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LOS ANGELES — When Mark Delgado made his MLS debut, he was just 17 and even he acknowledges his approach to soccer was unsophisticated. "Just being a young kid and running around," he said. Fortunately for Delgado, his team, the now-defunct Chivas USA, had a rookie assistant coach named Greg Vanney. And while Vanney could do little for the unfocused teenager in their season together, he remembered Delgado and made him the first player he acquired after taking over as manager of Toronto FC in 2014. Seven years later, after moving to the Galaxy, Vanney spent $500,000 on another reunion with Delgado, who this season notched career highs for games (32), starts (29) and assists (nine, including two in the playoffs). And with playmaker Riqui Puig sidelined because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Delgado figures to play an even bigger role in Saturday's MLS Cup final with the New York Red Bulls at Dignity Health Sports Park. And for that he has the coach to thank — not just for the faith in him, but also for the mentoring Vanney has done along the way, taking Delgado from a talented if wild teenager and molding him into a player and person so stable and disciplined that the coach called him "the great balancer." "To really talk things out with Greg and really study film, I became more of a thinker, right?" said Delgado, 29. "I guess you can say it's gained his trust. Eventually things worked out." Delgado is not the only player who has benefited from a relationship with Vanney. In fact, for all the attention the coach's technical and strategic acumen has received, those personal connections off the field have become an equally important factor in what has been one of the greatest turnarounds in MLS history. After winning just eight games and finishing 13th in a 14-team conference a year ago, the Galaxy will play for their sixth MLS title. After winning just two playoff games in the last eight seasons, the Galaxy have won twice that many in the last six weeks. A franchise even its own fans had given up on 19 months ago is 90 minutes away from being the best in the world's largest first-division league. And Vanney is getting much of the credit for that. "He is the reason why I came here," said forward Dejan Joveljic, who joined the Galaxy halfway through Vanney's first season in L.A. and leads the team with 20 MLS goals this year. "Of course he's a good coach. But first of all, he's a very real gentleman and I appreciate him." "He's really like a father," added winger Joseph Paintsil, who left Belgium for the Galaxy in January. "We don't need a coach who shouts and makes you angry and mad. He always comes to you as his own son to discuss with you patiently and calmly. That has really given me confidence." Vanney said his mother, Jeanette, who taught kindergarten for four decades, instilled those traits in him. "My mom was super nurturing. She was such a loving person," Vanney said. "My dad was super intense. Hard-working athletic director, former college football player. He had a fiery personality. My mom was always just very calm." Yet despite their conflicting personalities, Bill and Jeanette were married for 53 years before Jeanette died at 69, eight months before her son won his first MLS Cup as a coach with Toronto in 2017. "I feel like I have both sides of them," Vanney said. Which is to say he too can be fiery. But it's not his first option, nor his most successful one. "That my-way-or-the-highway [approach] is gone," said Dan Calichman, a teammate of Vanney's on the inaugural Galaxy roster in 1996 and his top assistant for the last decade in Toronto and Los Angeles. "We motivate and we get on these guys, but it's just so much more respectful, it's so much more valuing their knowledge. "When a player feels like he's listened to, you get the buy-in." For Vanney, it's not about coaching players. It's about coaching the holy trinity that makes up each player. "Philosophically, the way I see it, every player is actually three parts," he said, holding up both hands to tick through the traits he finds significant. "There's the person, there's the player and then there's the competitor. If you can connect with a person, they will trust you and you can drive them as much as you need to get the best out of them. If they don't think you're doing it for the right reasons and for their best interest, at some point they cut you out. "If you're a good coach and your vision matters and you care about the person, you can teach them. But I believe the most important part of that is being genuine and connecting with the person. That establishes the trust you need to really coach." That approach has worked for Vanney, whose 141 victories in 9 1/2 seasons tied him for fourth among active coaches at the end of this season. Saturday's MLS Cup final will mark his fourth appearance in the championship game; in the last quarter-century, no coach has been there more often. His 69.6% winning percentage in 23 playoffs games in second to LAFC's Steven Cherundolo, who has managed half as many games, and if the Galaxy win, Vanney will become the fourth coach in league history to win championships with two different teams. But that success wasn't the only thing that brought him back to the Galaxy. After taking Toronto to the MLS Cup final three times in four seasons, winning the only treble in league history in 2017, Vanney started to feel the club, which had a new general