Why the hate against Beckham and not against Donovan?

Thanks, Dr. Phil.

Exactly what has LAG done that you consider "undignified."

This was not a marriage. It was an employment contract. The team and the players can be "adults" about it, but the fact is that the it will be the fans that suffer, not LAG or AEG. (I know, I know, it's always the children.)

As a fan, my interest is in seeing a product on the field I can support, be excited about, and maybe even proud of. Even if Becks reaches into his pocket and gives $8 to $10mm to AEG/MLS, that doesn't do a thing to enhance my experience. I don't need to be "adult" about the fact that my fan experience is being debased, and I have every right as an STH to be angry. And this is the appropriate place to express that.

 

WORD! I second what The Cadaver is saying, we as STH's have EVERY RIGHT to voice our displeasure. It is our money that goes into the team and when you don't get what you are paying for, you get PO and upset just like any human being would.

 

Beckham for me has lost any respect, he has no integrity and is full of #hit.

 

As always I recognize a well presented post...thank you.

I think Beckham had the intention to be part of a movement, but to be fair growing the popularity of US soccer is a task for more than one man.

I guess that 3 years on the picture looks very different.

We all saw the frustration last year.....may be we just have to be mature and recognize that he did what he did and move on.

The major benefit is that 3 years ago LAG was to many unheard of, at least now the soccer world knows who we are.

 

You are correct! My long lost fathers half brothers grandson contacted me a few months ago from Poland. He is like 18 years old. Die hard soccer fan. I never even knew about him and you are right, he knows about LA Galaxy. His english is really poor, but he was able to spell out his knowledge of our team...

LAST PLACE TEAM

Im not making this up either! At least I have a Lech Poznan scarf on the way Thank you David Beckham for making a mockery of our team and putting us on the proverbial soccer map.

 

Thanks for the new qualification, I'll add it to my resume


The analogy was about relationships, so let’s look at the business way, which means it’s about money.

Each party to a contract is concentrating on providing goods or services in exchange for revenue.

When the contract was signed, the terms of the relationship were defined, including the “get out provisions”. Which appear to be Beckham saying “I’d like to be here for 5 years”….but I can get out for free after 3 years.

Those of us in business deal with vendors & suppliers and we look for alternatives to maximize each opportunity.

If we look at it from a business perspective then we have to temper the emotional reaction because in a business relationship the individual parties must look to their own best interests to remain economically viable.

So as a businessman I have to say if Beckham can get a better gig somewhere else then I accept that.

As a multi-season STH I am disappointed, but seeing as most people don’t want him here anyway….then let him go.

Sit in the other camp, it’s March, why pay $3million or even $10 million now, when in November you can get him for free?

The get out was agreed by LAG, we can't blame Beckham for using it

 

I would not have a problem if Beckham came back now and left per his contract at the end of 2008. I do have a problem with Beckham coming back for half a season as that was not part of the contract. While he may have mullified AEG, MLS and the sponsors via this approach, he and TL have broached a promise made to the Galaxy's fans and the STH's in particular.

 

Masybe I just don't have the strength to go around on this again. BUT, coming back in JULY was not part of the escape clause.

I've got absolutely NO problem with Beckham leaving at the end of three years, and paying whatever the contract provides for a release.

That's not what he did and that's not what this supposed loan to LAG provides. Disappearing for the first half of the new season, screwing the team by tying up the DP slot that could have been used for a committed player, and then bad mouthing the team and league. All of that was not as provided in the deal.

Were Becks here to November and were giving it his all, he would be an asset on and off the field. He would help the team and he would generate tons of dollars for the league and the team, even if he walked free in November. THAT would be honoring his agreement with LAG and his "compact" with the fans about trying to develop soccer in the US. He has chosen to turn his back on that.

Now LAG enters the season with half of their star power and one hand tied behind their back because they can't replace him. That is on Becks as far as I am concerned, and as a fan I will reserve the right to let him know about it as I sit a few rows behind the bench.

 

Masybe I just don't have the strength to go around on this again. BUT, coming back in JULY was not part of the escape clause.

I've got absolutely NO problem with Beckham leaving at the end of three years, and paying whatever the contract provides for a release.

That's not what he did and that's not what this supposed loan to LAG provides. Disappearing for the first half of the new season, screwing the team by tying up the DP slot that could have been used for a committed player, and then bad mouthing the team and league. All of that was not as provided in the deal.

