one part disgust, one part conspiracy theory. Apparently he is none to happy his Rapids didn't get to play at Qwest Field and has wrapped himself in the flag of the US Open Cup to defend his comments. Click to continue reading...

If you are looking for one sentence that will continuously be written all summer, it will most likely be this:

(RED BULLS PLAYER A) has been loaned out to USL-2 side (TEAM NAME HERE) for a one game loan.

With the dissolution of the reserve league (Ruud Gullit must be rolling on the floor with laughter), teams have found themselves in quite a conundrum; how do you keep your bench players playing and growing?

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In case you hadn't guessed, NSFW language! At one time, Chelsea striker Didier Drogba was supposedly releasing a rap album under the alias Drogbacite. OTP doesn't think this ever saw the light of day but if it did, it probably wasn't as good as this hip-hop remix of his swearing rant at a camera on Wednesday [. Click to continue reading...

After Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard, Marco van Basten is the third AC Milan crack failing as an Eredivisie coach. Like his Milan buddies, Van Basten will go down in history as the coach who got lost in the Dutch league. His two illustrious predecessors stumbled at Sparta and Feyenoord Click to continue reading...

If the media are to believed, AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti is the one of the most sought after managers in world football with Real Madrid and Chelsea among the sides linked with the Italian boss for the 2009-10 season.

However, this writer struggles to see why Ancelotti's stock is so high at a time when his own job at Milan must be considered seriously under threat.

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Is it really that hard to do?

While I was sleeping our faithful reader George linked us to some personnel changes. Brandon MacDonald and Mike Randolf have been waived. Ruud Gullit was high on MacDonald last year, and Randolf has been an on again off again starter in the back four. I guess we have to cut our roster somewhere, and these guys don't fit into Bruce Arena's plans.

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Ruud Gullit, ex-internacional holandés (elegido dos veces como el mejor jugador del mundo) y ex-entrenador del LA Galaxy de la MLS, afirmó hace no mucho tiempo a la agencia Reuters que el fútbol en Estados Unidos nunca lograría ganarse un lugar entre los deportes más populares...
"Creo que existe una conspiración en contra del fútbol en Estados Unidos y que por lo tanto, David Beckham y su llegada a la MLS no tendrán el efecto esperado. Click to continue reading...

The Man, The Legend, Ruud Gullit
Today we are taking a short break from the MLS season wrap-up (we'll return to that on Wednesday) to talk with former Galaxy boss Ruud Gullit. I caught up with Ruud while visiting a clog manufacturing plant in Holland. While walking amongst the rows of ladies in white hats making wooden clogs we discussed his life, football, and surprisingly to anyone who doesn't know the real Ruud, science. Click to continue reading...

Wait, wait. Stop me if you've heard this one before. Ruud Gullit said something stupid . . . Oh, all right. I know it's a bit like fishing with hand grenades, but anyway . . . So I'm watching a stream of Liverpool-Chelsea (Sky Sports, I think?), and I left it on after the match on the off chance that I would get to see Jamie Carragher attempting to speak English (I did, and it was just as Click to continue reading...

Wow, our favorite Dutchman is back in the news. And just as we feared he is making even more outlandish statements about MLS the more he is asked about it. He just goes on and on and on....Like the Energizer bunny crossed with Oliver Stone with an unfortunate haircut. Anyway...
An excerpt rom Sky Sports:
Problems Stateside

Sunday evening promises a trip to sample the MLS as LA Galaxy - minus Beckham who is on England duty - play host to Chicago Fire.

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Stuff to read while you sue God..... A look at Bernd Stange's non-footballing job history. (Sniffing The Touchline) The WAG "circus" may be over, but those clowns will always be in our hearts. (The Spoiler) Aberdeen's in the house, and it's not written by Derek Rae. (Aberdeen Offside) Bologna too, but that one might be Derek under a nom [. Click to continue reading...

The MLS Files Ex-LA Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit has revealed that the evil geniuses behind Major League Soccer are deliberately keeping a lid on soccerball to avoid damaging true American sports. Comments made to Reuters about a Major League Soccer conspiracy have had some onlookers questioning the state of the former Dutch international's mental health. Click to continue reading...

Just a quick note to point you to a couple of good reads since early this morning we presented you with Ruud "MKULTRA" Gullit's claims that US Soccer was holding the sport down so as not to make other sports in the USA look bad.
Gullit Makes No Sense - LA Times
New motivation . Click to continue reading...

Ruud Gullit must have brought some of California's finest back to the other side of the pond as he has gone all conspiratorial on us...
This comes to us courtesy of Reuters:

CARSON, California, Oct 13 (Reuters) - David Beckham faces a near-impossible task to try to elevate soccer to unprecedented heights in the United States, says former Los Angeles Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit.

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It seems one of the things that may have prompted MLS to consider major changes to the schedule might have been the words of ex-LA Galaxy boss, Ruud Gullit. In this interview with Britain's Daily Mail he give MLS some constructive criticism that many readers here likely agree with.

Here is an excerpt:

Courtesy of our friends at Tribal Football:

Former LA Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit says there's a lot that needs to change in MLS.

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Turns out Bruce Arena's first Galaxy team looks a lot like Ruud Gullit's last team - not that he's got many options of course.

David Beckham is on his way to China for the Olympics closing ceremonies, Landon Donovan is recovering from last night's Guatemalan hackfest, um, game, Carlos Ruiz is now a Toronto player, eh, and new signing Eddie Lewis has the evening off too, recovering from the nasty blow to the head he took, no doubt.

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Another MLS coach faced the firing squad on Wednesday afternoon as the announcement was made that the Colorado Rapids have decided to part ways with head coach Fernando Clavijo immediately. Assistant coach Gary Smith has been tapped to fill the position on an interim basis for the remainder of the 2008 season. Click to continue reading...

Fernando Clavijo, the head coach of the Colorado Rapids, has resigned with immediate effect from his position. Like the death of a sick loved one, the news comes as a shock but not exactly unexpected. Rumors had been flying for some time, especially after the recent meltdown at the Los Angeles Galaxy when Ruud Gullit and Alexei Lalas said goodbye. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Los Angeles Galaxy will introduce Bruce Arena as the team's new head coach at a press conference scheduled for 2pm ET today.

Arena and assistant coach Dave Sarachan will take over for former Galaxy head coach Ruud Gullit, who resigned a week ago, and their first game at the Galaxy helm will be Saturday against the Chicago Fire.

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Very quick notes while on the run in Beijing:

- The EPL team we've picked to follow, Everton, kicks off the season at 10 a.m. ET Saturday against Blackburn, conveniently on Fox Soccer Channel. Take a look.

- Could the LA Galaxy be doing any more to telegraph the expected hiring of Bruce Arena?

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Back before the season began, WV Hooligan put out Fernando Clavijo, Sigi Schmid and Juan Carlos Osario as his top 3 for being in the coaching hot seat in the MLS. Sigi Schmid doesn't appear to be close with the Crew, along with head coaching rookie Dennis Hamlett's Chicago Fire, still in contention with New England for the Supporters Shield. Click to continue reading...