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David Beckham agrees to LA Galaxy move

aloofman said:
You built him up, tore him down, and then wonder why he'd want to go elsewhere.
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Yep – it's exactly what we do to all our celebrities and idols here in Britain. ;)

The problem is a lot of people rightly or wrongly see a move to the MLS as a step down for Beckham, given the general lack of enthusiasm for the game over there and the fact that traditionally the Europeans who went across to play in the States were older players either looking for a final pay day or the chance to try and prolong their waning careers for another season or two.

Anyway aloofman, he could have made far, far worse moves. After all, Spurs were reckoned to be interested in him. :p ;)
 
so much hate!
he is still a good player (top ten in the world in that position, IMO), which would do well in a lot of very competitive teams (Champions league contenders).
In the MLS he's going to make something in the 5-8 M$ a year range, in salary (3-4 times the salary cap of the team pre-"beckham rule").
Roughly the same as he is making at Real for warming the bench.

the rest is in commercial rights for the "beckham brand", which was already in the 30 M$/year ballpark.
the estimates of 250$ is based on the assumption that those commercial rights are worth even more in the US. It won't be that high, i think, but it will be significant.
If you include the hollywood connections and his soccer academy in LA, it makes up for what is clearly a step down professionally.

if every team could attract one player of that caliber off salary cap (and the salary cap is raised a bit, which i am sure it will be if interest in MLS increases), the MLS could become a good league, on par with some of the south-american and european leagues
 
Don't panic said:
he is still a good player (top ten in the world in that position, IMO), which would do well in a lot of very competitive teams (Champions league contenders).
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I wouldn't rate him as one of the world's top ten midfielders personally but you're certainly right that that he still has something to offer, given the number of top British and European clubs that were apparently looking to secure his signature.

It should be pointed out though that since he joined Real in 2003 they've failed to win a single piece of major silverware – and nor I'm afraid to say have England for that matter – so having Beckham in your team is no guarantee of success.
 
Don't panic said:
if every team could attract one player of that caliber off salary cap (and the salary cap is raised a bit, which i am sure it will be if interest in MLS increases), the MLS could become a good league, on par with some of the south-american and european leagues
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The unusual thing about MLS is that the league buys and sells the contracts in a centralized way, to prevent one team from totally outspending the rest. That was a major factor in the collapse of the NASL in the early 1980s: they'd spent too far ahead of the market. (This has been the main cause of every upstart pro league failure in the US.) So this time MLS was determined to avoid that, and only now have they decided that some big contracts won't break the bank. They have some insurance against that anyway: two or three super-rich people own almost all the teams. So far Galaxy owner Phil Anschutz (a multi-billionaire) has shown a willingness to pour money into the team without worrying too much about making a profit. He just really likes soccer. He built the Home Depot Center and the Denver stadium with his own money just because he wanted the team to have its own stadium. The late Lamar Hunt did the same thing in Columbus and Dallas.

Basically now they're giving each team one salary cap exemption so they can make big offers to stars in foreign leagues, of which Beckham is the first. The Beckham move has been predicted for a while now, and the new rule made it even more likely. This is why I think that Beckham won't be the last. I think some other big names will be lured over too. I think the effect won't be a major boost in quality though. I think it will be more the boost in media attention and TV broadcasts.

Beckham is right that the sport is much more popular here than TV ratings suggest, and that kids play a lot of soccer until high school, where football and basketball dominate. The main thing is there's so much sports on TV already that it will take a lot of work to really get noticed. Almost every game of the major sports leagues is televised at least locally, if not nationally. And college football and basketball are huge too. Star players will be a big help, even if they're a shadow of their former selves. To the current top leagues it's a big step down for him, but here it's a step up. That has to happen over time if MLS is going to be competitive.
 
good move to increase interest over a short period (1+ season) but i think long term the US league simply needs more such transfers ...

after all position of the MLS isn't bad
compared to the success of basketball, football, baseball leagues over here ... the hockey results at least get shown on tv ... sometimes
 
Don't panic said:
so much hate!
he is still a good player (top ten in the world in that position, IMO)
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Must disagree. Strongly. He was, isnt any more. Far from it. Whatever we all think about David Beckham and the American leagues, it has been said in this thread already... Not a great increase in quality for anyone, but the 'wow' factor of David Beckham is going to be huge.

Edit: *Laughing with the boobs*

Not gonna make much of a difference, Madrid might as well have bought Michael Owen for the amount of bench warming becks has done

... Oh, wait...
 
