1. Ronaldinho... I just don't see it. There isn't a club in Europe that wouldn't go to the mat/break the bank to have the guy in the squad for all of the reasons we've listed here in this thread. 2. Beckham may just make the league look good, in that he still does have chops and when the world sees him play here they'll see that he does NOT light the league on fire. (MLS is better than the naysayers give it credit for.) This I fear would NOT be the case with Ronaldinho. In this summer's tie with RBNY you got the sense that he was just the cat toying with the mouse. Had he wanted to put the hammer down it would have been devastating. In this sense he may well underscore the belief that MLS is a vastly inferior league. 3. Everyone says Beckham wants to/will be in the movies. Has HE ACTUALLY said this, or is this purely conjecture? He has the looks, no doubt. But that – plus his Tom Cruise pulling for you – still means dingus. Have you ever seen this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKFTCkZHAs4 Without question, It'd be tough to deal with an in-form Baron Cohen but I dunno... I hope the Academies are profitable Becks.
This is why its more important for the MLS to get a player like David Beckham than it would be to get a Del Piero, Rooney, C. Ronaldo, Ronaldo etc. These are big soccer names no doubt, but Beckham brings cache, marketability, brand, image, celebrity status, etc. Ronaldinho is pretty close to Beckham's brand name (as far as soccer is concerned), but is an incredible talent (more so than Beckham and others) on the field. This is why it makes sense for the MLS to bring in the biggest names of the sport and not necessarily ones that are just stars. When talking about superstars and cache, both Beckham and Ronaldinho fits that profile.
I respect this whole thinking-huge and aiming for the stars attitude, but FIVE HUNDRED MILLION dollars?! I realize that's just armchair conjecture and whatnot, random dollar figures pulled out of the ether, but come on already. Even if the league was only on the hook for $400k per year for a player like that, and the rest was all ownership and Nike-bucks, it's still ridiculous. That would be what the software/technology realm refers to as a "disruptive technology," so how would that kind of creative destruction benefit the league? Ronnie running circles around every MF in the league; fans around the US and the world saying, "See? That Ronaldinho guy is great, but the rest of the league is just average." However, if I'd just built a stadium, Garber has just handed me the keys to my brand new MLS franchise, I was putting my squad together, and ol' 'Dinho decided he'd like to live in my town for a few years, would I grab him? My GM and team lawyers would be on him like fur on a weasel.
I will be quoting this at the earliest, appropriate opportunity. That's just funny stuff, good on ya.
'So be good for goodness sake! Whoa-ooo. Somebody's comin. Somebody's comin'" Maybe not? Ok, enough of the classic movie. Anyway, hey? What ever happened to Martin Palermo coming over from Boca??? I heard RBNY mention him but then nothing...
Thats funny I post this Story on MLS forum...Oatmeal gives me a hrd time about it...and then comes here and posts the same story...
Red Bull should do whatever it takes to land Ronaldinho. He along with Beckham would bring so much attention to the MLS, that we would finally start to see the general media taking this league more serious. Hopefully landing Ronaldinho isn't as far off as people might think and if we can get him here for the 2008 or even 2009 season, I'd say that would be incredible.
Has there been anyone on this board that's been able to read Portugese and actually read what the article says? We've had lots of discussion about an article that, as far as I've seen, nobody knows what it's saying.
I love this thread; it shows how desperate we are for entertainment during the off-season If he's going anywhere, it's to Chelski as said above. Sven will coach him, when Roman hires the Swede after Jose walks out in a huff this summer.
Great line, spot on. If he wanted to come, we should break the bank to get him, but it's not happening. It's time for a dose of reality. Beckham - 31 - Done Ronaldo - 30 - Still possible (my odds? 30%) Ronaldino - 26 - No F**** Way! Check back after his next contract at age 29 or 30 he'll be just right to lead the second wave. See the below post (alas it seems to have died to young) for further info. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?p=10415040#post10415040
Why do you think that? You know, it just amazes me the way people around here assume that the US of A is the only destination for a footballer who decides to take an unusual career decision. Fortunately, we have a league with a business plan, and throwing around hundreds of millions willy nilly ain't going to fit into too many business plans. So that puts us at a competitive disadvantage I suspect with a couple of middle eastern leagues. In addition, there are more established leagues in the far east where there is also some money and living there might not be as bleak as in a fundamentalist kingdom of sand. Then there's australia... My point is we're not the only new world destination, and while we certainly have some competitive advantages, we have some serious competition to attract the type of player who was a superstar and might be looking for a different late career experience.
A big reason why people think some of the big names will eventually make their way to the US is because of marketing. We'll see how things go with Beckham, but the US is a large market where Ad dollars could be quite large. Won't apply to every player, but Ronaldinho I think fits the bill of someone who, even if he isn't a big name here in the US now, can have some campaigns made around him that would do well over here. We'll see what Beckham's time here will do. And I'm refering to some time 4 or 5 years from now when Ronaldinho may consider comming here.
I didnt give you a hard time about it, I'm glad you found it and wanted to share it with the Red Bull forum. I was just saying I don't read alot in MLS general so I didn't know if the headline was legit.
"Your girlfriend is living in the heart of spook central." "She's not my girlfriend, she's just an interesting client that I like because she sleeps above her covers, 4 feet above her covers. She barks, she drools, she scratches behind her ears."
IIRC During Barca's US tour last summer 'dinho did say something like "I wouldn't rule out playing in the USA towards the end of my career". Can't find a link for that though. I think it was on the MLS site during the summer tours.
GIO, I'm glad to see that someone else enjoys the multi-talented, musical style of Mr. Bill Murray! Along the same subject, I think the only way Ronaldinho would be coming to RBNY this season is if he visited NY, got hit by a cab, and haunted Giants Stadium until contained by the Ghostbusters! Maybe MLS could make a new slot for soccer star phantasms???? (ring-ring) "Ghostbusters whaddaya want!!! Huh? (sound alarm) We got him!!!"