ESPN Soccernet’s Kristian Dyer talks with American soccer legend Alexi Lalas about his event-filled 2006. From the sale of the MetroStars early in the year to Red Bull, the energy drink maker, to the move west to takeover as GM for the defending champ LA Galaxy. All in all, it was an up and mostly down kind of year for the man who used to be the face of American soccer. After Red Bull took over the MetroStars over and renamed them in March, Lalas, who was GM, left. Whether he was forced out, we’ll never know. Nevertheless, he welcomed the opportunity to run one of the league’s storied teams-with whom he had won the championship as a player in 2002. It was far from a fairy-tale return to L.A. The Galaxy, which had won both the MLS and U.S. Open Cup championships in 2005, failed even to qualify for the MLS playoffs in 2006. Much of this came down to the indifferent form of the team’s star player, Landon Donovan. L.A. may also have been fielding an ageing team of players; indeed, most regarded the Galaxy’s 2005 double as a fluke. Even so, despite the team’s poor form, you’d think that a playoff berth would be a prerequisite for any Galaxy coach or general manager keeping his job. For Lalas, 2006 was a year for quotations like “Into every life a little rain must fall,” a Longfellow reference which he snootily followed up with: “But you probably knew that already.” Lalas is still confident and he’s still cocky. His ambition of turning the Galaxy into a “Superclub” the size of a Manchester United or New York Yankees is as unrealistic as they come. But hey, he says, you’ve got to aim high. The consolation? “If nothing else, at least we all have a word for the concept now. Watch, the Lakers will probably steal it.”