Were Becks here to November and were he giving it his all, he would be an asset on and off the field. He would help the team and he would generate tons of dollars for the league and the team, even if he walked free in November. THAT would be honoring his agreement with LAG and his "compact" with the fans about trying to develop soccer in the US. He has chosen to turn his back on that.

Now LAG enters the season with half of their star power and one hand tied behind their back because they can't replace him. That is on Becks as far as I am concerned, and as a fan I will reserve the right to let him know about it as I sit a few rows behind the bench.

 

I too agree with you that July is really worthless.

I trust that TL has a damn good reason to agreeing to this.

I have said before that DB's PR team are making a mistake by not communicating better with LAG fans.

 

You can quote statistics all day long, but you cant account for him missing games to play in Europe, you cant account for other teams upping their determination to beat us based on Beckham being on the team (which was actually proven by statistics in a recent thread), you cant account for the mismatch of salaries and so many other factors not in the statistics. He, David H. Beckham, had a tremendous impact on the team and players both good and bad. Dont wear horse blinders as if he was that knight in shining armour. I too was excited Beckham arrived, but Ive come to grips with reality he is unneeded here in MLS and on the Los Angeles Galaxy. A prima dona that has no reason to be in our league. There is such a stark difference between how he treats MLS and the team in general and how Juan Pablo Angel treats MLS, his team, his teammates, his fans, etc. You cant deny the difference.

 

I put a lot of the blame for last season on the midfield, center midfield to be exact. There was a lack of playmaking in the attack and a lack of control in defensive midfield. We left the field wide open for the opposition to swarm on our sub-par defense.

I expect Beckham to lead the league in assists when he is playing on the highest scoring team in the league. He is, after all, David Beckham.

 

A good contrast to that too, is the USA-Mexico game that just happened. The attack wasn't that great, the defense looked pretty shaky, but the midfield had a great game and dictated the tempo in that game. The ball pressure and solid passing took some of the pressure off the defense. With the way Onyewu and Bocanegra looked out of sync that game, if we'd given the ball up in the midfield at the rate we usually do in internationals, you can bet that wouldn't have been a clean sheet.

A strong midfield both supports your attackers and protects your backline. Personally, I don't think our midfield (either last year or this year) is that strong. I'm hoping for "adequate" this year.

 

I think that English dude is pretty popular where he is now...let him stay there....

 

Actually you can make a pretty convincing argument that David Beckham starting mailing in his effort about half way into the season. He missed an empty net goal scoring opportunity late in the game that started the winless streak and blamed it on the turf. After that he had only 1 assist during the streak. His defense which was never sterling to begin with and while it has improved somewhat at AC Milan was non-existant with the Galaxy. Since you are defending his play, can you site a single case where he tackled the ball away from an attacker (a reasonably standard play for most mid fielders) that did not occur after a Beckham turnover. I can't recall a single instance.

 

Now it's all making sense!!! I guess if the Galaxy would've kissed it, he would be coming back. But, I guess Bruce just kicked it and now he's romancing ACM. Yep, it;s all making sense...

 

I hear Brandon MacDonald is available.

 

well the dude was hoping to leave a mark on US soccer....looks like it worked the mark is there!

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ano-ronaldo-not-as-different-as-you-may-think

Interesting article.....not to deal with Donovan but between Becks and Ronaldo

 

An article sort of - sorry it's so long.



Many people here are pissed at David Beckham. I’m not going to change that. I’m simply going to state the story as I know it. You will make up your own minds and as there is much emotion about this at the moment I’m not expecting a fair hearing. I’m just going to put this out there.

In October 2006 Real Madrid played the El Clasico against FC Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu. David Beckham was bought on as a substitute with 9 minutes remaining in the match. It was symptomatic of the place Beckham held in the team at that time. He was fit but Capello did not consider him central to his plans. Beckham was a bit part player at best.

A new president, a new sporting director and a new coach were all having their first season at Real Madrid. Calderon and Mijatovic promised to end the galactico period that had produced no notable trophies in 3 seasons. Beckham in his interviews and press conferences was clearly very unhappy at Real Madrid, because he loves to play and he wasn’t getting many minutes. Still he kept training and fighting and he believed he would turn it around.

On January 10th Pedja Mijatovic, Sporting Director of Real Madrid told Sky Italia, that David Beckham’s contract would not be renewed. Within the hour, Beckham’s spokesman Oliveira, came out to the media and said that was a mistake that the contract talks were on-going and that Mijatovic must have been misreported. He hadn’t been.