manager and new president, had no clear vision for the future. So despite agreeing to a contract extension late in the 2020 season, he asked out of the deal. Conversations quickly began with the Galaxy, who a month earlier had fired Guillermo Barros Schelotto, their fourth coach in as many seasons. For both sides it was a perfect fit: The rudderless Galaxy, once perennial contenders, had made just one playoff appearance in four seasons and needed stability and a proven winner while Vanney would be returning to a club whose culture he understood, having played on the first trophy-winning team in 1998. "I always wanted to come back here," said Vanney, who played three years at UCLA before signing with the Galaxy ahead of the club's inaugural season. "This has always kind of been my club, the club [to which] I felt the most attached." But the team he returned to wasn't the one he started with. In his first six seasons with the Galaxy, the team finished first in the conference four times, won Supporters' Shield, U.S. Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League titles and played in three MLS Cup finals. In the four seasons before he came back, the Galaxy lost more games than they won, finished in the bottom half of the league table three times and made the playoffs just once. "I personally have an expectation for what the Galaxy should look like," Vanney said. "It's hard to me to see the Galaxy struggling. That's not where the Galaxy should be." The rebuild, however, was not easy. When Vanney arrived he found the team didn't have much of a sports science staff or scouting department and the academy program had been allowed to wither. Then, at the end of his first season, general manager Dennis te Kloese departed, leaving Vanney to assume his duties as well. It proved to be too much. When Vanney took the job, he had outlined a three-year plan to return the Galaxy to prominence, yet his third season was one of the worst ever, with the team winning a franchise-low eight games and giving up a franchise-high 67 goals. Along the way there was a fan boycott, the team's longtime president was fired and, for the first time, the Galaxy's leading scorer finished with fewer than eight goals. "It was embarrassing," captain Maya Yoshida said. And Yoshida was with the Galaxy for only the final three months of the turmoil. Questions were raised about whether Vanney, who was entering the final year of his contract, was still the right man for the job. So after the season mercifully ended, the coach met with Dan Beckerman, the chief executive and president of AEG, the Galaxy's parent company, and asked for help. "I said I can't do all of these things," Vanney recounted of the conversation. "I really like working with a really good GM. It's two completely different sports when you are signing players and working with agents and getting those players across the finish line and then working with those players and making them fit together on the field. "I want a GM who's challenging me to be better and asking the right questions and giving me ideas to think about. I don't know everything." Beckerman agreed and Will Kuntz, whom Vanney had hired in April as the senior vice president of player personnel, was promoted to general manager in December. When the Galaxy took the field for the first time in February, nine of the 15 players Vanney used in a season-opening draw with Inter Miami had been signed by Kuntz. Both men say the process has been a collaborative one that begins with Vanney settling on the profile of the players he wants and Kuntz and the scouting department Vanney developed scouring the globe to find them. "The dialogue always has to be there, or else you end up with pieces that don't fit," Vanney said. "Will couldn't coach the team. That's not his strength. I couldn't get anyone signed. That's not my strength. The beauty is the collaboration of the different departments. That to me is what a club is." But even after providing Vanney with what he wanted — spending a club-record $20.7 million on transfer fees for Paintsil, Gabriel Pec and Miki Yamane in just seven weeks — Kuntz figured it would take time to turn those players into a team. Instead, the Galaxy matched modern-era club records with 19 wins and 69 goals this season, were unbeaten at Dignity Health Sports Park and became the first team since 2008 to go from eight victories to the MLS Cup final in one season. "I didn't see this coming this soon. And that's all Greg," Kuntz said. "The more pieces you add to a team, the harder it is. The fact that you can do a complete squad transformation and get everyone to jell, it's very rare." Rarer still is the way Vanney had been able to use the nurturing skills his kindergarten-teacher mother taught him to get the most out of those new players. Like Pec, 23, who came to MLS from Brazil's Vasco da Gama, where he played as a wide winger in a rigid system that left little room for improvisation. With the Galaxy, Vanney encouraged him to move closer to the penalty area, take chances and play with the freedom he did on the playground. The result? Sixteen goals and 14 assists, making him the youngest players in club history to record 30 goal contributions in one season. "Everyone was really trusting, believing that I could do it," Pec said through a translator. "That gave me so much joy that I could show who I was. What we are seeing, it's Gabriel when I was a kid. It was inside me but it was asleep. [Vanney] has brought this