Guillermo Barros Schelotto’s Introductory Press Conference
Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019 – 1:30 p.m. PT
Dignity Health Sports Park – Los Angeles
LA GALAXY PRESIDENT CHRIS KLEIN
Opening Statement:
“Before we get started, I know that all of you know, but we lost someone that was very important to us, very important to our club, and important to the sport of soccer in this country, Sigi Schmid. It is with a heavy heart that all of us learned the news and over the next few days, it was interesting to read all the things that were said about Sigi. We all have our own stories about him whether we knew him for a very short time, or whether we played for him, we wouldn’t be here with the sport where it is in this country today without someone like Sigi. He was a pioneer. He was someone that blazed the trail. Not only in college soccer, but in professional soccer, with some of our youth national teams. I certainly have a job, and we’re doing this because of what he did. We’re going to miss him dearly. The sport of soccer is going to miss him. And the people that knew him well certainly are going to miss him greatly. We intend to honor him in our own way, and I know that a lot of other clubs in Major League Soccer, and the national team plan to do so as well. So I did want to start with that. It’s hard to transition, but this is also a day that is very exciting for our club. When we embarked on this mission it was important to me; it was important to our club that we came out of this with a soccer operation structure in leadership that was very clear, that was identifiable, both internally and externally. It became obvious to us that we needed to hire a leader for our soccer operations, and allow that person to come in and conduct the coaching search. With that, we interviewed a number of people, and this was about someone that could make us very good on the first team, but that could realize the full potential of the entire club, and from the first time I spoke to Dennis [te Kloese] it was obvious that he was the right guy, and it is with great excitement for me to introduce all of you to the new LA Galaxy General Manager, Dennis te Kloese.”
On the changes within the team from bringing in Dennis and Guillermo:
“I don’t know that it’s a change. I think that it’s more clearly defined now in going out and trying to identify the best possible people in their respective position. We had an understanding and conversations of what the structure needed to look like, of what it used to be, and where we need it to go in the future. And, from there it’s trying to find people that have a similar mindset into what the Galaxy is, where we are now, and where we need to go. Having that similar viewpoint from Dennis [te Kloese] and then having that extended to Guillermo [Barros Schelotto] makes me excited about who we are, and what we can be.”
LA GALAXY GENERAL MANAGER DENNIS TE KLOESE
“Thank you very much, Chris [Klein]. First of all, happy new year to everybody, thank you very much Chris [Klein] for this great opportunity, for me, for my family. I also want to thank Dan Beckerman who’s not here today, but I want to take the opportunity. I’m very excited. I’ve always followed MLS with great interest. I’ve worked in Mexico, close by, for that last 15 years almost. There’s enormous potential, the excitement in the first team to build and to have the possibilities that the Galaxy provides, we’ll build a very good team with a great head coach, a great staff, but also going down to the second team, and to the academy. I’m very excited about this. I feel that there is great potential, and for sure with the first step of putting in place the head coach, everything else will little by little follow. I’m very proud and very excited to work together and to support Guillermo [Barros Schelotto] on this new adventure, he’s coming off from a great club, and a very promising career as a coach already, and obviously a great player. Guillermo, also on my behalf, welcome. I’m very excited, and I can’t wait until the pre-season starts at the end of the month, we will for sure be very good.”
On naming Guillermo Barros Schelotto head coach:
“First of all, as a player, obviously he’s proven to be able to win with a very accomplished career. And, as a coach both in Lanus and in Boca Juniors. He came into both teams in situations where there was a lot of need for organization, a lot of need for structure, and a lot of need for quality decisions, and I think in the position that we’re at, we can obviously take great advantage of his knowledge, and the ability to get teams and clubs organized in a way that his style of playing and his way of thinking about soccer is something that fits us. And, if you go a little bit beyond that, he’s also proven not to be afraid to put young players on the field. I think he comes from a culture similar as to where I come from, where you play when you’re good enough and not based on age or anything else. I think with the knowledge he has of MLS, being a very high profile here for several years; I think that gives something extra and that will make the adaption also a little bit more easy.”
