Galaxy releases Abel Xavier

Major League Soccer has lost a great one. No, nobody died, I'm talking hairdos.

The Los Angeles Galaxy has waived Portuguese defender and veteran traffic cone Abel Xavier, the Washington Post's Steve Goff reported today.

Hair stylists in every MLS market are saddened today. More details on when Sean Franklin's party to celebrate this to come later.

What do you think about Xavier being let go? Hope to see him picked up by your team? Hope he winds up on a reality show?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

[soccerroo]

i did not think they had a good defense so releasing a regular starter seems a bit strange. Who have they picked up to replace him or did they just decide he was that bad?

[Original Aaron]

Ives- explain something to me: weren't MLS contracts guaranteed on July 1st? Why cut him now instead of 2.5 weeks ago?

[Tony in Quakeland]

He was record setting bad

I loved that he was on the Galaxy!

[andy b.]

Stay away from San Jose. That's all I need to say.

[paul Lorinczi]

He was a liability to the Galaxy defense. I am not surprised and I think the Galaxy are making the right move.

[mike ruze]

He looked like the real deal his first two games. But LALAS should have known his career flakiness would emerge.

If La gets rid of Ruiz thats two big salaries.....

and a LALAS not finding an expensive player is not a happy Lalas

[Ives]

Aaron, chances are they made Xavier sign a deal that extended his guaranteed date past July 1. Every team can do that with two players and I'd bet they did it with Xavier.

[Blake]

I wonder if there's any team in MLS that would take a chance on him.

[Ives]

Socceroo, the Galaxy signed a defender already.

[Ives]

Don't think so Blake. I was kind of kidding when I said that. Figured it would scare some people.

[tbisgrove]

Ahhhh.... I hope he doesn't call back CR and tell him MLS is no good anymore... insert sarcasm here...

[inkedAG]

I'm gonna miss him and his funky ass hair! :D

[Jeff Darling]

I was born and raised in Portugal and I remember him playing well for the national team. However, he was so bad for the Galaxy. This was a gutsy and correct move to make. I am wondering why he started so much in the first place.

[Ossington Mental Youth]

how did this not happen sooner?

[Jeff Darling]

I was born and raised in Portugal and remember him playing well for the national team. However, he was ridiculously bad for Galaxy. Good and gutsy move to get rid of him.

[Ted]

But he made so many good decisions with the ball and was such an excellent marker. He was definitely one of the best bargains in MLS at just 156k!

[Original Aaron]

Ives- thanks for answering my question. is there some place where we can find out which players signed such a supplemental contract? or is this one of those MLS rulebook black holes?

[Fumar]

Yeah. I'm with Jeff. Why was he starting if he was on the verge of being released?

[kpugs]

This saddens me, because I was relying on him to give up at least a goal and/or a penalty this weekend. There goes our only shot at winning.

[Super Metro]

I actually don't think he was a terrible defender; the Galaxy defense as a whole didn't help. Now, for the amount of money he was making and his reputation he was obviously a big dissapointment but I've seen worse; we Metro fans know about that. What pissed me off about THIS guy in particular were his comments about "MLS not being technical enough" Dude, people are scoring all over and around you and you want more?!

[Ted]

"This saddens me, because I was relying on him to give up at least a goal and/or a penalty this weekend. "

Hey, you guys still have Mike Randolph, Greg Vanney, and possibly Troy Roberts to exploit.

[CP _Baltimore]

He kept playing right up until he was released because he made a bunch of money and would've caused a ton of problems on the bench. Imagine this scenario: a vain, once-talented, and highly paid veteran is hanging around your locker room but not playing, despite the obvious problems in defense. That's the kind of situation that causes a team more harm than good.

[CP _Baltimore]

And Ted is right, in steps Greg Vanney for the role of ox-like central defender.

[Eugene]

He's a good defender for MLS, it would be a shame for no one to pick him up.

That said, he was too expensive and slow for LA. Not to mention he had a penchant for completely losing his cool and getting red-carded.

I'm sure there is some defense in the league that needs to be bolstered though... maybe San Jose? Maybe DC?

[Paul]

How does Lalas still have a job. He traded Ricardo Clark, Robbie Findley, and most talent on the Galaxy, screwed the Metros, and still has a job. Peter Wilt built a fire team that still is decent today with the last dregs of Wilt's teams yet Lalas is still a GM and Xavier is typical Lalas signing, like Pavon.

[John]

I'm happy to see him go, but this move is just stupid. He was on a guarantee, which means his salary still counts against the cap.

What in the last 3 weeks was an different than his 13 months with the club - nothing. This should have been done in June, so the Galaxy could go get some help.

[KingSnake]

Like Claudio Reyna, I never understood why MLS signed him in the first place. But, also like Claudio Reyna, all the fan boys were creaming themselves when he was signed ...

[JB]

No way does DCU pick up the Portugese Pylon. They just smoked him and the rest of the Gals for 4 barely two weeks ago. Bad as our D is, we're well aware there are worse options out there...

[Curtis Spiteri]

This has "new" Red Bull written ALL over it!

;-D

[andy b.]

