It finally happened — the LA Galaxy have parted ways with president Chris Klein, the team announced Tuesday.
Amid a nightmare start to the Major League Soccer season, little to nothing has gone right for the club which has just 9 points in 14 matches. Klein was at the center of much displeasure due to the franchise’s fall from grace and missing the playoffs in four of the last six seasons. Bad signings and a lack of accountability from the front office boiled up so much that it forced the fans into a boycott this season, calling for his removal from the club.
They got what they wanted, which seems like a step in the right direction for the future of the Galaxy as they now try to repair the hefty damage Klein left behind.
“As a Club we have not achieved our goals or met the standard that we have established for the LA Galaxy,” Dan Beckerman, president and CEO of AEG said in a statement. “We believe it is in the best interest of the Club to make a change and begin a comprehensive process to seek new leadership that will return the Club to the level that our fans and partners expect.”
Sporting director and head coach Greg Vanney will continue to lead all soccer operations, but he’ll have to do so with a sanction from the league due to violating salary budget and roster guidelines in 2019. Just one of the many things that went wrong under Klein’s tenure.
Klein’s firing should ease some pressure on the team and franchise as a whole. At the very least, fans will be back in the stadium and helping boost attendance that was dwindling due to the boycott.
With new senior vice president of player personnel Will Kuntz now part of the staff, Galaxy fans should feel optimistic about what is to come. Removing Klein from the mess he helped create is just the first domino to fall. But the only true way to fix some of these issues is by winning games, something they haven’t done much of this season.
