Now that Landon Donovan has exited Major League Soccer, the chief figure in the California Clasico might be Alan Gordon, who last year returned to the LA Galaxy, his initial club, after four fruitful years with the San Jose Earthquakes.
The 33-year-old forward was something of a menace to the Galaxy after departing in 2010, first for Chivas USA, then Toronto FC, and from July 2011 until last August with the Quakes. In 10 career games against LA, he scored seven goals, including two stoppage-time winners with San Jose.
He was one of the Bash Brothers, with fellow Southern Californian Steven Lenhart, among the Quakes' “Goonies” group that won the 2012 Supporters' Shield in rather spectacular fashion, thanks to so many late victories – several of them on the strength of Gordon's career-best 13 goals – and won the love of Northern California soccer fans while stirring up “hatred” among the Galaxy faithful who had rooted for him all or parts of seven seasons.
Gordon has never scored for LA against the Quakes, but he hopes to find the net when the rivals square off Saturday night at Stanford Stadium in their MLS Heineken Rivalry Week matchup (10:30 pm ET, MLS LIVE). That might vault him to lightning-rod status in the California Clasico, a role Donovan filled after leaving San Jose after the 2004 season for the Galaxy, via a brief last stint with Bayer Leverkusen.
“I have to do some damage [against the Earthquakes to take that on],” said Gordon, who has slowly evolved into a crowd favorite in LA while retaining many Quakes supporters among his fans. “Landon beat them up pretty good a lot of times, and that's what I was doing to the Galaxy when I was gone, and that's why I was hated here [in Los Angeles].
“If I start scoring some goals against the Earthquakes, I'm sure their loyalty won't last long.”
MLSsoccer.com sat down with Gordon to talk about the California Clasico, his role within it, and how it reflects the greater rivalry between Southern California and Northern California.
MLSSoccer.com: You're a Southern California native who played for the Galaxy from 2004 through 2010. When you joined San Jose in 2011, did it seem weird?
GORDON: It was very strange. I can't say it was stranger than going to Chivas straight from here – that was more difficult. But I would say than San Jose and LA have a bigger rivalry than Chivas and LA, so it was strange to be there and going against LA. It was always strange going against LA, because I considered it my home club and I spent so many years here, so that made it interesting and made the rivalry more real for me.
You had played for Frank Yallop with the Galaxy, so you knew what you were getting into. Frank's one of the good guys in soccer.
And we had a great group of guys. I was happy to be there. Those were some good years of my career. I enjoyed them, I really did. I enjoyed playing against the Galaxy when I was there. I always wanted to beat them badly, and there's definitely higher stakes when it comes to these two teams.
What was the reception like when you arrived in San Jose?
It wasn't too bad. I hadn't really been a big figurehead here with the Galaxy, so there wasn't any bad blood or anything with me. I hadn't come straight from the Galaxy -- I'd been gone a couple years with Chivas and Toronto. And once I got there, I starting scoring goals. Once you start scoring goals, everything goes away and everybody's happy. The Earthquakes fans were very passionate. I really enjoyed playing for them and in front of them. They were great to me.
What did you think of the Galaxy fans' reaction to your success in San Jose?
I hadn't heard anything. I was off social media. I was kind of hiding in Santa Cruz, not paying attention to anything. I was just chilling. But the San Jose fans used to call me “the Galaxy-killer,” and they really loved that about me.
You scored some really big goals against the Galaxy, including the 94th-minute winner at StubHub in 2012, and those two late goals in the win at Stanford two years ago.
The goals against LA at Stanford Stadium is probably one of the coolest moments of my career. It was a great night. It was something that doesn't ever happen. We went down a man [when
Victor Bernardez
picked up his second yellow card in the 77th minute], and we came back [from a 2-0 deficit] and scored three goals in the last six minutes, or something like that, down a man, which was unbelievable. [Ed.: Gordon's first was in the 68th minute, and
Shea Salinas
and Gordon scored in stoppage.] And that last goal in stoppage time in front of 60,000 fans was something I'll never forget.
The San Jose fans, they still remember that game, and they come up to me all the time, like, “That was my first soccer game” and “I love you” and this and that. And the Galaxy fans will remember that for always and kind of hate me a little bit. Deep down.
