1) The city
One of the world’s great, sprawling cities, population 18.1 million in 2011, Steven Gerrard can mug up on what life is like in the City of Angels with a quick rummage through his DVD collection. For its agreeable climate there is LA Story, starring Steve Martin as the weatherman bored of announcing the same sunny weather every day. If he wants to know what his daily commute will be like, he might quickly share Michael Douglas’s frustration in being stuck in gridlock, in Falling Down. For a fascinating look at how a piece of US desert became an oasis in the early 20th century, he should watch Jack Nicholson in Chinatown. For a dip in the Pacific, there are the private beaches of Malibu – also a location to live – and for some people-watching, there are the public beaches in Santa Monica. For culture, he should visit the Getty museum. If Alex, his wife, wants to indulge her love of fashion, there are the high-end shops on Rodeo Drive.
2) The club
He is joining the most successful club in MLS history, although he presumably will not be impressed by people calling them the Manchester United of the United States. Galaxy have won their national championship a record five times, the latest one in November, rather more recently than Liverpool’s last league title in 1990. Galaxy have also been runners-up in the league four times. However, he will have to get used to the play-off system utilised in the States to decide the champions. Then again if there was such a system in England it could have been useful for Liverpool last May. The MLS is divided into West and East Conferences and Galaxy have won the West nine times since 1996.
3) Fans
There is a celebrity-fan factor attached to Galaxy, perhaps perfectly exemplified on the club’s website with a welcome for Gerrard from Kobe Bryant, the basketball great who plays for the LA Lakers and is their all-time leading scorer. “Welcome to Los Angeles, welcome to la-la land,” he says. “Hopefully that means bringing another championship to the Galaxy and I’m sure it will. I’ve been a big fan of yours for a very long time, I enjoy your versatility and your aggressiveness and your leadership. Enjoy, and kick some ass in the process. I’ll be down there rooting you on. Peace.” Enough said, really.
Also, Tom Cruise went to games when David Beckham was playing. The StubHub Centre is the name of the stadium and it has a capacity of 27,000. The team also have a few “ultra” fan groups such as the Angel City Brigade and the LA Riot Squad.
4) Team-mates
Gerrard is already listed on the club’s roster – he will have to get used to that word – and stands out for at least one reason … he isn’t on Twitter. In that respect he is joined by his former Liverpool team-mate Robbie Keane, who has been with Galaxy for two and a half years and has been hugely successful. In that time he has scored 81 goals in 84 games, was voted the Most Valuable Player in the MLS last year and has won the club’s MVP award for the past three seasons. He also scored the extra-time goal that secured Galaxy’s MLS title in November. Juninho, a 25-year-old Brazilian, scored the club’s best goal of last year and Robbie Rogers, the USA midfielder once of Leeds, is also there. Largely the squad is, as you would expect, made up of Americans.
5) Coach
Bruce Arena is the head coach of Galaxy, a position he has held since 2008 when he replaced Ruud Gullit, instantly transforming the side from one of the worst in the MLS to one of the best, with an early emphasis on defence. As manager he has won three MLS championships and been runner-up once.
Arena worked with Beckham, leading to the MLS title in 2012. He has worked his whole career in the US and was the manager of the national team for eight years. He took over shortly after France 98 and led them to the 2002 World Cup in Japan/South Korea, where they beat Portugal and Mexico and reached the quarter-finals, losing narrowly to Germany and rising to fourth in the world rankings. Four years later, however, they finished bottom of their group in Germany and he left his post at the end of the year.
