Beckham's Move: Great Idea

Filed in archive Transfer/Shmansfer on January 14, 2007

David Beckham has aged badly. Not his face, which is still disturbingly marketable, but he hasn't got the legs to play at the very top anymore and certainly not at the pace of the Premiership - he's always had to cope with a distinct lack of pace but the stamina and energy that defined his game is on the wane. We saw it at the World Cup, and we've seen his none too impressive club form this season. So with his days as a Galactico obviously numbered, and Beckham facing a pointless struggle to prove himself all over again at a non-top four club like Spurs, Villa or West Ham, he's made the right choice.

It was getting to the point where Beckham couldn't match his [massive celebrity on the pitch, so he would have had to perform miracles to justify himself every week in the Premiership. It's a man who knows his own limitations making the very smartest career move. By heading to sunny California he's inverted that paradigm (yes, we just used the word paradigm). In the US his celebrity is lower and his relative talent is higher. He's top man again and he can walk down the street with slightly less hassle.

With his coaching schools out there, his obvious love of celebrity and, let's face it, Posh fancying a spell in Hollywood, Becks was always going to play for Los Angeles Galaxy at some point. The danger was that he'd roll up aged 35, still famous but with nothing left in the tank football wise. Though he can't quite cut it at the top level any more, he's got more than enough aged 31 to make a real impact on sawker.

His celebrity will attract massive media attention for soccer Stateside this year, giving MLS the gigantic kick in the arse that it so desperately needs. The focus will shift to soccer and attendances will be up wherever he plays. Further, by showing MLS some respect and not treating the league like a retirement home and rolling up closer to 40 than 30, Beckham has helped legitimize MLS and his enterprising move should help convince some other big name players (say, Ronaldo for example) that MLS might be the place to be.

If Beckham can be the man to lead the revolution and wake America up to the best game in the world, then his celebrity will live on for ever as a pioneering innovator who achieved the impossible. And that's got to be better than scoring a few free kicks for Newcastle.

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Originally Published on CaughtOffside