The Galaxy acquired you again last August. How was it with the LA fans?
They hated me. They legitimately hated me. On several occasions, I had some pretty pissed-off fans coming up to me, and it kind of brought back to me the things I did in the stadium. I probably shouldn't have taken my shirt off and run around the stadium [after the stoppage-time winner in 2012], all that kind of stuff. It also seemed like the only people I scored against was the Galaxy. So they had some pretty vivid memories of some tough losses and some tough games. We've come full circle, it's been fantastic, and the fans couldn't be better to me right now.
What were the worst things you heard?
I can't tell you. You won't be able to [publish them]. I remember I was holding my son or daughter [last year], I was signing some autographs, and someone came up to me and started swearing at me, calling me everything under the sun, you know? I went, “Really, buddy? Like, my kid's sitting right here.” It was a bad moment. [My kids] were very young, but they understood. When someone has that much hate for you, it's pretty intense.
You looked to reestablish the bond with the fans by delivering a keg of beer to a pregame gathering when you played Seattle last October at StubHub Center.
I was trying my best, after some things like [the fan confrontation]. When I got here, I was made well aware that the fans were not happy with me. ... I figured these guys have some bad blood. I want to bury the hatchet. I want to show them, I want to make up for some pains and some bad memories, and give them a good memory.
And what better way? I mean, that's the way to my heart, buying me a beer. So I figured I'd give it back to them. They love beer. I just kind of had that idea, and I threw it out to [Galaxy president] Chris Klein, and he was like, “Love it, go do it, I think that would be a great thing.”
Did the fans question your commitment?
Yeah, I think so. They just want to make sure that I'm here and I'm starting a new chapter and stuff like that. I don't know what they want, but you've just got to prove yourself and say I want to start clean and the Galaxy is my team now, and this is a job and I don't get to pick where I go. I didn't want to leave initially. I wanted to stay, but you have to make your home and you have to make your money and play the best you can where you're at. It just happened in my circumstances I got traded to rival teams.
Trades are trades.
Trades are trades. I didn't want to leave San Jose. My family was happy; I don't want to move my family around. I try to make the best out of each situation that I'm in.
But I can say with all honesty that I've always wanted to be with LA, and this is my home club, and I'm more happy than I've ever been. I love this club, and I won't be going anywhere.
You scored five goals with an assist in your first 11 games last year after the trade from San Jose, and some of those were vital goals. Did that quickly turn the fan base in your favor?
Not quickly. With every goal came a little more trust, a little more acceptance for me, I feel like. Even when that fan came up to me, I'd already scored three goals, a couple important goals, and he was still upset with me. I think it's the effort, going up there and showing them I'm going to give everything and I want to win for this club, and those things take time. Goals certainly help, but time helps, as well.
Have you heard negative remarks from Earthquakes fans now that you're with the Galaxy again?
You know, I haven't. Whatever I hear from them is they still have some love for me. I got a really warm reception when I went back [for the Galaxy's game last September], and the fans were really good to me. I haven't come back and punished them in any way yet. We'll see, after I score a couple goals against them, how they feel.
What's behind this rivalry?
It's the California Clasico. You want to be the best in the state. I think back in the day, when San Jose had a really strong team, we were going head-to-head. We were two of the best teams in the league, and that always provides something a little bit different. You're fighting for that top spot. When we beat them in 2005 [en route to the MLS Cup title], they were the best team in the league, and we knocked them out of the playoffs. Stuff like that. There's always been that rivalry. Just two good teams, two good histories.
It also fits into the greater NorCal/SoCal rivalry that plays out in so many ways. There certainly are cultural differences, and the Dodgers-Giants, Angels-A's and, way back when, Rams-49ers rivalries always have been so passionate.
It's big. When we were living up in Santa Cruz, everybody in NorCal has something against people who live in SoCal. When we were living up in NorCal, we figured out fast [that] if we want to make friends, don't tell them we're from Southern California. Let the relationship develop before we tell them where we're from.
There is more animosity from the north. SoCal people, they don't care. We like the Bay Area. But NorCal, they're like the New Yorkers of California, I guess.
