Beckham to AC Milan

.. on loan

 

Whoa, a soccer-related post from 'fog. It's official, Barak will win!

Not to disturb the continuity, interesting loan. He'll probably play well for them, as MSL was just the tune-up. And he is not cup-tied, so look for the Rossoneri to make a very good run at the UEFA Cup, or whatever they are calling it.

Rhonaldinho and Beckham together, that's kind of cool.

Also, if anyone can cheat time a little and be a solid roster selection at 38(?) for the next World Cup, I fancy Beckham's chances for Engerland.

 

LA may be better off on the field if Beckham were to leave for Milan permanently. If Donovan leaves LA the Galaxy will need playmaker in the middle of the field and a fresh face to the franchise might not be a bad thing. The dollars spent on Beckham seem to have been a coup financially but the on-field results have been mediocre at best for Beckham personally and LA is a train wreck right now.

 

Go away and never come back.

 

I don't care about the impact to the Galaxy, but am concerned about the impact to the MLS. Like him or not, Beckham put butts in seats. He probably gave every other team (sans Toronto FC), an extra $250k-$500k in ticket revenue (you often couldn't buy single tickets to the "Beckham game" but had to buy as part of a 5 game package).

 

Would this effect MLS at all? As long as he doesn't get injured, he'll be back in LA once the 2009 season starts.

 

Whats really ridiculous about this is how Becks is doing this just to prolong his national career.

In order for the LA Galaxy to rebuild, LD needs to leave to free up cap space and build from the bottom up.

 

Don -

I understand the loan concept, but I want him to go away and not come back. I am tired of him - tired of hearing about him, and tired of galaxy being so bad that I have to keep hearing about them because of him.

Lets put the spotlight on the teams and players that are performing.

 

My understanding is that because the MLS and Serie A are under different Confederations, the loan movement can only occur during the transfer window. i.e., Becks would miss the first couple months of the MLS season.

 

I don't think this will even come close to affecting the product on the field but it is coming close to a pr disaster. It really raises questions about the league as a whole. It completely overshadows how an international icon and (by some) revered footballer is playing for the worst team in the league. That speaks volumes about the league's competitiveness. This doesn't change the fact that people will now brand the league as a failure despite this just being a loan move. Depending on how the majority of people take this we could have the Beckham experiment blow up in MLS's face.

P.S. I agree with Jensers but only after Beck's contract is up. See above for obvious reasons.

EDIT: Ok in response to WhitesBhoy the Gals troubles is one of two things (Ok its both). 1) Becks just isn't as good as he was (duh) 2) He isn't giving his full effort (duh) I had no intention of "overhyping" MLS though it is my favorite league in the world. For reference on my stand on MLS see "5 Reasons to Follow MLS" or along those lines.

 

Beckham playing for a poor quality team in an over-hyped league, at least on this side of the pond (just read Big Soccer for 5 minutes and tell me otherwise).

You are kidding me.

 

Whitesbhoy is spot on.

If Becks truly desires 2010 for England, then he's not coming back to MLS - plus all the rags say Capello was instrumental in facilitating this move. He'll sell so many tickets/jerseys/media spots for Milan that they'll buy him for a year or two - or make an extended loan. Plus, Posh is in Milan for pete's sake, it's not exactly menudo. Further, MLS will always be around for the 'putting him out to stud' portion of his career and he can come back when Milan casts him aside. The Galaxy are atrocious, and given the choice, would any of us choose it over AC Milan?

Although Milan rate slightly above scurvy in my book, even I'm curious to see him on the pitch with Kaka, Ronaldinho, Pato, Schevchenko, Seedorf, Ingzahi (Sp?), etc.

Now, if Donovan can just get out of L.A......

 

I think loans can be ended at any time. Best example I can think of is when we sent Vincenzo Montella back to Roma a week before the season ended.

 

I think the difference is in crossing Confederation lines..Roma and Fulham are both in UEFA. Galaxy and Milan are not.

 

What was that, Don? I couldn't understand you with your tongue so firmly planted in your cheek.

 

The comments about this quickly reach the 'does not compute' level.

I especially dont understand the 'leave and dont come back' view. Was there ever the view that Beckham, Donovan, and one second rate CB could rescue the disaster that the Gals became, starting BEFORE Lalas came in.

How about let's address that. Suppose that Beckham and not Schellotto had been brought into Columbus and everything else done the same. Barring the niggling ankle injury, can anyone say unequivocally that the Crew would not have improved to the same level?

To say that the effect of Beckham would be lesser than GBS would imply that GBS is actually a better playmaker than Beckham. That might be arguable but i dont think there's a marked difference.

so what's the difference? IMO, it's a manager and GM that understands what that role is. You can only make a GOOD player better by pairing him with a GBS or Beckham, you cant make a mediocre player better that way.

AIG/Lalas thought that the players they brought in to play with Beckham were better than they actually were. I dont think there's a reasonable projection of resentment and jealousy toward Beckham. And I dont think Beckham considers himself as able to operate on his own.

There's a hint around that Arena would like him gone.. on the premise that Beckham is 'uncoachable'.
Well, so is GBS. You dont COACH GBS, you put him in the situation where he can operate comfortably as he sees fit. and you coach your OTHER guys on how to play with him.

Now... suppose that Schellotto decided HE wanted to play in LA and Beckham stayed gone. Anyone here see that working? Seriously. Look at how Moreno plays and how Buddle plays.
Then you MIGHT get the idea why Buddle is EX CREW.. just like Cunningham.

And we aint even TALKED about the Gals defense which you have to admit affects the morale and mindset of the attacking players.
In summary I dont believe the galaxy are going to get well soon, with or without Beckham. They are just too broken. But it WOULD be easier if Arena was REALLY a good judge of player talent and team suitability.

I think Claudio Reyna settled that.

 

I simply think, barring injury, he's not coming back to MLS for a while. Dude, should've never went to MLS in the first place if he desired England appearances. Becks is like a cockroach the past couple of years in that every time he's counted out, he proves his detractors wrong. I think Milan will be no different and he'll end up starting there in a couple of months, and probably leading them to the UEFA Cup. And believe me, I'm not a Becks worshiper, just a guy who likes players who work hard. At the end of the day, after the underwear model shoots and handbag promos, he works hard on the pitch.