Beckham's Move: Terrible Idea

Filed in archive Transfer/Shmansfer on January 14, 2007

David Beckham has failed at Real Madrid. Four seasons at supposedly the best club in the world and nothing to show for it. Unless you count losing his place in the England team. We'll never forget Beckham the celebrity, but the reputation of Beckham the footballer has taken a massive blow. The only way to regain some respect from football fans was to come back to the Premiership - doesn't matter who with because he doesn't need the money - and prove everyone wrong by making an a positive footballing impact to end his career. Now we'll never know if he had anything left in the tank. But we'll assume he didn't.

He'll do alright in MLS, he has to really. His two most famous team mates at LA Galaxy will be Landon Donovan, who couldn't cut it at Bayer Levekusen, and Cobi Jones, who once had an average spell with Coventry City. He can't lose football wise, but that really means that he can't win.

And if Becks thinks he's going to revolutionize soccer in America, he's way off. Yes there will be some short term media attention, and yes swooning ladies will come to see this dreamy soccer player with movie star looks and celebrity appeal. But they won't be there for the game, they'll be there for the celebrity experience. And once he retires all that will go away and soccer in America will be back where it was after Pele left and the NASL folded.

Even worse, the crowds could flock to their first soccer game and leave unimpressed. All respect to Beckham's passing and crossing ability, but it's not too exciting to the untrained eye. Yanks will ask, "is this as good as soccer gets?"

And how long before Beckham gets frustrated with the massive drop in standard, and having to constantly justify soccer to skeptical American journalists? What's the use of a pinpoint cross if some muppet like Alan Gordon heads it wide? And who wants to sit down with an arrognat ignoramus like Jim Rome and explain why games can end in "ties". It's almost guaranteed that Becks will be sick of playing with and against barely professional players after a couple of seasons, and will never last the full five years. Even if other players follow him to MLS it will still turn into one of those sad retirement pay day leagues. The only good thing about MLS right now is that American youngsters like Josmer Altidore get their chance to play nice and early.

He's going to look back on this as a waste of his final years, while MLS and clubs like Los Angeles Galaxy will rue the day they spent a fortune filling the league with a bunch of Geriatricos. By moving to the MLS, David Beckham may have cemented his place in the eyes of his doubters as a player who - above all - was more about style than substance.

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Originally Published on CaughtOffside