david beckham - c or d

I am not Julie Burchill, and have had this view before (ie, I'm not one of the 'yay, go becks, doing the dirty on Posh has made you go up in my estimation etc)

over-rated as a player perhaps (still world class tho)
loves the bling too much
can't finish a sentence without saying 'y'know'

but otherwise a fairly decent role model family man prior to much-rumoured adultery, and he's yet to appear on a record - count your blessings

It's not Beckham that's dud really, it's the way he is portrayed in the media (and a lot of times that is down to his wife). If it wasn't him, it would be someone else, I guess.

Undeniably great player though.

(xpost to dave)

i don't think he's overrated as a player. i hear a lot of people using his pop stardom as a reason why his football skills should be questioned. "beckham isn't a footballer, he's a pop star." uh, can't he be both? he seems to balance them quite well.

the thought of beckham attempting to sing something someday on a record makes me giggle uncontrollably

I'm changing my mind here. Beckham is classic, it's the English tabloid media who are dud. And his wife.

And that's to say nothing of his dead-ball winningness. Like Rio Ferdinand, you realise how good he really is once he's gone.

MDC = spot on his long passes are a thing of beauty, the only player who comes even half as close for England is the gorgeous Stevie G.

matt dc otm re: giggs v becks.

No, he's improved steadily all through his career, which doesn't happen very often - haven't seen enough of him at Madrid to know if he's improved further. I hate that squinting thing he does with his eyes when he's getting his photo taking - I think he thinks it's sexy or sumthin'.... it probably is, what do i know!

nonsense!

The world doesn't end at Offa's Dyke/Hadrian's Wall, you know.

Giggs - obv totally different kind of player. I reckon his hi-speed dribbling and control are as exceptional skills as Beckham's long passing and crossing. Stevem OTM about Giggsy really

Dadaismus = talking bollocks. Ever heard of George Best?

He ran the game against Blackburn apparently

Big man up front? Cisse is a tall feller, failing that we sign Jan Koller (ha ha remember him?)

Sol Campbell's most difficult opponent? Emile Heskey

http://www.terravista.pt/guincho/8899/helen2.htm

it's no longer on my hard drive, i swears

What have we got then? Someone who is fucking brilliant, who provides an alternative to a misogynistic wifebeating wankstain, who can demonstrate that rigid masculine identities are the crap that they are. Classic or bloody amazing classic?

I remember when Rangers were trying to sign Mario Jardel, the Daily Record just kept running pictures of his wife at every possible opprtunity, like that would encourage Murray to put his hand in his pocket and sign him...

Uglier footballer wives than Mrs B? Michael Mols' wife owns, I reckon. Will just go and look for a picture.

Nor was lower-league journeyman Neil 'Larry' Grayson.

NATIONAL TV CHANNEL, FOLKS!!!

Well unfortunately Ailsa, the population of England is 49,138,831; the population of Scotland's is now 5,062,011 and falling (the only of the UK nations where this is happening) - so don't hold your breath for Scotland's Dream Team.

For that I like him less than I did, if ever I did.

Ailsa, why aren't you also complaining about one evening a week being taken up with programming in a language you don't speak?

Add to Giggs' talents mentioned above his tackling, which I think is as good as anybodys in the Premiership. A fair amount of United's goals have come from Giggs tackling a defender, and the rest of the defence being caught off guard by this

i dunno pinefox, i think he still looks good. i saw a photo of him in real's black away strip which made him look particularly dashing.

Whatever one can say about Beckham he's never really pretended to be something he's not before.

Whereas Posh is just playing Barbies with her own self. First she played Feminist Barbie and she wasn't one, then she played Princess Barbie and wasn't one, then Ballbuster Barbie and she wasn't one, and of course calling yourself Posh when you're the daughter of a questionable Adams is a bit of a red rag in the ring. I think there is a special circle of hell for fake feminists.

There may be some family connection, yes. She has spoken of boom and bust cycles in her dad's breadwinning that involved going to school in a Roller one day, only to find it cashed the next. Also is from the Kalashnikov Acres part of Essex/Herts borders.

i dunno, some say they're creepy and kooky, i find them altogether ookey

David Furnish was in a posse with my friend Danilo, a Balkan stylist, at the Westwood party. He looks like a worried little manga hero.

Because I didn't know it was.

Well unfortunately Ailsa, the population of England is 49,138,831; the population of Scotland's is now 5,062,011 and falling (the only of the UK nations where this is happening) - so don't hold your breath for Scotland's Dream Team.

I wasn't. I just thought a British team would be a better idea. Giggs and Best spring to mind before a lot of Scottish players, but I would have thought, say, Jim Baxter would be a much better candidate for an all-time dream team that the likes of Emile Heskey.

"I can assure you that David and I will play together in the same side for many years to come. I will go wherever he goes."

