Letter from Los Angeles: Gunners gear up at a Galaxy far, far away for 2024-25
Hello from Los Angeles on Arsenal's pre-season US tour ahead of Arsenal vs Bournemouth to be played at LA Galaxy's stadium
Happy Tuesday!
Hello from Los Angeles!
I’m writing this under cloudless blue skies surrounded by cactuses and a palm tree or two nearby, gearing up to cover Arsenal vs Bournemouth tomorrow (Wednesday) at LA Galaxy’s Stadium in Carson, which is about 15 miles away from where I’m staying.
A cactus in LA. CREDIT:
Can I just say here and now that I absolutely love America.
As a Londoner, I love big cities, I love noise, I love colour and I love the chaos that comes with being in an urban conurbation with millions of others.
I also love the positivity and ‘can do’ attitude of Americans (nothing annoys me more than people who tell me ‘no’) so if you’re looking for a feelgood vibe not many places do it better than LA.
I even saw the ‘Hollywood’ sign nested in the hotel hills above this giddy town and it made me smile.
There’s undiscovered tribes in the Amazon rainforest who instinctively understand what that sign means in terms of glamour, so to see that world famous sign in the flesh loom large over this hot, dusty city was as thrilling as it was compelling.
Of course, it was to be said I did view it from the window of the taxi from the airport.
During the two hour trip along sandstone coloured eight lane bustling motorways (or freeways as they call them here) that tear through this mesmerising town. Because as I have quickly learned LA is a town full of bumper to bumper traffic.
Unlike Washington DC and New York where I visited during Arsenal’s memorable 2023 pre-season US tour, LA is not a walking city.
However, alas, it does have a homeless problem. Certainly judging by the numbers of panhandlers as they call them here. I even saw one particular gentleman strung out on the pavement (or sidewalk), high on some substance or other, lying on the ground staring at the sky under the shadow of an emerald shaded art deco building, near a metro stop they were rejuvenating ahead of the 2028 Olympics.
A sadly instructive vignette, from this place of deep and fractured contrasts.
An airport bus at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). CREDIT: @laythy29
Arsenal’s US Tour
As a journalist there are all manner of events planned with the Arsenal team and the press although I am gutted I missed Monday evening’s meet and greet with Mikel Arteta and a player (Jurrien Timber I believe) as due to scheduling, I was still in the air alas.
Flying westwards (over Greenland and Canada) from 11am London time means you’re perennially in daylight, so although the flight took 11 or 12 hours, you actually land midafternoon the same day you left - which made it feel quicker than an EasyJet flight to Spain. No wonder I watched five films (One Life, One Love, Napoleon, Belfast and In Bruges if you’re interested).
Everything is simply bigger and brasher here in the States so I’m looking forward to a spot of exploring today (Tuesday) before gearing up to head to the nearby town of Carson and David Beckham’s former club LA Galaxy at the 27,000 capacity Dignity Health Sports Park, to give it its full name, where Arsenal vs Bournemouth will take place at 7pm local time - which will be silly o’clock for most of you reading this.
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After a hectic and sometimes gruelling four weeks on the road with England I’m really excited about covering Arsenal during the 2024-25.season.
One that I deeply hope will finally see the Gunners lift the league title for the first time in 22 long years.
I plan to cover every single game home and away and all over Europe, not to mention plenty of the women’s matches as well as academy games, as well as the majority of pre and post match press conferences including London Colney in my role as a sports journalist for the Morning Star newspaper -so I hope you’ll join me in what will be a rollercoaster ride.
And why not tell a mate or two to sign up for my exclusive Arsenal content on a daily basis.
See you at LA Galaxy on Wednesday for The Arsenal’s first game of their US tour here in the States, and more dispatches from this remarkable town.
Cheers
Layth
DAILY LIST:
Work out how to get to LA Galaxy in Carson via public transport. If not work out how long an Uber will take
Work out where I can walk safely without being a victim of gun crime, including a trip to the world famous Pink’s Hotdogs and their garlicky Frankfurters, drenched in mustard and chilli, topped with combos named after Hollywood celebrities.
Decide which beach to visit today
Plan when to visit the Getty Centre, the Griffith Observatory (with spectacular views of the entire LA basin), see the Capitol Records building, its great mid 20th century architecture resembling a stack of vinyl records topped by a stylus that blinks out ‘Hollywood’ in Morse code. As you do.
Book tickets to watch the LA Dodgers play baseball this week and see what’s on at the Hollywood Bowl
A palm tree. LA. CREDIT: