Beckham To Metrostars!!!

Even replying to this thread is probably stupid, but I will anyway.

Beckham seems to be one of the few players on earth for whom anonymity is not desirable. Certainly, Mrs. Beckham wants all the spotlight she can find.

And the transfer fee Man U would want for Beckham is roughly the Gross National Product of all of Western Europe.

 

And I think whirl is overestimating the GDP of all of Western Europe.

 

Dude, Beckham finds 1 million in change in the dryer, his transfer fee would be roughly the cost of Victoria Street.

Are you the sockpuppet of SportBoy321?

 

Your an idiot

 

You're an idiot.

 

Heywood, please come clean. You were watching that lame ESPN piece on how the Ottawa Senators could improve their cash flow, and thought you could translate it to a soccer take. Buzzer, please.

 

It's all quite plausible when you look at players that have an ending contract (although you shouldn't count on the likes of Beckham)... except for one thing:

They like to play for 'beautiful' clubs with tradition, traditional support and so on and so on. So if they were to go for les money and a bit less matches they still wouldn't be coming over.

So... you're an idiot.

 

Okay - since everyone has determined that this fellow is an "idiot", what would you think about the possibility of a nifty loan agreement for Beckham. I thought about this a little. Manchester Utd is big here, but suppose they want to be bigger. What better way then to loan out their icon for a season or part of a season?

Beckham is a big part of their team, but the last two years he has drifted for big chunks of the season.
A change of scenery might not be a bad long-term investment, in terms of motivating Beckham.

Plus, Beckham might agree to it if it did not mean leaving Manchester United. He gets a big kick out of the adulation. He would love going on Lettermen and Leno and stuff. His wife would eat it up to.

Also, he is not irreplaceable within their current squad. They have played Veron, Scholes and (most succesfully) the baby-faced Ole Gunner Solskjaer at right without any serious drop off.

While the loan deal would be fairly expensive for Man Utd and for MLS, I can see it being a win - win for both teams. Beckham is one guy who would put huge numbers of fans in seats - over a ten game run or so. Manchester United could gain even more exposure or leverage their partnership with YankeeNets to gain greater television access in the States.

This would require a big insurance policy, but I think it is possible. It would be curious to see if something could happen, although I think this would be more likely when Beckham's career is winding down a little (maybe three years).

It could be sooner rather then later though. After years of never missing a game for injury, the knocks are piling up a little quicker and he has reached his prime age as an attacking midfielder.

 

Only to have his career ended by a Joey Franchino hack? Who are you crappin'?

 

Hence the big insurance policy - read my post. You think the hacking doesn't happen in Europe (especially in Cup games and Champ's League)?

 

Re: Re: Beckham To Metrostars!!!

I could try and defend Joey, but that's not the point. I was thinking the same thing. To put a pro-Rev spin on it, if Beckham saw a game tape of the kind of abuse Taylor Twellman takes (especially in the latter stages of a game) you'd never get him to agree to it. Cleaning up all of the hacking should be a big priority for the league.

Don't you love someone called Liverpool_SC posting that Beckham should come here, and don't worry if he gets injured, because we'll insure him? Maybe if Henry, Shearer, Hasselbaink, Scholes and a few others came over here and got hacked down Liverpool would pop back up in the standings...

 

Shhhh!!!

Actually, I don't think Beckham has hurt us too much in recent years. I don't think he is Man Utd's talismanic player in the vein of Cantona or Keane. I am not saying he is bad - just that I don't think their results rise and fall with him. Also, most Liverpool fans would rather beat the best than see the other teams just go wobbly from losing players. Real idealistic sort and all.

 

An insurance policy may be good for the player and the team's board, but try to convince the manager and (in Beckham's case) the national team coach. Insurance cannot replace the player's contribution on the field.

 

You are correct, but to suggest that there aren't vicious hacks playing against Beckham whenever he comes up against a First Division opponent or when they play in Europe is dishonest (paging Mr Druscher, Aldo Druscher (sp?)).

However, this may be the reason that Sir Alec thinks it is so important that Roy Keane be on his team. As outrageous as his tackling/hijinks are playing for Man Utd, can you imagine how bad he would be if he were on a decent club playing against Man Utd.

"Take this you prawn-sandwich eating #$%*&! You let them call you Ginger Prince!!?! Golden balls!!!?!! Baby-faced Assassin?!! I'll show you a ()*)#*$)#@ assassin."

The cost of having him on another team would far outweigh the cost of all of the disrepute he brings to the game, even if he were not such a gifted player.