back and suddenly I'm awake." And so, after seven seasons in hibernation, are the Galaxy. ©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By LISA MASCARO and FARNOUSH AMIRI WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard faced fresh scrutiny Monday on Capitol Hill about her proximity to Russian-ally Syria amid the sudden collapse of that country’s hardline Assad rule. Gabbard ignored shouted questions about her 2017 visit to war-torn Syria as she ducked into one of several private meetings with senators who are being asked to confirm Trump’s unusual nominees . Related Articles National Politics | Trump promises to end birthright citizenship: What is it and could he do it? National Politics | Trump has flip-flopped on abortion policy. His appointees may offer clues to what happens next National Politics | In promising to shake up Washington, Trump is in a class of his own National Politics | Election Day has long passed. In some states, legislatures are working to undermine the results National Politics | Trump taps his attorney Alina Habba to serve as counselor to the president But the Democrat-turned-Republican Army National Reserve lieutenant colonel delivered a statement in which she reiterated her support for Trump’s America First approach to national security and a more limited U.S. military footprint overseas. “I want to address the issue that’s in the headlines right now: I stand in full support and wholeheartedly agree with the statements that President Trump has made over these last few days with regards to the developments in Syria,” Gabbard said exiting a Senate meeting. The incoming president’s Cabinet and top administrative choices are dividing his Republican allies and drawing concern , if not full opposition, from Democrats and others. Not just Gabbard, but other Trump nominees including Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth, were back at the Capitol ahead of what is expected to be volatile confirmation hearings next year. The incoming president is working to put his team in place for an ambitious agenda of mass immigrant deportations, firing federal workers and rollbacks of U.S. support for Ukraine and NATO allies. “We’re going to sit down and visit, that’s what this is all about,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., as he welcomed Gabbard into his office. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary pick Hegseth appeared to be picking up support from once-skeptical senators, the former Army National Guard major denying sexual misconduct allegations and pledging not to drink alcohol if he is confirmed. The president-elect’s choice to lead the FBI, Kash Patel , who has written extensively about locking up Trump’s foes and proposed dismantling the Federal Bureau of Investigation, launched his first visits with senators Monday. “I expect our Republican Senate is going to confirm all of President Trump’s nominees,” said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on social media. Despite widespread concern about the nominees’ qualifications and demeanors for the jobs that are among the highest positions in the U.S. government, Trump’s team is portraying the criticism against them as nothing more than political smears and innuendo. Showing that concern, nearly 100 former senior U.S. diplomats and intelligence and national security officials have urged Senate leaders to schedule closed-door hearings to allow for a full review of the government’s files on Gabbard. Trump’s allies have described the criticisms of Hegseth in particular as similar to those lodged against Brett Kavanaugh, the former president’s Supreme Court nominee who denied a sexual assault allegation and went on to be confirmed during Trump’s first term in office. Said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., about Hegseth: “Anonymous accusations are trying to destroy reputations again. We saw this with Kavanaugh. I won’t stand for it.” One widely watched Republican, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, herself a former Army National Guard lieutenant colonel and sexual assault survivor who had been criticized by Trump allies for her cool reception to Hegseth, appeared more open to him after their follow-up meeting Monday. “I appreciate Pete Hegseth’s responsiveness and respect for the process,” Ernst said in a statement. Ernst said that following “encouraging conversations,” he had committed to selecting a senior official who will “prioritize and strengthen my work to prevent sexual assault within the ranks. As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.” Ernst also had praise for Patel — “He shares my passion for shaking up federal agencies” — and for Gabbard. Once a rising Democratic star, Gabbard, who represented Hawaii in Congress, arrived a decade ago in Washington, her surfboard in tow, a new generation of potential leaders. She ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020. But Gabbard abruptly left the party and briefly became an independent before joining with Trump’s 2024 campaign as one of his enthusiasts, in large part over his disdain for U.S. involvement overseas and opposition to helping Ukraine battle Russia. Her visit to Syria to meet with then-President Bashar Assad around the time of Trump’s first inauguration during the country’s bloody civil war stunned her former colleagues and the Washington national security establishment. The U.S. had severed diplomatic relations with Syria. Her visit was seen by