It has been an eventful August for the Galaxy.

The blue-and-gold began the month riding a winless streak dating back to June, and under the dark cloud of ominous changes if the team did not start performing better, and quickly. Within days of the ultimatum being handed down by the Galaxy's ownership group, AEG, the threat became a reality. Galaxy President and General Manager Alexi Lalas was fired on August 11th, the same day on which head coach Ruud Gullit quit the team. At first glance, these moves may seem hasty, but in reality, were necessary -- although AEG could stand to learn a bit about timing.

Galaxy legend Cobi Jones assumed the role of interim coach and made his coaching debut against bitter rival Chivas USA, a mere three days after the shake up. The game and sense of relief noticeable on the players' faces that night were overshadowed by the sight of former U.S. National Team head coach Bruce Arena at the Home Depot Center. His presence at the game seemed to confirm speculation that Arena was the leading candidate for the head coaching position.

On August 18th, the Galaxy made it official, naming Bruce Arena head coach and General Manager, surprising most observers who expected Arena to be named to one of the two positions, but not both. Thus, the Bruce Arena era is now upon us. But exactly what does Arena bring to the team and how should his success be measured?

First and foremost, although he can be sarcastic at times, Arena is a realist. He understands that successful clubs cannot be bought nor built overnight. The Galaxy have spent the last 5 - 6 years chasing foolish ideas, while other teams such as the Houston Dynamo and New England Revolution have held firm on longer term visions. Former Galaxy President Alexi Lalas regularly blurted out his vision that the Galaxy would become a super club or a World brand, rivaling the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid or AC Milan, as unrealistic as it seemed to the vast majority of observers.

In the end, it can be said that Lalas' vision did become a reality. The Galaxy's gradual decline over the years due to chasing unrealistic goals is on par with the equally silly and dysfunctional 'Galacticos' era of Real Madrid, which coincidently, also involved David Beckham. Thus, in those terms, the Galaxy did manage to equal, if not best, Real Madrid.

In contrast, Houston and New England have steadily and gradually improved to the point of being a consistently solid team year after year. Ironically, many of the short sighted personnel moves by the Galaxy have led them to cast off a tremendous amount of talented players which one will find successfully filling roles on various clubs throughout the league, including Houston and New England. Arena's leadership will hopefully lead to a more logical view towards how to build a successful club and hold the Real Madrid copycats at bay.

Secondly, Arena has a keen eye for talent. He was the one that initially named Galaxy forward Landon Donovan to the U.S. National Team, and also has been instrumental in the development of numerous other players. A great example of his keen eye can be seen in New England defender Chris Albright.

Originally entering the league as a forward, Albright blossomed only after Arena took him into National Team program a few years ago. Arena recognized that Albright was better suited to play at the right back position, instead of the forward/midfield position he had normally occupied throughout his career. Sigi Schmid, then coach of the Galaxy and Albright, followed suit and the rest, as they say, is history. Although Albright has been victimized by some injuries in recent times, he is widely considered to be one of the best right backs in the league. As in many other cases, foolish decisions and dream chasing on the part of the Galaxy front office lead to his departure, even though he was a critical component of the team's defense and offense. Arena's dual role as coach and General Manager should help stem the tide of constant turnover and dumping of talent, bringing stability, growth and overall, a better team.

Lastly, Arena is also a student of the game and league. He understands the mentality of an American player, as well as who is who within the league, his constraints and how to make the most out of what he has. His analytical skills allow him to comprehend the strengths and weaknesses of not only the opposing team, but more importantly his own.

Since the departure of former head coach Ruud Gullit, a number of interesting comments from Galaxy players have shed some light on the inner workings of the Gullit experiment. Most telling was the almost universal commentary that Gullit was disrespectul towards players and did not seem to care, albeit, not in those exact words.

Defenders Greg Vanney and Sean Franklin have both commented on the fact that practices under Arena are more focused and tend to revolve around the idea of correcting problems within the team, such as improving defense. Reading between the lines of their comments, Gullit apparently had a more laissez-faire attitude when it came to resolving problems, perhaps he was hoping they would solve themselves, didn't know how to fix them, didn't care or didn't want to care. Any way one looks at it, Gullit's approach was not good. Arena seems determined to correct the problems, rather than ignore them. However, Arena is not without his critics.

Many of them like to point to the poor performance of the U.S. National Team at the 2006 World Cup as a sign of his inability to coach. While it is true that the team did not perform well in that tournament, none of the players making up that team have pointed fingers at his leadership or abilities as the source of the poor performances. Further to this, Arena's work in the 8 years prior raised the level of play significantly, to the level that U.S. fans now expect the team to meet or exceed the results of its most successful World Cup presence in 2002. With some time, he was able to build a competitive U.S. team and he can do the same for the Galaxy.

Arena's success should not be measured by the number of playoff games the team plays this year, but instead, by whether or not there is a noticeable shift in direction towards steadily improving the team over time. Although his debut as Galaxy coach was spoiled by a loss to Chicago, the team's character already seems to have benefited from his presence. Players seem happier and morale seems to have improved.

Saturday night, Arena will get a second chance at his first victory when the Galaxy face New England. Unlike his debut, Arena will now have Beckham and Donovan available. In addition, the Galaxy traded forward Carlos Ruiz to Toronto FC in order to make room for U.S. National Team veteran Eddie Lewis, also available for this game. Lewis brings a wealth of experience at a position that has been sorely missing within the Galaxy for years, left midfield. His addition to the team should yield positive results.

Like him or not, the Galaxy now have a strong leader that can build a winning franchise. This is exactly what the team was in need of for at least 6 years. It is time to let the man do his work so we can rejoice in the glory of future championships under his tenure.

Game Details:

Galaxy at New England Revolution

Time: 4:30 PM

TV: HDNet, FSN-PT, DirectKick, MLSLIVE.tv
Radio : 1330 AM (Esp), AM 570 (Eng)

Photo by wjarrettc via Flickr