Beckham had expected to attend contract talks on January 11th at Real Madrid at 2PM he had hoped to stay at Real Madrid for 2 more years. He knew there would be wrangling over his image rights – however, he did not realize the club would simply not be renewing him. But Calderon was determined to show that he would end the galactico failure regardless of the commercial consequences and Capello did not consider Beckham worth retaining on footballing grounds. Capello had become Beckham’s manager for the first time at precisely the time that Steve McLaren dropped him from the England squad and left him in no doubts whatsoever that he would not be monitored, or even considered for a recall as England headed in a new direction. Beckham was devastated and it translated into a dip in form. Capello as a result recommended he be let go. Calderon and Mijatovic agreed. Mijatovic did not need to announce it via the press before the player had even been told but he did. I guess the chance to make a big statement was too hard to resist.

The deal with the LA Galaxy was done in 24 hours. Sure there had been discussions, in the past, preliminary talks for a move that was expected to happen in 2009 at the earliest but the deal that was done, was done in haste, all involved pulled an all-nighter and it was rushed through.

I don’t ask that you have any sympathy for Beckham. It’s not play your violin for the multi-millionaire week after all.

Beckham was at a low ebb. His International career was over and he had no reason to believe he would ever play international football again. His club didn’t want him. He’d had the big f**k off career-wise. He thought it was time to accept moving into the pre-retirement phase of his career. He wasn’t happy about it. He had really hoped it wouldn’t arrive so soon.

Brand Beckham the company owned by Beckham and his wife and managed by 19 entertainment, went into damage control. They decided that rather than go to the contract meeting at Real Madrid and then come out and formally announce that Beckham had been rejected and his contract would not be renewed that they would agree a deal for him to play elsewhere and have an entirely different and positive story to tell.

Beckham had two options on the table. Serie A and MLS. He had sworn he would never play in the EPL for any team but United. There was no team in la liga that he would have played for that wanted him.

With his international football career over, Beckham weighed up moving to Serie A, it would enable him to continue to play in Europe but he didn’t speak the language and he would need to uprooting his children again after a couple of years versus moving to the US ahead of schedule, an english speaking country, where his children could settle and his wife’s preferred choice and given his intil career was over maybe it was fair to let her career be a consideration this time around. He was told he would have a historical role spear-heading soccer’s elevation to the next level. It was teetering on the brink and he was the man who would take it to the next level, through leading ‘super-club in the making’ LA Galaxy and becoming the face of MLS. In the space of 24 hours he made the decision and on Jan 11th it was announced that Beckham would move to the US and that it was for 250 million. It wasn’t, but let’s not let the truth get in the way of some great headlines.

Now I am going to tell you something shocking, and I want you to sit down for this because it may really rock you BUT Beckham is not a genius. I know stunning piece of info that.

Beckham did not see this move coming at this time. He did not read up on MLS in depth, he did not know the teams, he couldn’t probably have named a MLS player for every finger on 1 hand. We are talking a bit of a serious knowledge gap. So you know when certain people said, David we have a dream, this is where we are at, this is how it’s going to be, when they drew him a picture filled with candy-floss and floppy-haired bunnies all bringing soccer to it’s rightful place in the USA. Well Beckham wouldn’t have known most of it was bull-shit. Sorry, you can still hate him, feel free but honestly, he didn’t know what he was getting into. Beckham did the obligatory press and said the obligatory things and based on how sincerely he delivered some of his initial interviews, I honestly think he was a bit of a believer in the beginning.

He was told there would be a team around him to match the ambition of further popularizing soccer, that he would draw attention to the sport to the galaxy and that would make people fall in love with the beautiful game. So he came and he brought attention and everybody except for the teenage girls who were only looking at his abs, just ran away screaming or tried to gouge out their eyes. He thought he was going to be an ambassador for something. It was in retrospect naieve.

The truth was he paid for himself before he kicked a ball and then he went on making money, lots of money for certain stake-holders, sure he made money too but he’s David Beckham he would have made extremely good money anywhere but the stakeholders they had never made money like this before and it was hard to think of any one else they could have brought in who would have but the ker in their ker-ching like Beckham. They didn’t really honor their side, their was no real plan, no real investment in converting the initial wave of interest into returning supporters, it was hard to see how the one man cirque du LA was going to be “successful” in growing the sport, what he was mostly going to be successful in doing was making a lot of people who needed him to make them money, a lot of money. Now there’s a cause any of us could embrace right, you’d give up your own hopes and dreams to serve the cause of making certain people rich wouldn’t you?