some as legitimizing a brutal leader who was accused of war crimes. Gabbard has defended the trip, saying it’s important to open dialogue, but critics hear in her commentary echoes of Russia-fueled talking points. Assad fled to Moscow over the weekend after Islamist rebels overtook Syria in a surprise attack, ending his family’s five decades of rule. She said her own views have been shaped by “my multiple deployments and seeing firsthand the cost of war and the threat of Islamist terrorism.” Gabbard said, “It’s one of the many reasons why I appreciate President Trump’s leadership and his election, where he is fully committed, as he has said over and over, to bring about an end to wars.” Last week, the nearly 100 former officials, who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, said in the letter to Senate leaders they were “alarmed” by the choice of Gabbard to oversee all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies. They said her past actions “call into question her ability to deliver unbiased intelligence briefings to the President, Congress, and to the entire national security apparatus.” The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to coordinate the nation’s intelligence agencies and act as the president’s main intelligence adviser. Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report.Amritsar: The Panther Division observed Vijay Diwas on Sunday, marking India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war. This historic day, observed annually on Dec 16, commemorates the creation of Bangladesh and the decisive military victory led by the Indian armed forces. On this occasion, the celebrations featured a stunning display of military equipment and the felicitation of Veer Naris, showcasing the nation’s strength and unity. The highlight of the day was the weapon and equipment display as part of the “Know Your Army Mela”, where military hardware, including armoured tanks, artillery guns, and other new generation weapons under induction, were displayed to the public. This display gave citizens, especially the younger generation, an opportunity to witness firsthand the military technology that has played a significant part and continues to hold a pivotal role in the Indian Army ’s success. The weapon display offered a chance to explore the legacy of India’s defence capabilities and the cutting-edge technology that continues to safeguard the nation’s security. We also published the following articles recently Kol to witness military tattoo on 53rd Vijay Diwas The Indian Army is set to commemorate the 53rd Vijay Diwas with a captivating military tattoo at the Royal Calcutta Turf Club (RCTC). The event, open to the public, will feature thrilling displays of equestrian feats, combat helicopter flypasts, and Kalari Payattu. 150 NCC cadets take part in BSF arms display In Lunglei, Mizoram, the Border Security Force (BSF) held a captivating weapons exhibition for 150 NCC cadets. The event showcased modern weaponry and specialized equipment, aiming to inspire the next generation to consider careers in national security. Man killed for opposing gun display at wedding A wedding celebration in Bhojpur district turned tragic when a gun-brandishing incident escalated into a fatal clash. Santosh Kumar, a 30-year-old civil service aspirant, objected to the display of the weapon and was subsequently beaten by members of the bride's party. He later succumbed to his injuries. Police have filed charges and are pursuing the attackers. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , and Mini Crossword .

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez is already regarded as one of the best at his position. But he wants more. Gonzalez, nearing the end of a breakout second season, has his eyes set on making the Pro Bowl. Multiple teammates took to social media to stump for him after the Patriots’ 25-24 loss to the Colts last Sunday, when Gonzalez plucked his second interception of the season and didn’t allow a single catch. The 22-year-old has spent most of the year successfully shadowing opposing No. 1 receivers from Ja’Marr Chase to Garrett Wilson, Calvin Ridley and Tyreek Hill, who have praised Gonzalez after their head-to-head matchups. However, Gonzalez has some ground to make up with the fans. After the first week of Pro Bowl fan voting, the 10 leading vote-getters at each position were announced Monday, and Gonzalez did not crack the cornerback leaderboard. “It is what it is. You know, the votes are gonna come,” Gonzalez said Tuesday. “I believe it’s just the first stretch of voting. I think there’s some more voting. If it comes, it comes. If it don’t, it don’t. I’m not too worried about it. We gotta win. That’s our main focus. That’s our main thing. Win and everything else will follow through.” Gonzalez has started all 13 games this season, collecting 55 tackles, two interceptions, eight pass breakups and a fumble return for a touchdown. He’s allowed a 71.8 passer rating and 56.8% when targeted, per Pro Football Reference. Thanks to those numbers, and what he expects from himself in the years to come, Gonzalez fully expects to make the Pro Bowl sometime in his career. “If it ain’t this year, I’m gonna get it eventually,” he said. “Whenever the time comes, I’ll be blessed and happy to be a part of it.” Punter Bryce Baringer is currently the only Patriot to rank among the top 10 vote-getters at his position. He ranks third among all punters.AP News Summary at 5:53 p.m. EST