LA Galaxy fires head coach Curt Onolfo, replaces him with Sigi Schmid

The LA Galaxy have had a disappointing season so far, and Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the New England Revolution appears to have been the last straw for ownership. Curt Onalfo has been fired, and Sigi Schmid has been appointed as his replacement with immediate effect, according to Kevin Baxter of the LA Times. Schmid’s contract runs through the 2018 season, according to ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle.

Onalfo struggled in previous head coaching jobs with Sporting Kansas City and D.C. United, but rebuilt his reputation as Bruce Arena’s assistant with the Galaxy, then with three excellent years at the helm of LA Galaxy II. When Arena was hired by the United States men’s national team in November and the Galaxy had to find a coach on short notice, the club decided to promote from within, hiring Onalfo for the first team gig.

That hasn’t turned out well. The Galaxy started slow, losing three of their first four games. An eight-game unbeaten run that spanned from late April to mid-June got the Galaxy back in playoff contention, but their season turned south quickly. LA has lost its last five matches, seeing them fall to ninth place in the Western Conference.

But playoff contention isn’t out of reach. The Galaxy sit just five points behind the Vancouver Whitecaps for the last spot in the postseason, so the club has turned to Schmid — who coached the Galaxy from 1999 to 2004 — to turn the team around.

Schmid won MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield, CONCACAF Champions League and the U.S. Open Cup while Galaxy manager, but was fired in 2004 while in first place, reportedly because the club wanted to put a more entertaining product on the field. After departing, Schmid went on to win Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup with the Columbus Crew, then four U.S. Open Cups and one Supporters’ Shield with Seattle Sounders, before he was fired in 2016 due to the Sounders’ poor performances.

Despite last year’s struggles, Schmid’s resume is impeccable, and he’s almost certainly the best coach available to engineer a short-term turnaround in MLS. He sets up well-organized teams that grind out close results. The Galaxy might not be the best entertainment product for the rest of the season, but they’re likely to climb the standings.

Schmid is also likely to have some fresh talent to work with. The Galaxy is reportedly very close to signing Jonathan dos Santos, a Mexican international midfielder and brother of current Galaxy star Giovani dos Santos. USMNT midfielder Sebastian Lletget is also inching closer to returning from a Lisfranc injury and should be available for the playoffs, should the Galaxy get there.

In this respect, Onolfo is unlucky — Schmid looks set to get credit for turning around the Galaxy when he’ll get to use two top midfield talents that Onolfo didn’t have. That this happens a year after Seattle Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer turned the team around with the help of new signing Nicolas Lodeiro is probably not lost on Schmid.

The timing of this move is also so good, it’s incredible that it’s coincidental: Schmid’s first game in charge of the Galaxy will be against the Seattle Sounders. You can watch that game at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday night, on ESPN.