Oh and before some one hits the reply button to say but he was making himself rich. As I said he could do that anywhere, he was already rich and if it was all about the money and nothing about the football then he wouldn’t be willing to buy himself out of the G’s. You can’t have it both ways. It’s pretty clear a man who will spend millions too pursue a footballing dream of playing more games for his country which may come to nought, isn’t all about the money. In fact if he was an American and he was doing this in a possibly doomed attempt to stand up one more time in a major tournament wearing the stars and stripes, some of us might salute him. Sorry that may clash with the one dimensional image of Beckham as a crummy human being that some want to paint but the reality is it’s more complicated than that.

You know, Beckham may not be the sharpest blade in the draw but at some point he may have sat quietly on his couch at home in his Armani underwear and though f**k. Ya know he might just have thought, this is nothing like what I believed I signed on for.

So when you are busy believing that the whiney bitch betrayed you and wish that you could get your revenge, here’s some good news, in a million ways over the last 18 months you’ve had all the revenge you could hope for because he hasn’t escaped without paying a price. And us…well we sit and watch the games and as passionate as some of us feel and as upset as some of us get, there will always be next season, there will always be something new to bitch about, there will always be a new hero and a new villain just around the corner but for the professional sportsman there are only so many seasons, there are only so many miles in the legs and every mistake, every missed opportunity, uses up the all too fleeting and finite time at the top. When an athlete is 33 the clock is running down on his career, the tick tocks sound loudly and 9 months may represent 40% of the time that player has left.

I can’t hate Beckham for this, as I’ve said if you want to – you have that right. I can’t hate him because I know he genuinely thought he would not play international football again and that if he had had the benefit of psychic powers, he would never have signed to come to the LA Galaxy. I can’t hate him because he’s always been honest about what playing for his country means to him. I can’t hate him because if I had made a decision based on a belief and then it unexpectedly changed, I would want the right to change my mind. If I was in his shoes I would do what he is doing.

I’m not angry because the media have asked him if he wants to stay at AC Milan and if he had said, no no no! and then he stayed, we would all call him a lying bastard instead of a whiney bitch so there is no right answer. The truth is, I’ve read all the quotes and he has not slagged MLS off, sorry but he hasn’t. You may have wanted him to claim a loyalty towards or affection for the LA Galaxy that he doesn’t actually possess, but he doesn’t and I don’t need him to lie to me about it. Given the gap between what he may have expected and what actually unfolded. I don’t need or expect him to blow smoke up my ass about the wonders of it all.

He has brought attention, he has raised the profile, he’s played kick about with a few kids in haarlem, kissed a few babies, said what he was asked to say, sat on the bench like the bearded lady when injured as asked, he’s been a fairly calm freak in the middle of the freak show and he has made a lot of people a lot of money. He has proved, that PR and the spotlight and 1 man, who is not an individual goal scorer, can not do a lot for MLS and that he can make sacrifices to be an ambassador but as it was mostly an exercise in futility, it’s hardly a role worth making sacrifices for.

He may not have done everything he was asked to do or expected to do and in amongst his diplomatic answers and sound bytes you may be able to find a ton of ‘PR speak’ that you can hold him too now and claim he has not lived up too but I suspect that if the whiney bitch was free of all diplomatic obligation and was free to speak his mind, he might tell a story of just how much he was promised that was never lived up too as well. Like all stories, this one will have two sides.

I wish him luck. It’s a shame he will be hated by some, it’s a shame he made this mistake at all but as someone who was writing on this topic and predicted in October 2006 that Beckham would end up going to the LA Galaxy I have to say, I thought it was the right decision and the best thing he could do and I was wrong, I got it all wrong so I can’t really blame him for having got it wrong too.

Finally, I just want to add, it’s not personal and it’s definitely not about us fans. We want it to be about us, we go the games, we pay our money, we feel it should be about us, we try and make it about us but it’s not and it never has been.

 

Frankly, I don't find your post in any way compelling.

At best you might say that Beckham expected the team he played against in 2005 (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=337292&root=mls&cc=5901) to still be there and it wasn't. But to imply that Beckham was not aware of the talent level in MLS after Real Madrid destroyed the MLS all-stars 5-0 that same year is hogwash.

As for the others making money off of his efforts angle, well welcome to the real world.

I guess the paid Beckham spin effort has begun.