By Ivan Yeo
One of the first things Dennis te Klose said when he took over as general manager of the Los Angeles Galaxy was that he wanted to make the team’s youth academy a focal point to any future success for the franchise.
While players such as Jose Villarreal, Bradford Jamieson IV and Oscar Sorto, have come from the academy to make it onto the first squad, only one player, Gyasi Zardes has emerged from the academy to become a top player in MLS.
However, on Saturday night, opening the season against the Chicago Fire, it was a 16-year old midfielder, Efrain Alvarez, that not only provided the spark for the Galaxy’s cone-from-behind 2-1 win, but may also be the first bridge for te Klose’s vision of the academy to finally start producing players not only capable of making the Galaxy squad, but also starring for the Galaxy.
“I feel that he is a very good player,” Galaxy head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto said. “He has similarities to [Edwin] Cardona, they have similar styles of play in the way they strike the ball, on the evolution of the game itself and the roles they play. In all honesty, it’s very good. Physically, they do have similarities.”
Alvarez made his first impact in the 68th minute with the Galaxy trailing 1-0. Alvarez collected a ball on the right side outside the penalty area. Alvarez got in motion to cross, but instead touched it forward, but the move threw off his defender, Alexsandar Katai, and Alvarez broke for goal. Another touch and Alvarez played a left-footed cross in a off position, and Daniel Steres headed the ball into the back net to level the match. Alvarez also had a hand in the game winner in the 80th minute, as he touched Rolf Feltscher’s throw-in to Chris Pontius, who took tow touches before firing a screamer that hit off the crossbar, but was eventually headed by Zlatan Ibrahimovic off the rebound for the eventual game winner.
“He (Schelotto) told me to get the ball with confidence and attack,” Alvarez said. “I just wanted to give my all for the team. This just prepares me for the rest of the games going forward,”
It was quite the debut for the 16-year old Alvarez, who just last year was tearing it with the team’s USL side Galaxy II. Alvarez, a native of East Los Angeles, was signed by the USL side on August 2, 2017. Alvarez at the time was the youngest signing in USL history, besting Alphonso Davies, back then with the Vancouver Whitecaps, by 15 years, one month, and 14 days. Alvarez made his debut with Galaxy II October 17, making him the youngest player in USL history.
Alvarez however did not fully get to showcase his talents until 2018, where in 17 matches, he scored 12 goals, assisted three others and one USL player of the year honors. Alvarez was also ranked 17th on MLSsoccer.com’s top 22 under 22 last year as well, and on Saturday night, he finally gave Galaxy fans a taste of his potential.
“Efra, he had a good game,” Ibrahimovic said. “He’s full of confidence. But, he’s only 16-years-old, you forget his age. The club, the team, the coach have to take care of him in the right way. He needs to work hard. He needs to focus and don’t lose the focus because of the hype, just continue to work.
Of course its not just Galaxy (and MLS) fans that are salivating over Alvarez’s potential. Alvarez began his international you career with the United States, but switched to Mexico’s youth teams in 2017, and has impressed with El Tri as well. Alvarez maintains he has yet to make a decision on who he will represent.
Saturday night was huge night in general for the Galaxy and a capper to another busy week of roster moves. Earlier in the day, David Beckham was honored with a statue outside Dignity Health Sports Park and was also inducted into the Galaxy’s ring of honor, and earlier in the week, the Galaxy transferred Ola Kamara to Chinese club Shenzhen, then on Friday made the shocking decision to buy out the contract of Giovani Dos Santos, whih was shocking given Kamara’s transfer potentially opened up a starting spot for Giovani. However, it looks like Alvarez might allow the Galaxy to weather the storm of the two departures.
“He’s a good kid. He works hard and he listens.” Ibrahmovic said. “The [club]can help him a lot just like the team because he’s young, he’s talented and it’s easy to lose focus.”
So the first match of the 2019 season is in the books for the Galaxy, and so far, things are off to a good start. The team put in a good performance overall and showed resilience in coming back from a one-goal deficit. However, it’s the emergence of Efrain Alvarez adds a whole new look to the Galaxy squad, and Schelotto is certainly looking forward to working with Alvarez to fully unlock his potential as the season goes.
“We are going to work throughout the week and every day to give Efrain the possibility to grow and to give the team the possibility to have a player like Efrain,” Schelotto said.
LA Galaxy
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