In an interview with the London Times, L.A. Galaxy Coach Ruud Gullit says he enjoys life in L.A. "The quality of life has nothing to do with all the stars living here or the fancy boutiques and restaurants. It's something more simple: the nice weather, people not p*****-off all the time because it is raining. They go to the beach in their flip-flops, it's all very relaxed and nobody has the slightest idea about who I am ... which is a nice feeling, believe me."
For Gullit, the unease arrives when he reaches the Home Depot Center, the Galaxy's home. And it all comes down to the salary cap, which he says is making life difficult for him. "I'm sure that when people think of LA Galaxy, the picture that comes to mind is not of our staff making phone calls to friends on Friday to see if they can play in a reserve game on Sunday, but, strange as it may seem, this is the reality," Gullit laments. "Two weeks ago, we had a game at home [against San Jose] and I had two of my office staff from the commercial department playing, two people whose job is to sit in the office all day doing their work."
What's that? Gullit turns to office staff for reserve games? Why? Sure, there's personnel injuries, but apart from that, MLS has a rule preventing reserve players from playing more than 120 minutes in the space of 48 hours, and since reserve games usually take place the day after the first team plays, those reserves that played 90 minutes with the first team are limited to fewer minutes for their game the following day. While he laughs about it occasionally, the Dutchman complains that the reserve situation is "not serious. Really, it's ridiculous," he says.
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