Here's what he had to say... Lalas had nothing to do with the Gullit hire, and they never got along from the get go. Gullit was hired on a request by Terry Byrne directly to AEG. Lalas and Gullit constantly butted heads on player personnel issues. Gullit had wanted to bring in Solano and get rid of Vagenas and Ruiz, but Lalas nixed the ideas. Both would go to Tim Lieweke and complain about each other constantly saying how wrong the other was and how right they were. Majority of the players hated Gullit. Gullit didn't think any of the players were up to a "proper level" and treated them like so. Beckham was definitely warm to the idea of Gullit, but after the Asia trip that relationship began to go sour. The possibly permanent head coaches he mentioned were the ones that were mentioned everywhere else. I just figured I'd let you guys know.
That little bit of info right there will tell us how much Alexi had involvement in the player movement.... kinda funny.. the Asia trip was only the first thing the team did.... So basically Beckham was warm to the idea until he actually had a chance to work with the guy.
on a limb here Ultimately: "The Beckham decision" could be the downfall of the Los Angeles Galaxy as we know it. Left in (HIS) wake to date: * Scores of players traded, released, waived. * (1) General Manager Fired. (but that was a good thing) * (2) Managers Fired. * (2) consecutive years missing playoffs. with a third probable. * (0) trophies in the case since January 2007. * The probability of losing Landon Donovan & Edson Buddle at the end of the year is indirectly and directly cause of (HIS) being here. * And finally, if we tank out at the end of the year again... (HE) will put out feelers that (HE) wishes to be loaned out to a european team making the decision to bring (HIM) here a complete f*cking waste.
Re: on a limb here I'm worried it could be wider than that. MLS are investing a lot of money and effort in his image, but the returns are negligible. Sure, shirt sales increased exponentially in his first season, but this will drop off if his complete lack of interest on the pitch continues (and I cannot see this changing). Look at attendances at away games this year. Much hype was made of the near 47,000 crowd in New York, but this was a drop of 20,000 from last year. Same story in D.C. where the Galaxy game drew 23% less fans this season. Look even at the recent game at San Jose. 26,000 compared to 40,000 a few months back. The novelty has gone, those who wanted to see him have seen him, and most have been left wondering what all the fuss was about. If the game continues to grow and thrive in this country, which we all sincerely hope it does, it will happen in spite of David Beckham. Not because of him.
Re: on a limb here Sorry, but dont agree with anything here. If I remember correctly, the galaxy weren't all that hot before Becks. The simple question is, would you consider benching Becks for anyone on the Galaxy bench? -if Buddle leave, it's because he's doing so well and wanted by other teams, I don't see how this has anything to do with Beckham. -I can see your point if we loose Donovan, but only because Donovan cant put up with the fact that he's not the #1 focus on the team anymore. I don't think you can blame Becks for that, you can only look at Donovan's character if he does leave.
Re: on a limb here And its Beckhams fault the russian army is running all over Georgia pinching everyone's telly. Jesus treble devil do you ever give up.
Re: on a limb here Actually it is Beckham's fault. If he was chosen for the Olympics as a senior player, the whole Beckham fanatic Georgian Army would want to stay home and watch his games. Therefore, they would not attacked, meaning...no conflict. I don't see how Beckham would do anything but help the MLS, the only people that could possibly be hurt by beckham's arrival is AEG financially, but I don't hear them complaining. How is this hurting the MLS? even if "Beckham Mania" did died down, are there any teams effected by the arrival of Beckham? Are they now in a worst condition than they were before he came to the leaque?
Re: on a limb here How is Beckham responsible for the Galaxy not making the playoffs in 2006? He didn't get here until July 2007. His signing wasn't even announced until 3 months after the 2006 season ended.
Look, Beckham put butts in the seats for the Galaxy, sold season tickets, and more jerseys than I ever care to see being worn by female sorta-fans. He got more Galaxy games on TV, has gotten coverage overseas, got us into Superliga last year and preseason tourneys, etc., and he also hasn't played half bad at all. So really, I think it's just absurd to blame anything on him. He hasn't even screwed up the salary cap because he's a DP. He's a premier draw on the road, and he's opened up the MLS as a legitimate place for DP's to come to, ending in some prime foreign talent to come in. Heck, they probably wouldn't even have the DP rule for another 2 or 3 years, if at all, if he hadn't wanted to come. There are a lot of things wrong with the Galaxy, but Beckham isn't one of them. AEG has made dumptruck-loads of money off of him, and to say the league is worse off financially just seems absurd. Bottom line: more people watch MLS, both on TV and in person, because of Beckham. That's bad how?
