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The L.A. Times ran a story this morning discussing the recently announced loaning of David Beckham to Italian soccer powerhouse AC Milan. This action has once again re-ignited discussion that Beckham may be going back to Europe, as some speculated might happen earlier this year when he trained with Arsenal in England. Unlike the Arsenal situation, this story has a bit more substance to it.
Two interesting tidbits that appear to give more credence to the possibility of Beckham moving back to Europe include the fact that AC Milan has the financial resources to buy a player with a huge contract like Beckham, and AC Milan management has not been shy about expressing their interest in Beckham. More interesting is the fact that former Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit was recently hired as a consultant by AC Milan.
If previous stories are correct and Beckham's camp was responsible for getting Gullit to L.A. in the first place, Gullit may be willing to return the favor and press AC Milan management to buy him to get him back to Europe, especially given his loony thoughts about a conspiracy against soccer within the U.S. sports market.
Photo by AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes
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Ugh who cares! WHY do we have this damn soccer team and no football team again?
Whoa whoa. CaliKing. Lots of people care. Especially all those people who bought season tickets just because an over-the-hill british pop icon moved to LA to be injured on the bench.
Let's face it, Landon Donovan is much better than Beckham
Well, I think your comment highlights why Galaxy fans *should* care. I've been a Real Madrid fan since I was a kid and some of the same problems Beckham's presence in Real have surfaced with the Galaxy. That's not to say they didn't already have other problems, but his presence certainly hasn't helped the team on the field all that much.
If you look at post-Beckham Real, they are becoming the Real of old once again, now that the Beckham circus has left town.
I am beginning to believe more and more that similar action might be necessary for the Galaxy to get to a better spot than they are in today.
Good Riddens if it means I get to stop hearing about him and the spice girl. Sorry for the real futbol fans tho.
Beckham is a player who excels when he plays amongst peers, that is, the best of the best. He's not a guy like Messi who grabs the ball and drives it down the field himself. Beckham's game is all about delivering the ball to the right people at the right time. It goes without saying that the galaxy have next to nobody (Donovan is the exception) that can take advantage of Beckham's skill. He's rotting on this team, and he knows it. As for Real, like you said, they had other problems in spades. I'm sure the circus didn't help, but it wasn't the root of the issue either.
I loved having Becks on the team but I was embarrassed for him when I'd look at his teammates. Half the guys on the squad could barely play in the USL.
you're stupid caliking01.
onto becks, this is disappointing cause he's basically telling the galaxy and their fans, "look i rather play 10 minutes for my country than give two fucks about your little LA team but please keep giving me your money"
Landon should have never given him the captain's arm band but i'm pretty sure he won't be here next year.
Hey Angel, you do remember that until Capello brought Beckham back from his exile on the bench Real was struggling. When they started to play him regularly again, they won the league for the first time in 4 years. Separate the commercial product from the product on the field and the guy has always been a winner and has always been a great pro, who is always fit, always committed and NEVER speaks poorly of teammates, or management. I certainly don't think he's the best player ever, but it gets a bit old when he is constantly the scapegoat.
Actually I feel bad for Beckham, the MLS is a step down for him - it's like playing in the minors or a development league.
If you know anything about Beckham, is that he loves to play. So playing in Italy will keep him busy. AC Milan will have to fork over a ton of cash to buy him, but I think they'd like to see how he meshes with the team before they make their decision. In my opinion it's probably a better fit for him.
The European and Latin American game is much more exciting than anything the MLS has to offer.
major
@ezfinn
I think you are misinterpreting my comments a bit.
Yes, your statement is correct. His contributions were key to Real winning La Liga that year. Personally, I think Capello was acting childish by benching him in the first place. However, as I eluded, Real and the Galaxy both had issues before his arrival at either team, so I don't want to present him as the source of all problems either.
I just think he has magnified some and introduced some new ones. So, as a whole, the only real benefit has been the financial one. That's good, but also shortsighted for the Galaxy and MLS. At the same time, as I've done before, I will admit that he is a professional, which is more than one can say for a lot of other athletes.
But, I do want point out that Beckham was at Real since 2003 and the team didn't win squat till his last year with the team. If memory serves me, he wasn't having a stellar season in the first half of that campaign either. So, yes, he helped the team in 2006 - 2007, but had no impact the rest of his tenure and what I thought was worse, Real got rid of adequate players (Steve McManaman) to make room for him. Sound familiar?
History is repeating itself with the Galaxy.
Real had a much better campaign immediately after he left. Is it coincidental? Perhaps, but the important aspect of the year that followed his departure was that Real was a different team. They had their identity back. The same needs to happen with the Galaxy. The Galaxy were barely holding on to shreds of its identity prior to his arrival and now it is nothing but a faint memory.
Maybe if we all wear our green and gold, or teal and gold, or better yet, black and gold, to the next game, we might be able to subconsciously start changing some mindsets. LOL
I agree.
One man doesn't make a team. Even Beckham couldn't save the Galaxy. Donavan has never been an aerial player, so he couldn't benefit from Beckham's forte, which is pinpoint crosses.
Huddle is good. Very good, but he didn't have enough time to gel with Beckham. As a single player, similar to Donovan, he'll grow.
Someone mentioned earlier that Beckham only works well with other players who are gifted, and i agree completely. Beckham will put the ball _exactly_ where you need it to be..... you just have to be there to take that moment.
Real.... oh, Real Madrid. You're my team. My heart grew once more when you won La Liga under Capello. It really was a season to remember.
Someone that goes by the name of Troy on the Soccer Insider blog brought up an interesting point.
FIFA Transfer/Loan Rules mandate that the minimum period of time for which a player can be loaned would be from one transfer window to the next. I looked it up on the FIFA site to confirm and indeed that's what the rules state.
That means that if Beckham is officially being loaned (and not just hanging out with AC Milan like he did with Arsenal), per FIFA rules, he wouldn't be able to come back till Summer.
Seems like there is more to this story.
@ Angel
All great points and I don't disagree with anything you say. But I also believe that if David Beckham were a 29 year old playing for Real madrid right now, he would be just the kind of workhorse they need.
As for the Galaxy their problems run much deeper than player personnel. They have never been the same since firing Sigi Schmid and then fell further into disorganization with the death of Doug Hamilton. Since Doug's death AEG has taken a much more active role in turning them into the soccer version of the LA Kings. Results won't matter as long as the stadium is full.