The media glare is brighter than ever as Frank Yallop starts his first preseason as coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy. Andrea Canales, LASoccerNews.com
The former national team coach of Canada is starting his first full season as the coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy. With the imminent arrival of star David Beckham, Frank Yallop may soon become the league's most famous coach, but thus far, he appears unfazed.
Los Angeles Soccer News: As you start the preseason with the team, what pleases you about the squad and what concerns you?
Yallop: Well, we don’t have all our players into camp from day one. Obviously, three of them are away with the national team, so that’s pretty good. We still have a couple of players we want to sign, so we’re still working on that. We have a couple of trialists coming in. I’m looking forward to getting through sort of the first six weeks of so, looking forward to getting a nice, settled team. It’s going to be a bit of a tough sort of end of the season, with Beckham coming in later in the year, but it’s all exciting stuff for the team and the players.
LASN: How much pressure do you feel as a coach, integrating a player with the visibility of Beckham in the middle of the year?
Yallop: I don’t think it’s pressure – I never use that word, to be honest. We’re all here trying to win games, and if I don’t win many games, I won’t be here. I don’t put pressure on myself, and I won’t put pressure on the guys to worry about when David arrives. We’ve got to get on with our jobs, because he’s not here for half the year. We can’t just sit back and wait for him to arrive. He might come in and get injured in the first game. That’s the reason I’m doing as many things as I can to make this team more versatile and more dynamic. We’re still in the process of picking up a couple of players we feel can make a difference for us. it’s not easy, but we’re trying. We feel that the guys we’ve picked up are real positive. I thought we had a strong team anyway, without David Beckham. In certain positions, we need to get better. We’ve done well in the draft, and we got some money out of the draft, which helps us get players down the line. All in all, I’m pretty happy with where we’re at, but six weeks down the road, I’d like to have a few more positions set and know that this is our squad. I’m looking forward to that time.
LASN: Last season, you said that you didn’t mind having a smaller squad, but with this season’s crowded summer schedule, would that be a liability?
Yallop: I think so, this year. When I said I didn’t mind having a small squad, I felt I moved players that I didn’t think would be playing for us. I feel, this year. I look down the list and I’m quite happy with a number of players who I feel I can trust to put on the field. Not to say that the guys who have moved on couldn’t do that, because we’ve lost some good players, but we’re here to make changes to try to make the team better for the future. Sometimes you’ve got to give up a player you don’t want to give up to get what you really want. That’s happened in a couple of trades we’ve had. In the end, I feel we have a good, well-rounded, deep squad. You don’t know until you start playing. The guys we’ve kept from last year we like, the guys we’ve added I think have got what it takes, but time will tell.
LASN: As an MLS coach, have you expressed reservations about releasing players, like for example, lobbying, perhaps, for players who are in Gold Cup to not be chosen for Copa America as well?
Yallop: Well, I’ve been on both sides of the fence, being a national team coach for Canada and a club coach here and back in San Jose. I see both sides of it. Obviously, Bob’s trying to build to win and keep that job and take the team forward for the next four to eight years. That’s important to him. What’s important to us as a club is to build momentum going into the start of the season. Then in the middle of it, we’ve got like two tournaments, so that’s like, uh, oh. But things work out. I’m proud when people are picking our players for the national team. Ante Jazic’s a full international for Canada. We’ve got two U20’s that played for U20 qualifying. That’s seven or eight guys that have done very well representing their country. You can never stop that. We’ve talked about the depth of the squad because at some point, they’re going to be representing their country in major tournaments and we’ve got to be ready for that.
LASN: They’ve been talking a color and logo change for the team – have you ever been a part of that, does it affect a team in any way? Is the name going to be affected?
Yallop: We’re not going to change the name in any way – it’s just a kit change, I would think. I don’t think anything has been finalized yet. You’ll have to ask Alexi. I just know there might be a change there, but not for the name. I hope not.
LASN: Do you like the name? Isn’t it associated with a candy bar in Britain?
Yallop: It is. But the name’s been around for a long time. It’s been successful. I think we should try and keep it.
LASN: Finally, have you had open tryouts before?
Yallop: I haven’t. I’ve never done it before.
LASN: What are you going to be looking for?
Yallop: A good player. There’s going to be a lot of people on a lot of fields. We’ve got a lot of eyes watching. We’ll get it down to thirty-odd players who play a full eleven on eleven with substitutes. We’re hoping that somebody comes out of it. Players do slip through cracks and you never know with injuries or if they get disillusioned with things. Sometimes, they’ve got a great job and they can’t go play the sport they love. You never know, there might be that diamond we’re all looking for. I’m excited to get out there and see what it’s all about. It’s going to be a long couple of days, though, but we’ll be all right.