 

Man U loaning Beckham to MLS for a season? As a person, you might not be dumb. As a statement, that was very, very dumb. First, to loan in a player, you have to pay his salary for as long as he comes. MLS probably cannot afford to pay Beckham's salary for one year without hurting the other contracts within the league. Second, he might not be the best player on the team, but Beckham is damn close. Sir Alex will never, ever loan him out to another team. There is no reason. His game might be off from when he was red hot, but the kid is still damn good. Even if he had a bad season, I think Man U fans in England would lynch Sir Alex for loaning him to MLS. IF (and it won't even happen, but we'll go hypothetical here) Man U were to ever loan him out, it will not be to MLS. I love our league and support it above all others, but we are a few years from having a Beckham come here and not dominate. And dominating a whole league is not the way to improve one's game. You need to be pushed and tested. At this moment, I don't think Becks would truly be tested here. I can't wait for the day when he could be, but it's not here yet.

We've got a very good developing league with some exciting young talent. That should be good enough for you. We don't need to drag European players over here on loans to improve our game.

 

Beckham to Metrostars....YES PLEASE!! I'll pay the airfares!

 

I'm positive that Becks will finish up his career in NYC. Think about this: Right now he is in the prime of his career. his club has a chance of winning a Treble, plus the Worthington Cup this season. And if they don't do it this season, they'll probably do it in the next few. In 4 years, England will be one of the top 3 favorites to win the WC. He'll probably win all the major individual awards within the next 4 years...what else does he need to play for??? I mean he has a son named Brooklyn, and time and again him and his wife have said that NYC is their favorite city in the world. I'd be VERY surprised if he doesn't end up in a Metrostars jersey.

 

Good point. Only one way to get these big players to sign: When players like Beckham, Zidane, Rivaldo, etc. reach the end of their contract, they sign with MLS and the league agrees to a loan deal with another club, similar to the Luis Hernandez and Carlos Hermosillo deals. An example would be Zidane signing with MLS (can you just picture him wearing a Burn kit?), joining up with Real Madrid after MLS Cup, and returning to Dallas in May.

 

This might be the most brilliant and insightful thing I've ever read on BigSoccer.

 

I agree. That is why I said this is more likely to happen in 3 years - but some people didn't read my post.

 

You didn't read all of the two or three posts in which I made my case:

1) I said this is more likely to happen in three or four years - when Beckham is 32 or so and is no longer in his prime (He has already basically reached a plateau)

2) I also stated that the loan may not necessarily require Beckham to play for an entire season - maybe only a ten game stretch.

3) As far as league image - I am not arguing that this is how MLS should improve the overall quality of play. It would be somewhat of a gimmick, but publicity gimmicks have been used for years in MLB, NFL and NHL without making total jokes of the league. How would this be any different than the signings of Shinjo or Ichiro or any of the Japanese players? It isn't like Beckham can't play.

4) Beckham would not dominate in the MLS at the age of 32 or 33. As talented as he is, a strong case could be made that his particular skill set (are by and large complementary skills) does not allow him to "dominate" any match. He may be man of the match due to scoring a key goal or creating it with a set piece, but that is different from dominating a match like a Viera or Keane.

5) A change of scenery could do him well. He wouldn't be worrying about British tabloids as much (they would surely follow), he could avoid some of the hassles he experiences now, he wouldn't be around the people he has been around for 16 - 20 years of his life.

6) If playing against lower level opponents is so useless as a motivational tactic, why would Ferguson ever risk fielding first team players in competitive reserve matches? What possible good can come out of a guy making $60,000/week playing in a completely inconsequential match with other guys who are fighting to prove they are good enough to play in the first team? I don't know, but there are dozens of examples of this every time reserve teams play in England. I don't think that MLS would be a lower level of play then a reserve team match right now, let alone in three years. There must be something to it.

7)On the salary side, loan deals do not necessarily require the borrowing team to pay the entire salary. The percentage that they pay can be negotiated. Perhaps the teams would work out an agreement in which Beckham and/or Man Utd got a portion of the gate or they got rights to broadcast the matches in England. Man Utd already has at least partial rights to the use of Beckham's image. There are lots of creative ways that this could happen.

This entire idea is sort of a lark and it is esoteric. But I think chances are very high that a Zidane and/or a Beckham will play in the MLS in some way, shape or form - before MLS drops salary cap, SEM, etc.

 

Bonds to Italian Baseball League!!!

Family man Barry Bonds, who has had his problems being in the media spotlight, announced today that he will be playing the 2003 season in Italy.

"I'm tired of playing so many games," Bonds said. "I have a family to spend time with. Plus, I won't have to worry about doing media interviews, since almost nobody in Italy cares about baseball.

"Throw in the great food, wine, and beaches of Italy, and it's a perfect situation for me."

IBL executives said that Bonds' presence will be vital in attracting the coveted 8-to-13 year old demographic.