Major League Soccer

Galaxy fires Schmid as coach despite sitting at top of table.

Sigi Schmid led the Galaxy to the 2002 MLS title, as well as winning the U.S. Open Cup and the CONCACAF Champions Cup. -- Los Angeles Galaxy photo --

CARSON, Calif. (Monday, August 16, 2004) -- The Los Angeles Galaxy fired coach Sigi Schmid today although the club had the best record in Major League Soccer.

Team president and general manager Doug Hamiltion said he expected to name a new coach soon. In the meantime, assistant coach Martin Vasquez will run the club with assistance of the remaining technical and coaching staff.

While Los Angeles, with a 9-6-7 record and 34 points, was atop the MLS table, the team had not won since defeating the Colorado Rapids 2-0 on July 10. Since, the team was winless in five outings, going 0-1-4, but only one of those games was at home.

"This is not an easy decision," Hamilton said. "It's certainly not the least controversial decision. We're sitting at the top of the table, and I'm saying, 'It's not good enough.' "

The Galaxy, which has eight matches remaining in the regular season, has a two-point lead over the Kansas City Wizards (9-5-5) in the Western Conference, but has played two more games.

Schmid, 51, replaced Otavio Zambrano who was fired after Los Angeles got off to a 2-3 start in 1999. Schmid led the Galaxy to three MLS Cup finals, winning the 2002 championship and one champions, as well as Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (2001) and CONCACAF Champions Cup (2000) titles. He compiled a 79-53-32 (.579) regular-season league record and his 16 playoff wins are the most ever for an MLS coach

Hamilton notified Schmid of his sacking at lunch today. "This is a painful decision,'' Hamilton said. "I regret having to do this. Sigi is a good man that has given a lot to this club and this community. . . (Schmid) wanted to see this thing through. He's a very competitive guy, so he wanted a chance at that. I'll always respect him for that. . . He has consistently demonstrated the ability to win and he will surely be given an opportunity to coach in this league again. We wish him the best in his future endeavors."

There were many who thought Schmid would be fired after last season. After going 9-12-9 (36 points) in the regular season, the team's first losing record, the Galaxy seemed to be headed for victory against the San Jose Earthquakes in the playoff semifinals. However, leading 4-0 on aggregate 21 minutes into the second leg of the series, L.A. collapsed and the Earthquakes prevailed 5-4.

Before joining the Galaxy, Schmid compiled a 322-63-33 (.810) record at UCLA where he guided the Bruins to three NCAA Division I championships. He also guided the United States under-20 men to the Round of 16 at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championships.

The Galaxy lost technical director Juergen Klinsmann when he became coach of Germany's national team on July 26.