I think the situation in the US is different from when Best and Pele played there. The Hispanic community is now supposed to number some 40-50 million people for a start.

When I lived in South Africa in the late 90s, every televised British game was Manchester United vs. someone else. As a result Man U fans were everywhere, shirt sales went through the roof etc, I can see LA Galaxy becoming like that in a lot of countries, simply because their profile has been raised overnight by Beckham's move. The other MLS teams need to put their hands in their pocket and go hunting for other big name European or South American players, otherwise LA Galaxy will outgrow them very quickly.
 
Markleshark said:
Must disagree. Strongly. He was, isnt any more. Far from it. Whatever we all think about David Beckham and the American leagues, it has been said in this thread already... Not a great increase in quality for anyone, but the 'wow' factor of David Beckham is going to be huge.
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I agree with you Markleshark. He wasnt even in the squad last night for the 0-0 cup game against Real Betis. Hes no longer an International either. While he is very committed and hard working it just hasnt been working out for him.

Spanish football doesnt really utilise players like Beckham. Most of their wingers are Ronaldinho or Figo types. Tricky and can go past players and score goals themselves. Beckham is a great passer and superb crosser of the ball but there are very little headed goals in Spain purely because they use the tricky wingers not old fashioned English Wingers that just bang crosses in.

I am glad he didnt go to Barcelona because he just would not of fitted in. Plus we wouldnt have Ronaldinho.
 
from playing quality i think he dropped quite a bit but i guess that depends on the role he plays on the field

he was/is outstanding on the right side with his crosses and he is an expert for free kicks + corners, but that's about it

edit: actually i think in a league like the german Bundesliga beckham would have had a much stronger impact than in the spanish league simply because in the german leagues the tactic of simply crossing in the ball and going for headers is way more often used than in italy or spain
 
To think Beckham could have returned to the Premiership and play top flight football each week.

Waste.

At least Football will be a little bit more popular in the States now.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
I wouldn't rate him as one of the world's top ten midfielders personally but you're certainly right that that he still has something to offer, given the number of top British and European clubs that were apparently looking to secure his signature.
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not midfielders, but right winger. I think he is still up there with the best of them. I agree that C. Ronaldo could become better (at their respective peaks), but they play very different styles.
if most US teams could get one good players still in his early 30s (Edgar Davids is rumored to be on the move too) MLS would greatly benefit in terms of quality and visibility (which is what MLS.

I think they should implement a plan to gradually raise the salary cap to 20M/team (plus the beckham exception) in ten years. it would signal athletes that there is money to be made also in the US, so some young talent might come/stick around, increase the overall quality and mantain economic solidity.
 
i think much more important would be to built up more lower leagues, add relegation and promotion and stop changing the rules every 2 years
 
zaphodtheprez said:
How long before the Bekhams become Scientologists?
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Well, according to this report Beckham has said that he spent a couple of hours earlier this week on the phone to top Scientologist fella Tom Cruise discussing the pros and cons of his potential move to the States.

"Obviously I asked him for his advice because he is a very wise man and a very good friend of mine. It's going to be a big help for us to have friends when we arrive in LA."

Those conversations must have been quite the meeting of minds. :p
 
I can't believe the extent to which the media has already injected Tom Cruise into this...I hate that man, I really do. :rolleyes:

I think the Beckham move is only going to have been worth it if other quality (if lower profile) players are brought in to the extent that the MLS becomes a more competitive league by international standards. That would take a handful of seasons at best...so the jury will probably be out on this for a few years.

Otherwise it's just a very expensive publicity stunt for US Soccer.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
I think the Beckham move is only going to have been worth it if other quality (if lower profile) players are brought in to the extent that the MLS becomes a more competitive league by international standards. That would take a handful of seasons at best...so the jury will probably be out on this for a few years.

Otherwise it's just a very expensive publicity stunt for US Soccer.
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I agree, although if it turns out to be a failed publicity stunt, I won't mind because it wasn't my money. :D

I wonder if the overly generous contract is part of the strategy. If you were Ronaldo or Figo right now, would you be wondering how much the foolish Americans would lavish on you by comparison?
 
aloofman said:
I agree, although if it turns out to be a failed publicity stunt, I won't mind because it wasn't my money. :D

I wonder if the overly generous contract is part of the strategy. If you were Ronaldo or Figo right now, would you be wondering how much the foolish Americans would lavish on you by comparison?
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well, MLS must be better than Dubai
 
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