Re: on a limb here Is Becks gonna be the new whipping boy?!?!? Let's be serious folks, we are just a few moves from being by far the best team in this league. If we hadn't made any moves in the off season and only replaced the vag man, pavon, and X This could very easily have been our lineup on Thurs: Donovan buddle Lewis Alvarez Becks Klein Jazic Dominguez Franklin Albright cannon I mean, that looks like a winner to me. Also, our jerseys are way better now.
Re: on a limb here I read somewhere that beckham's entire salary (excluding endorsments which aren't paid by the league anyways) was recooperated in the first year from shirt sales. So I don't see any problem with beckham's move financially.
Re: on a limb here Right. So the question is, is player D.Beckham worth a DP roster place and 400,000 $ from the salary cap? Easy answer for me.
I like Becks and he has done alot to bring some attention to this league but if we are talking about what he does on the field for the $$$$ he makes I think Ronnie O'Brien does the same job for less $$$$.
Hmmm, getting rid of Vagenas and Ruiz and bringing in Solano sounds like a very good idea. Lalas nixing it sounds like rank stupidity......if that is the only evidence we have as to the basis of clashes between Gullitt and Lalas, then it was insane to pressure Ruud out. Of course, then there is the apparent tense mood between Ruud and the players. But I have to wonder if it was really "lack of respect", as Donovan put it, or more a demand from him that they start consistently performing in a way worthy of respect. There is a world of difference between the two, and I'm not sure that players used to being handed gratuitous and unearned strokes to boost their "esteem" are the best judges as to which of the two it was. I note that Donovan said that particularly the younger players found Ruud's departure more difficult, that tells me that a number of the older players [can we say Vagenas, for sure? ] were more upset about being challenged to justify their positions than anything else.... I'm a Revs fan, but really wanted this Beckham/Superclub endeavor to work. MLS needs to have some teams that stand out in the world's eye, and to be good ambassadors for the league, and why not do it now?.....But the ineptitude of the FO of the Galaxy is just staggering, and it is hurting us all. What a bloody shame.
There's ALOT of players who does more than what he is worth and vice versa, why do we single out Becks?
Stiff report Nice to see AEG accounting dept trolling the bigsoccer boards. "Uh... he made AEG a boatload of money" (answer) who the f*ck cares? "He has made his signing up in shirt sales" (answer) So basically he is a model.. and who the f*ck cares "He has paved the way for named soccer players to come here" (answer) like who? where is this big name that followed becks here so far? are you talking about Darren Huckerby? "Without David beckham.. there would be no DP rule" (answer) come on, are you serious? nothing like progression. "The Galaxy sell out home games now" (answer) they always did. but newbies wouldn't know that. "MLS is better because of him... more people know about the league" (answer) really, what do they know it for? crappy overhyped teams with absolutely no fan support and pittance in TV support. The league is a running joke in europe. ask your local sports radio show to stop making fun of MLS if it such a whirlwind of talent and stardom. David Beckham is just the running joke that brings his lazy work ethic and hidden desire to be a celebrity to a team and real fans that dont deserve it. But this team wasn't built by the fans, it was built by corporate schills looking to make a buck anyway it can.
Re: Stiff report Sorry, no show here. =) I've seen TJ's posts in the past, and I know enough not to get involved in that type of a nonsensical interaction. There's people you can debate a point with and then there's people who just make your head hurt. You can spend all day pointing things out and in the end not make any progress. You've also got the "local band" phenomenon going on. You know, where someone used to listen to a band when they played local bars, became a fan, then the band blew up and got popular, and the people who knew them back in the day always feel entitled to tell everyone else they're not real fans. Some Galaxy fans have that now, and they assume that everyone is a brand-new fan who just joined up because of Beckham. Whatever.
Re: on a limb here Can't argue your numbers. But put them in context. These crowds are by far 1) the largest DCU will draw for an MLS game this year 2) the largest RBNY will draw for an MLS game this year 3) the largest San Jose will draw for an MLS game this year - maybe ever. So your conclusion is just wrong. There is still a huge Beckham draw, not as big as year one, but a huge factor nonetheless. If you can't see this, I pity you.
Re: on a limb here Looks like TequilaJoal and I are in the doghouse. Yes, there is still a draw, and those crowds are bigger than if Beckham wasn't playing, but the drop-off has already been huge. So, at the end of his 5 year contract the question will be: Did the expense justify the benefits? I'm not so sure it will. MLS is the main culprit here as far as I am concerned. They took a calculated decision to boost the popularity of soccer in the US by bringing in a celebrity figure whose level of on-field performance had declined rapidly over the last five years. The league might be getting more exposure in America right now, but I feel it would grow in any case. As someone touched upon above, the exposure abroad is simply an increase in ridicule. The money could be far better spent in other areas (such as retaining young talent rather than see them leave the game or head for the bright lights of Norway or Switzerland). In the long term, I see Beckham and his bank manager being the only satisfied stakeholders.