Arena and assistant coach Dave Sarachan will take over for the Galaxy and have their first game against Chicago this Thursday in Primetime action. Cobi Jones is expected to remain on the Galaxy coaching staff.

The move comes a week after previous coach Ruud Gullit resigned and president and general manager Alexi Lalas was fired.

It will be the third coaching stop in MLS for Arena, who resigned as coach of the New York Red Bulls in November after they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

The 56-year-old led DC United to back-to-back MLS titles in 1996 and in 1997 before leaving to become the US national coach in two World Cups.

Its been asked before, what do you make of this coaching change? And do you like the coaching staff of Jones and Sarachan with Arena. I think those three are a solid staff of coaches here.

According to SBI, Arena will be joined on the Galaxy staff by former Chicago Fire head coach Dave Sarachan, who served as Arena’s assistant with the national team during the 2002 World Cup. No word on if current interim coach Cobi Jones will still be on the Galaxy coaching staff.

I said earlier that if you read between the lines from the comments that AEG President Tim Leiweke made, it seemed more like this would be Arena’s job to take.

“This won’t take long,” Leiweke said of the search for a new Galaxy coach. “We owe the team and the fans a quick conclusion to this process.”

Well we know now we took it. There was really little doubt in my mind that it wouldn’t be Arena taking this job. Arena has something to prove and this is probably the best place for him to do it (other than starting fresh with an expansion club). I do still hope to see Cobi Jones on his staff, it would be a shame to let him go after having with that club all of those years. Plus having Arena, Jones and Sarachan on one staff seems like a good deal to me if I am a Galaxy fan. You have two that can develop young players well and handle veteran players, then you have Jones who knows the ins and outs of this club. Hell, Jones has been there since day one.

I just wonder if we will see Bruce in a fancy Hollywood suit like Jones was wearing last night or if he will stick to the usual sports gear like nearly every other coach.

I’m sure more will come out of this in the coming days here over the weekend.

Cobi Jones made his coaching debut against Chivas USA

Cobi Jones made his coaching debut last night against Chivas USA in a 2-2 draw. An excellent game overall that showed loads of passion out of each club. Jones looked all Hollywood in his debut but what did you all think of him last night? Somehow his club came back and tied that game and won the SuperClasico for the third time in four years.

With Bruce Arena in the picture right now was this a one time shot for Jones? Or will we see him suit up again like this in another game?

Thus the SuperClasico is here for the third and final time this season between LA and Chivas USA.

The Galaxy will be led by interim boss Cobi Jones, who has taken over after the departure this week of Ruud Gullit. He will be trying to put an end to a seven-game winless streak in his first game in charge. Chivas USA has stumbled in their last couple games and in the SuperClasico this season. Needless to say, both clubs need points to stay in the hunt for the MLS Playoffs. If those said playoffs were to start today both clubs would be on the outside looking in. So a win tonight could push one of them back up the standings, at least for a couple days.

Right now Chivas is banged up and will be without their best player (Sasha Kljestan who probably is still in China). The lineup probably won’t include Claudio Suarez, Jonathan Bornstein, Alecko Eskandarian or Ante Razov. LA doesn’t nearly have the injury issues as Chivas does but they are just in a funk right now. Their offense hasn’t looked in sync in recent weeks and their defense is well…their defense.

This game always breads well for the Galaxy though. Sure Chivas has played well in recent memory (mostly last year) but I just don’t see them pulling through on this one tonight. I think LA, even with the coaching shake-up of this week will pull together around Cobi Jones and beat Chivas.

Its weird how this rivalry causes some jobs to be lost, even before the game is played.

If Chivas was even remotely healthy I would take them in a heart beat right now but after looking at everything you have to sometimes take funk over injuries. Chivas has proved they can win without some big guns in their line up but doing it in a rivalry game is a whole other issue. I want to see it happen before I go out and say they will win.

I think David Beckham and Landon Donovan will have a big game tonight. Its on Primetime and front and center (even though everyone will be watching Michael Phelps win another gold medal).

WVH Prediction: LA 3, Chivas 1

Lots of names will float out there and with 11 games left on the menu for the Galaxy I am beginning to wonder if the Galaxy will just hold on to interim coach Cobi Jones for the rest of the year. Would it really work out to bring in a coach this late in the year to take over? I think the smart answer is no. But with the way AEG wants to bring in the money I have a feeling they may push hard for a quick change here in the coming week. Even Jones has said he has the club for the next game and that’s all he’s been told about the timetable here.

Though if they do the smart thing and give Jones the time for the rest of the year, that will allow themselves to get the coach they all want for this club.

SO who exactly will be on that short list of coaches that the Galaxy could be looking at here?

