Alta Loma's finest

He's not a name player by any means nor does he bring imposing physical qualities to the table. But Joey Franchino isn't a useless slab of meat either. Franchino has a reputation of being a thug, a soccer version of a hockey goon. For sure he's a phyisical player but he also brings good leadership qualities too.

Remember, he was Revolution captain for quite a few years. Yes, I know Peter Vagenas served in the same capacity with the Galaxy and he's not exactly a fan favorite. Still, one of the first things Steve Nicol did when he took over the Revolution was to anoint Franchino captain. That's got to say something about his character and how people perceive him.

Here's a good feature from Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe on Franchino, where Nicol and former Galaxy player Matt Reis each say good things about Franchino.

Now, I'm not going to say that Franchino is going to step in and plug a huge hole on the field. Where he plays and how much he plays is yet to be seen. I see him somewhere on the left and helping out the defense. If that means left back or central d-mid, only the coaching staff knows. But some soccer players have qualities that extend beyond the soccer field. Franchino is a leader and the Galaxy doesn't have a ton of those guys right now. Honestly, though, you can never have enough of those guys, so long as they can play of course.

That is a question mark, however, his on-the-field and off-the-field health. Franchino has battled injuries for a few years now, with an ankle injury dealing a strong blow a year ago as Franchino played just three games because of it. He's also got personal issues, with a divorce and the Fenway Park incident as well. Certainly those are issues he has to overcome if he hasn't done so already. But the one thing he has going for him is that it's a fresh start, a return to his roots. And sometimes that's all someone needs to put them over the top.