World Football

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

LOS ANGELES, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Last November, former European Footballer of the Year Ruud Gullit said he was ready for "a huge challenge" after being appointed head coach of Major League Soccer (MLS) glamour club Los Angeles Galaxy.

Just nine months later, the 45-year-old Dutchman resigned from the post for personal reasons on Monday with the David Beckham-led Galaxy struggling to book a place in the end-of-season playoffs.

Although the Galaxy made a promising start to this campaign with Beckham and U.S. international Landon Donovan in good form, they are in the midst of a seven-game winless streak and lie fourth in the MLS Western Conference.

Their defence has been particularly poor, conceding a league-high 40 goals in 19 games.

Should they fail to reach the playoffs for the third consecutive season, the patience of the Galaxy's loyal fans will be sorely tested.

Questions will be raised over the plight of a club where so much promise appeared to be on the horizon when England midfielder Beckham was signed mid-way through last year.

One of soccer's most recognisable figures, Beckham joined the Galaxy on a five-year contract which could potentially earn him a reported $250 million, mainly from endorsements.

Although the Englishman made only sporadic appearances for the team in an injury-hit debut season, he provided a significant boost in interest that the MLS was convinced he would bring to soccer in the U.S.

Merchandising sales rose dramatically, the profile of the game in the media was enhanced and traffic to MLS's official website doubled.

FINAL PIECE

The arrival of Gullit, who previously coached Chelsea, Newcastle United and Feyenoord, was regarded as a vital piece in the jig-saw to lift the Galaxy to a much higher level.

His appointment gave the club the highest-profile coach in MLS as well as the highest-profile player in Beckham.

Galaxy fans prepared to savour "the sexy football" coined by Gullit while commentating for the BBC during the 1996 European Championship in England.

However, the Dutchman never settled at the Galaxy.

According to local media reports, he did not see eye-to-eye with club president and general manager Alexi Lalas, who was fired on Monday, and struggled to come to terms with salary caps and other constraints imposed by MLS.

"In truth, it has proved a lot more difficult than I anticipated for my family to settle in the area and the club has been very supportive and understanding of my decision," Gullit said in a statement.

The Galaxy face an uncertain future with Gullit replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Cobi Jones whose first game in charge will be Thursday's derby against city rivals Chivas USA.

Tim Leiweke, president and chief executive of AEG, the entertainment conglomerate that owns the Galaxy, has described the team as dysfunctional in recent weeks and has urged them to take positive steps toward improvement.

"Unfortunately, you can't fire 22 players," Leiweke told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday. "I think they're all responsible. I have told them: 'Now no one has any excuses.' I eliminated all excuses.

"Now it's up to Cobi to straighten it out with the team and on the pitch and for us to make a decision on how we structure this organisation going forward so we no longer have the split we clearly have."