Trade Scenarios Obscure Galaxy-Clash Game
With nothing to worry about other than remaining injury-free in advance of its opening Major League Soccer playoff game Oct. 1 at the Rose Bowl, the Galaxy tonight faces a San Jose Clash team with everything to worry about.
The Clash, whose 11-18 record is the worst in the league (just as its 38-55 mark over three seasons is a league low), has to win all three of its remaining games to make the playoffs.
The chances of getting over the first hurdle tonight at Spartan Stadium are slim, especially against a Galaxy team whose 22-7 record has it tied with defending champion Washington D.C. United for the best mark in the league.
Then, too, there is the matter of Alan Rothenberg and partners having bought the San Jose team.
Now free of his duties as president of U.S. Soccer, Rothenberg has a new set of ambitions, and turning the Clash into a contender is going to mean upheaval aplenty.
The future of Coach Brian Quinn is not bright. Not with Steve Sampson, Bora Milutinovic and Thomas Rongen, among others, hovering in the wings. All three have close ties to Rothenberg.
Nor can many of the players be assured of a place on the Clash roster next season. Even U.S. national team striker Eric Wynalda is not safe. He missed the Clash’s 3-1 victory over the Dallas Burn at the Cotton Bowl on Sunday because of a calf strain and has scored only six goals in 16 games this season.
A Wynalda trade to Los Angeles for Mexican striker Carlos Hermosillo is not out of the realm of possibility, even though Hermosillo has said he will not play for any team but the Galaxy. Wynalda for Welton is another possibility.
Such a move would reunite Wynalda with U.S. teammate Cobi Jones, but an even more appealing trade for the Galaxy would send Hermosillo or Welton north and bring El Salvador national team winger Ronald Cerritos south to play alongside Mauricio Cienfuegos.
But it is unlikely that San Jose would part with Cerritos. He has 12 goals and 12 assists this year and has been the only bright spot in an uninspiring San Jose season.
For now, the trade talk is just that--talk. But by Sunday, when the teams play each other again at the Rose Bowl, it might be something more. Rothenberg has to do something to right the San Jose ship, and the Galaxy is in a position to take advantage.
