The keeper situation is pretty much what it is. LA has put all of it’s eggs in the David Bingham basket, which is neither terrible nor great. But considering the horrible season he had last year I’m surprised they haven’t added someone with more experience behind him. Brian Sylvestre looks like his backup.



The defense has improved as a whole, though anything would be an improvement from last year. Skjlvik coupled with Daniel Steres, who I think of as a poor man’s Matt Hedges, should make for a solid tandem in the middle. Meanwhile Dave Romney, Michael Ciani and Hillard-Arce should provide replacement level (perhaps even slightly better) depth.

My biggest worry for this backline is Ashley Cole and his inevitable injury. Surprisingly, he had the highest xBuildup on the team, showing he’s a big part of moving the ball from the defense into attack. But after back-to-back seasons of over 2,000 minutes for a 37 year old who has over 600 games in their career, I’m not sure the Galaxy are making the best gamble. My assumption is Romney will take over left back in a pinch, but it’s a bit surprising that LA hasn’t been able to fill this hole with someone more experienced or better to take up the role.

The Galaxy also have home grown player Hugo Arellano who could have a couple opportunities to see the pitch this year either in Regular Season play or during Open Cup play.

Midfield is very obviously the deepest spot for the team, with Jona dos Santos and Perry Kitchen starting next to each other in a type of 4-4-1-1. I’’ll be interested to see how Schmid balances Baggio Husidic, Servando Carrasco and João Pedro as depth in the central part of the field.

Alessandrini has the right side locked down, while Chris Pontius and Ema Boateng will battle it out for minutes on the left side until Sebastian Lletget is done recovering from his foot injury last spring.

Kamara has just punished teams the last couple of years in Columbus and brought his talents to Carson this off-season. He's the starter and will be an interesting fit in front of Gio dos Santos. Kamara isn’t really a back to the goal striker and isn't going to do a lot of hold up play. He’s a good passer and may help Gio create more chances. That said, he’s not going to pass up any chances inside the box. Kamara is the best true striker the team has had since Robbie Keane retired, and we should know early in the season if he and Gio will mesh.

Plenty of the offense will come down the wing from Alessandrini, and his crosses should make for a devastating combo with Kamara that isn't dependent upon Gio but still allows Gio to be himself. After Schmid’s time with Dempsey in Seattle, he might be just the guy to make things click with the elder dos Santos brother.