What’s with this Beckham guy anyway?
If you haven’t been following the tug-of-war between Milan and LA for the Spiced One, then you probably won’t be reading this. If you have been following it, like me, you are probably sick of the whole thing. Ok, that’s an assumption but I’m pretty confident it’s accurate.
This whole thing is silly. Milan and Beckham have been trying to bully LA into selling him for next to nothing. LA, and rightly so, have called out Milan (though not Spice Guy) for their BS and labeled the offer of US$3million ridiculous. Seriously, LA (and MLS) will lose a lot more than that by not having him. Of course, this is probably all part of the negotiations. Milan will probably have to agree to to do their preseason stuff in North American for next to nothing for several August’s. Of course, that’s not a bad move for Milan as it’ll sell a few of their shirts.
The thing which really doesn’t add up is Beckham. Why would he run the risk of basically killing off his marketing and self promotion campaign in the US? He’s known to stay well away from any controversial comments yet he’s really been knocking LA and MLS the last few months. What he is saying now is a far cry from what he said when he first joined LA. I’m probably miles off but I always thought he was over here to make a ton of money. Now, he’ll still make some but when he can no longer play at the top level….well, there probably won’t be as much money waiting for him here.
If you had asked me in January when Beckham and Donovan went off on their Winter tours if they’d be back. I’d have said, ‘no, Landon will stay there and Becks will be back.’ Last week I would have said things had switched. Now? Well, it’s looking like both could be in LA this summer.
Honestly, I’d probably prefer it if both, but at least one, of them left. Why? Well, it’s no secret that they take up way too much of LA’s salary cap. How many MLS teams with Designated Players have claimed silverware since the DP slot was introduced?
At this point though, I hope AEG/MLS et al just tells Milan and Becks to get over it. Force Becks to play this season in LA. Let him sell a few tickets and look like crap all summer…heck, even bench him if he half-asses it too much. We’ll see.
Either way, it’s funny how people on the other side of the Atlantic view this as yet another strike against MLS. Not sure how they figure that but, whatever. Thing is, I’m thinking the way things have gone will, hopefully, scare off some older players thinking they can find an easy payday in MLS.
I’d much rather watch 11 decent players wanting to play well than 1 former superstar and 10 not so greats stinking up the pitch.
But what do I know? Those running MLS are more interested in a quicker return on their investment (building stadiums) than the actually product on the pitch. It’s a bit like a city building an awesome new Opera House and getting members of local High School choirs to do the performances.
Anyway, the sooner the Spiced One leaves LA, the sooner LA can get back to the business of winning silverware. Please, take the circus tent down.
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