On building the roster for the team:
I think that the first, and the most important and the biggest piece is the coach. Within all decisions that we make as a club, he has the highest say about where he wants to take the team; how he envisions obviously the building of the roster. I think with his knowledge and his actual experience in MLS, my knowledge, and my ability to obviously reach out to different players and see where we can improve, it’s going to be a big challenge with the MLS rules and regulations. We need to be creative, we will be creative, and we will be able to balance out a few points that we noticed that need improvement. I’m eager to start working. Obviously, we travel tomorrow to combine, which is an important event. We travel to the draft, and then with pre-season starting and the team coming in, I think that a lot of things will get going. But it was obviously a little bit of time that we needed to have the perfect candidate for this important position which is Guillermo [Barros Schelotto]. From there, everything else will flow more naturally.”
On the influence Guillermo will have within the academy:
“Guillermo is the head coach of the first team, but being the head coach of the first team leaves a big example to the rest of the staff, and within the academy and all players, I think they already noticed that he’s here. It gives, I think, and extra possibility for younger players to be able to learn to be closer to the first team. In the end its about quality, and it’s about being able to fight for a spot on the first team. But, I think it’s for us and personally for me, very important for somebody who’s open to looking at other aspects of the club, while the priority is obviously the first team and being good there.”
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GUILLERMO BARROS SCHELOTTO
“Thank you very much, Chris [Klein] and Dennis [te Kloese] for giving me the confidence and to bring me here. I am very happy, and very excited about the future, because we want to better the future for Galaxy. I am very happy and excited to start training within 20 days to prepare our team. Thank you very much, I hope to help you and to work to better the Galaxy in the future. I want to make a special mention to Sigi Schmid too, because he brought me here when I spent time at Columbus Crew. I want to say thank you very much. He was very important to me when I came here. Not just for soccer, but he helped me in a lot of human things. So I want to say thank you very much, Sigi Schmid.”
On coaching the LA Galaxy:
“I like the offensive style of soccer. We need to work on the field during the week to get that. I think we have good players on offense. They are really good like [Ola] Kamara, [Zlatan] Ibrahimović, [Romain] Alessandrini, so I think we need to work to get that. It’s not easy, it’s not simple, but we need to work.”
On making the move to MLS:
“I know about MLS, I played for years in Columbus Crew, so I know what you’re talking about when we talk about soccer in the United States. I think that the league is growing, I think that players are getting better and better. I think that for me it’s a bit challenging coaching here. I like the country; I like the league. For me, it was very easy to argue the possibility to come here.”
On what attracted him to come to Los Angeles:
“LA Galaxy is the most important club in MLS with a big history. So I think that this is the point in LA for me. Galaxy.”
[Translated from Spanish]
On the biggest challenges the team will face this season and what contribution the Dos Santos brothers can bring to the team:
“I don’t think that we depend only on two or three players. To build what we want, for the Galaxy to have a style of play, and to win, which are the two things that matter most in soccer. We are thinking about working as a team, more than the individuals and their importance. We will see each player’s level throughout the year, but the most important thing is to achieve an attacking and attractive style of play, and win.”
On bringing in players from South America and the team’s winning mentality:
“Well, we only have until the league starts to see what changes we can make regarding the players or not. We will be determining what we need as we start training and we see what level we are at. In reference to the winning mentality, the Galaxy has a deep history as I previously stated and it’s the most important club in the league, but we first have to build to then start thinking about winning. After that, time will tell what we are capable of.”
On what attracted him to come to the Galaxy:
“What attracted me was the league’s growth, the team’s importance within the league, and Chris’ and Dennis’ search to find a style, to be ambitious, to be attractive, to be offensive and to be a winner. So there was a lot of things that coincided with what I want in my team, and the truth is that is what attracted me.”
On the Galaxy winning the championship this season:
“In respect to winning everything, or nothing at all, I understand that the Galaxy has a huge history. It’s one of the most important clubs in the league, but first, we have to contribute and think about winning as a team, and after that, we’ll see what we can do.”
