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Ruud Gullit didn't take long to realize he was the wrong man to
coach David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy.
"In LA, nobody is talking about football. No television
stations. You see it nowhere," Gullit said. "It's difficult to
swallow because you need that adrenaline to pump yourself up. If
nobody talks about it, it's almost like an enigma."
Famous from a standout career that earned him the 1987
European player of the year award, the former Dutch star was hired
with much fanfare in November 2007. He left just nine months into a
three-year contract, the Galaxy further adrift than when he
arrived.
Now a television commentator for Sky Sports in England, the
long dreadlocks of his playing days replaced by a close-cropped
look, the 47-year-old Gullit is preparing to be an analyst for ESPN
at this year's World Cup. He'll be paired in Johannesburg with his
former Galaxy boss, Alexi Lalas.
To prepare, Gullit made his first trip to ESPN's studios this
week. During a 30-minute interview on Monday, he was willing for
the first time to publicly discuss what went awry during his time
in Los Angeles.
"It was too much of a clash between my way of being used to
working and the rules of the MLS," he said.
Gullit couldn't cope with restrictions such as Major League
Soccer's salary cap and its draft. Having coached previously at
Chelsea, Newcastle and Feyenoord, he was accustomed to how the rest
of the football world operates: When you want a player, you go out
and buy him.
His three-year contract was said to be worth $6 million, and
he said that was so out of line with MLS standards that it created
an uncomfortable situation.
"For the amount of money that they normally pay, I don't go
from Europe all the way to live here. So therefore they need to
find sponsors. But who knows Ruud Gullit in America? Who would pay
that amount of money? And the moment that you find out nobody wants
to pay that, that's where all the trouble starts," he said.
Lalas was let go as the Galaxy president and general manager
on the same day Gullit departed, the team winning just six of 19
matches. The Galaxy missed the playoffs for the second straight
season before reaching the MLS Cup final in 2009 under Gullit's
successor, former U.S. coach Bruce Arena.
"I think he's being a little hard on himself to be honest
with you. I think there's plenty of blame to go around," Lalas said
in a telephone interview on Tuesday. "I probably should have done
things differently to at least help more in some ways. But I think
ultimately the learning curve was so big, and he came into a
situation that was so different than anything he'd ever been
associated with, that it was going to take a long time. And
unfortunately for Galaxy, we didn't have that time. And that's our
fault also."
In some ways, Gullit is dismayed by the lack of a football
culture in the United States.
"When USA is playing at home, they don't play at home. It's
unbelievable," he said. "Certain people don't want to acknowledge
it so much because everybody wants to protect the American sports,
and I can understand that. But everybody knows football is coming.
Everybody plays it everywhere. I think it will be two generations -
then people will get used to it, understand the game more. This
generation still doesn't understand it."
He also can't get used to the American system of playoffs
that MLS uses. Gullit thinks it creates an atmosphere that's not
conducive to top football, clashing with the rest of the world,
where the team that finishes first automatically is the champion.
"Every week you have to play well to be the champion. But
here it's just a matter of getting in the playoffs, and how you get
there is not so much important as long as you play well in the
knockout stages," he said.
As for the World Cup, Gullit predicts Brazil will reach the
final in South Africa. He has high hopes for the Netherlands, the
team he captained to the 1988 European Championship. But he also
has doubts.
And then there is Italy, the defending champion.
"The thing is always with the Italians, they don't need to
play well to get to the final," he said.
