LA looking at Klinsmann or Gullit - Beckham has bad night in Vancouver

We might know by the end of the day if a German or a Dutchman will guide the Galaxy next season. Rumor has it that Alexi Lalas and the LA franchise have narrowed their options for manager down to Juergen Klinsmann or Ruud Gullit.

Klinsmann is the constant shinning hope of US soccer organizations as he was a fantastic player, had a great spell coaching Germany in 2006, lives in America and knows the US game. However, he has always seemed a little cool to the idea of taking over any team in his adopted country.

Still, Klinsmann has been very involved with the Galaxy organization in the past and if he were to ever coach in the league, LA would probably be his preferred location.

Ruud Gullit is a new twist in the coaching drama. He was a very key part of the Netherlands national team back in his playing days and had some early managerial success with Chelsea back in the mid-90's (pre-Roman Abramovich days), but his time with Newcastle was mixed (good first year, poor second) while his year with Feyenoord Rotterdam was very disappointing. Interestingly, all three of these jobs saw Gullit have issues with either players or management or both, which, at least in part, caused his departures.

As a former European Footballer of the Year and World Player of the Year, Gullit offers a great deal of skill to any team, however, there is nothing to suggest that he knows much about the way the US system works. Perhaps that is why LA is looking at Cobi Jones to become the assistant coach if Gullit is hired.

In other LA news, the Galaxy played a very uninteresting 0-0 friendly in Vancouver last night. The match was much hyped as Beckham's game in Canada, but Golden Balls failed to perform much magic on the pitch during his 72-minutes. He did not take any shots, nor did he show off any of his excellent passing techniques. If Beckham really hopes to get called back into the English national squad for their final European Championship qualifiers on 16 & 21 November, he needs to make a major impact this Sunday when LA takes on the Minnesota Thunder.

By the way, just to know how poor the play by LA was last night, they were outshoot by a second division team 12-3, with their first shot on goal coming in the 51st minute. Ouch. Maybe Gullit or Klinsmann should reconsider any offer.