Eugene,
How dare you mix our poor Quakes' name with Xavier. We Bay Area fans have suffered enough. I hope whoever you support is considering signing Claudio Reyna. So there!

[Pablo Chicago]

It's a sad, sad day when a man can no longer dye his hair and declare himself a footballer.

Oh well, I'm sure there are some people who will still mistake him for Carlos Valderama. At least he has that going for him.

[frank from sf]

eugene- what other leagues do you follow? he's a good defender for mls?! damn i know mls is not epl but he was getting burned in EVERY game , surely your joking right? and keep him the hell away from my quakes.

[Enfilade]

FINALLY!!

I have been waiting for this day for a long time after seeing him repeatedly make horrible mistakes again and again. The Galaxy should use the $$ from his bloated salary to go find a few quality bargain buys somewhere.

[Dave @ Soccer FanHouse]

Somewhere, Giuseppe Franco is quietly weeping over the loss of a huge income source...

Paul: Lalas still has a job because, for all his faults, he's built the most potent attack in MLS -- 34 goals in 16 matches -- and the Galaxy have been at the top of the MLS West for most of the year. Right now, they're only a point behind RSL with a game in hand, and they could easily be back in first by the end of Saturday. Yes, he's a stuffed shirt, and much of what he says is annoying, but right now, he's a long way from the likes of Matt Millen and Isiah Thomas.

[Rafael]

Eugene, How dare you think DC will pick up this washed up player? The only thing good about this guy is his hair. His defending skills are the worst. I've seen him get beaten so many times it goes from being funny to being sad.

[cbr]

is he left footed?

[Kevin]

Eugene, he's really not a good defender for any league.

He's sort of terrible. He basically stands around and let's guys waltz right by him. And to think DC United or San Jose would pick him up is, sorry for the harsh words, foolish and ignorant.

[Freddy]

Ives,

Seriously, Did Abel flip you off in a hallway or something? Because it seems like every chance you get, you rip on him!! I'm not saying it's not funny, actually it's quite hilarious, but it seems to be personal between you two.

[andy b.]

Eugene,
I didn't mean to start a pile-on Eugene trend. I just felt a little defensive for my sad-sack Quakes. Sorry about that.

[Rene]

I'm a fervent Galaxy fan, but even I wouldn't want him signing onto ANY team in MLS, even the Quakes.

[Mike]

Good move by the Galaxy and he was a big reason for the lack of defense in LA. With that said, I hope he can catch on somewhere else in the MLS because he's one of those guys that stands out, has international history and is good for the league. Kind of like the MLS's Dennis Rodman lol.

[Einar]

well good that he is out but I will miss his hair and I do think that even though this year wasnt good for him but I remember last year how good he was and was a bulldog for the defense until he got injured. so Xavier just stop playing soccer and go in to coaching defenses in the MLS about discipline like u said.

[irishapple21]

Darn, now who am I going to mock mercilessly other than Ben "Proud Graduate of Ben Affleck School of Acting" Olsen?

[Derek]

It's a shame -- when he first came into the league last year he really seemed a step ahead of everyone else on defense, and then i dunno, since that missed PK in the last superliga final he really began to tank.

[sn00zer]

So, Gals defense is now (l-r):

Randolph -- Franklin -- Dominguez -- Klein

Not horrendous on paper.
Jazic can be at LB when not injured.
Vanney and Roberts are reserves, but inspire little confidence.
U23s Mike Gavin and Jules Valentin on the bench too, can play some LB and CB respectively, put have yet to prove anything in MLS.

If they can get a new player, it seems like they need to improve the center of midfield (assuming Becks stays on right and Landycakes up top). There has to be something better than then Pires-Tudela-Vagenas-Franchino-MacDonald mish-mash they have in those 2 spots now.

[PanchoMiguelMoralesdeConejo]

Sn00zer,
Couldn't agree with you more. The problem in the Gals backline, is more indicitive of its issues in central midfield...just no quality there. I was hoping Tudela's run last year would carry forward this, but he seems to have regressed. So at this point I'm ready to try S.Franklin in the middle, and let Jules get a shot at CB.

[cbr]

Xavier just signed with Guiseppe Franco to endorse his product

[Ives]

Freddy, I've never understood the logic behind the belief that if a player is being ripped it must be personal. Why exactly? Why can't a player be criticized because he deserves it? It seems like a phenomenon unique to soccer. I don't really hear it as much in other sports. Criticism is just criticism in other sports.

I think the problem is that perhaps American soccer fans spent too many years being spoon-fed puff pieces by writers who couldn't bring themselves to be critical.

I'll admit, Xavier is an easy target, which is mainly why it might seem like I pick on him more than most. I'm also not afraid to be critical (although you get the other folks who assume you're "afraid" to criticize certain subjects because you don't feel the same way they do.)

[papa bear]

Xavier probably had the biggest fall from grace I can recall in a while. He was easily their best defender last year, probably the only reason they didn't utterly embarrass themselves every week.
This year he's just been listless and disinterested. Of course, it's not the first time you could say that about him in his career.

[daggius]

It's about freaking time, Xavier is terrible!