• Peter Nowak – Most people believe Nowak will be the top choice for this position. For good reasons too. He knows the MLS. He knows how to handle veteran players. He also works well with young players (the Galaxy has plenty of them). The former Polish international player has won MLS championships as a player with the Chicago Fire and as the coach of D.C. United. The drawbacks right now seem to just be his current situation with the US National team. Word has it he loves where he’s at right now. The only thing they could possible do to lure Nowak away from that situation is to throw some crazy money at him (which they have).
• Bruce Arena – I discussed this a couple days ago. Some will be quick to put him on the list because of his desire to prove himself again in the league after a disastrous time in New York. Plus the guy has won time and time again in this league and knows how to develop players well. I have a feeling though he will wait another year and come on board with Philadelphia in 2010 though.
• Paul Mariner – The current New England assistant has been the hot assistant that everyone talks about for a while now. He wants a chance to coach a club but he also isn’t for leaving Boston anytime soon. Again, it will take a big contract to get him out of a great situation with the Revs. Plus there is a feeling that he will be the top candidate for the Seattle job next year. Its always better to start from scratch than to try and fix a four-year mess.
• John Spencer – Another top assistant that has been rumored with many clubs over the last couple years. I have a feeling if they wait and decide they want Spencer, they will end up in a bidding war with Colorado for him. Though Colorado has no chance if it comes to that. Plus there is the fact that AEG also pays his salary in Houston so a move to a “sister club” wouldn’t be too hard of a thing to do.
• Sigi Schmid – Yeah, believe it or not his name is being thrown out there for this opening. Would he return to LA? I wouldn’t hold my breath for it. Since the Galaxy fired him back in 2004, the club has pretty much gone down hill. Schmid went to Columbus and has rebuilt that club into a real winner. I think it would take a lot for him to go back to LA too, and pretty much he would need to get fired by Columbus to do so. Something I don’t see happening.
• Cobi Jones – Promote from within? It would be a great choice but most feel Jones needs more time and experience as an assistant before he moves into a head coaching role.

Who else is out there that deserves a look?

Say what you will about the guy but he’s been one of my all-time favorites here. Can’t say I’m not rooting for him to succeed here.

I’ve been that way from the beginning with Lalas and to a lesser degree with Ruud Gullit.

Today as we all know both have left the Galaxy either on their own accord or by way of the ol’ pink slip. Again, most of you know I’ve been saying Lalas would be gone before long anyways regardless of what would happen this season unless that result was a MLS Cup win for the Galaxy. And now it looks as though that may have not been enough with his firing today.

Let me get Gullit out of the way here first. The Dutch coach put it out there for people to see with his recent sale of his LA home. Sure he said his wife didn’t like the place but that as we all know was a poor excuse for what really was going on here. While I never thought he would be a success in the league, I did think he would be a decent short term fix for the club seeing how he would know how to handle having a super star like David Beckham around.

We know both Gullit and Lalas didn’t see eye-to-eye. Hell, Lalas rarely sees eye-to-eye with any coach he works with. From San Jose to New York to LA, all stops on the post-Lalas playing days have been a disaster for not just Lalas but the club he has left. San Jose may be the only that was still decent after he left but I’m sure there are even some that point the move to Houston on Lalas just for kicks.

The writing has been on the wall for Lalas. For months, and months, okay, and maybe a year we’ve been waiting on this day as either a Galaxy supporter or a non-Galaxy supporter.

Let’s all hope this is the last stop on the Lalas as GM/President tour we see in MLS. I’d honestly like to see him just ride this off into the California sunset and not back into an ESPN broadcast booth like I suspect will happen.

Whether it was the moves that made little sense, the out landish Super Club comments, or just the litte understanding of how to run a MLS club are all reasons for getting rid of Lalas over these past few years.

Now let’s hope the club can rebuild like they should have and like they’ve done in the past, being stable from top to bottom. Stability works in this league, look at New England. To a lesser degree patience works, look at the plus side with Columbus and Sigi Schmid and to the lesser side with all the coaches that have passed through New York over the years.

Cobi Jones now steps in as the coach, don’t be shocked if after this year he becomes the general manager and that is a good thing. Jones is a solid leader who won’t incert his foot in his mouth (or his ass) like Lalas would. Plus he honestly knows the league better than anyone right now I believe. I see the Galaxy going after a Paul Merinar or a John Spencer to then coach this club if Jones heads to the front office. Both are smart moves for this club.

Even with today’s shake up I still believe the Galaxy have what it takes to turn it around in the short run and make a play for the playoffs here. As forgiving as the western conference is they are not yet out of things here. With a big match against Chivas USA coming up they could do little harm to getting back on the horse with a win over their HDC rivals.

Some moves will still be made shortly. I still see a move to ship Carlos Ruiz out of this club before long. I doubt Paul Bravo or Tom Payne will wait around for a great offer for a guy that isn’t doing much on the field and that is eatting up a bulk of their salary cap space.

So what is really next for the Galaxy. Its a wait and see kind of thing but I doubt we will have to wait too long before something does go down.