How sweet!

Beckham's limbs and face are warmly lit, looming out of a Caravaggio-esque gloom. The curves of his musculature and honeyed tone of his skin are sensuously conveyed. This is a David as physically perfect as Michelangelo's.

It was a good free kick, wasn't it?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/6248835.stm

From L.A. to New York - from New York to L.A.

From New York to L.A. (5mal)

I´m a star in New York, I´m a star in L.A.
In my life there´s no place for the man that I love
cause I´m livin my life just to sing and be free.

From LA to New York - from New York to LA

The city life of flashing lights
busy streets and fancy cars
booze and drugs and all the clubs
everyone´s a shining star.

Was so inviting to my eyes
that I can only be surprised
by all the sounds and sights to see
I thaught all this was meant for me.
But was it really meant for me???

I´m a star in New York, I´m a star in L.A.
In my life there´s no place for the man that I love
cause I´m livin my life just to sing and be free.

From L.A. to New York - from New York to L.A.

The city lights are often blurred
by stories we´ve already heard.
Booze and drugs now break my head
´cause all the shining stars are dead.

I sometimes close my tired eyes
look at myself -be hyptnotized -
findin a reason of lovin you
the man I thought was meant for me.
But were you really meant for me???

I´m a star in New York, I´m a star in L.A.
In my life there´s no place for the man that I love
cause I´m livin my life just to sing and be free......

xpost

They don;t, they're basically mortgaging their future off against him playing for them in the hope that a clapped out player crossing the atlantic to play a minor sport will somehow turn it into a marquee attraction. Like William Perry playing for the London Monarchs made American football the sport it is today in the UK.

rofl

with america becoming more hispanic, does footballsoccer have a future there? or is never going to happen?

it seems he has gone there, partially, with an eye on what happens next, but, as alba says, i cant see what that is. music and acting, the obvious choices, he cannot really do. but he will of course be near his soccerschools, and may spin something out of that

Well, there's more to life than cash.

-- ailsa (ailsa_watson7...), April 6th, 2004.

OTM, but JUST the tabloid media?

Although I actually kinda agreed with an article of his recently (on the England cricket team), The Independent's James Lawton is generally my most-disliked sportswriter. When all that paper's correspondents had to supply their best and worst moments of 2006 in their particular field, for his 'Worst', the man gave Zidane's headbutt (boring, rote, overdone and already dissected by the entire universe beforehand, the FIRST of Lawton's annoying habits), and 'Beckham's self-indulgent tears upon being substituted against Portugal'. He implied that Beckham was only playing for himself, and only cried for himself. This follows on from a 5 or 6-year campaign to besmirch Beckham in any way imaginable (ridiculous, unsubstantiated vitriol, the SECOND of Lawton's irritating habits), when the man's clearly been one of our more skilful, committed players (see also: Alan Green).

Beckham has been a superb player for England, Man U, Real Madrid and Preston North End, and he does not deserve anything like the sniping he's received.

(Lawton's third annoying habit is thinking that he knows everything, and thus the fact that any example he gives, no matter how obscure, will always back his argument up.)

As far as I can tell, everyone's a winner, apart from the MLS *if* it doesn't work out.

I guess he must have a lot of outgoings...but I still doubt this is particularly money-motivated. Cultural experience of USA probably the biggest incentive (it will not present an real challenge job wise let's face it).

I see. But people can feel the need to do 'big'/glitzy/high-profile things not for the money, but because they consider those appropriate avenues for gaining a sense of achievement. It's like the road laid out for you. Mad props to him if he ends up saying fuck that and quietly goes about doing his own quiet thing.

My friend (who's half-Italian and knows amost everything about Italian football) claims that Albertini is one of the modern greats, in his own quiet manner. He says that Albertini could read the game better than anyone, and knew instinctively where to be at any given moment.

ANYWAY, yeah, perhaps he has the same FOOTBALLING legacy, but owing to the endorsements, the wealth, the fame, and above all the media coverage, Beckham has gone above and beyond what any footballer has accomplished. Our appreciation of him has to take this into account.

Yeah, I'll say this much -- cynicism aside as he's entering the twilight years, he's had a high profile out here with the soccer academy and all that. Thing is, though, it's a profile among those who know and care about the sport to begin with.

she might not eat much, victoria is high maintenance, y'know.

If t'was earlier in the day I'd set up a "LISTMANIA: Name the all time greats since 1994" thread, but t'is too late.

I think this was really the only sensible move for him, and that he will move in to some public figurehead elder statesmen type role what with his soccer schools and the like. I sort of hope he somehow popularises the sport in the USA - even though I don't think that's at all likely - just because all the focus on him is all "Well, he didn't win anything when he was at Real Madrid! ROFL failure!", cos football seems weird in that if you don't win everything going in every season you're some useless tool and it's all your fault.

Oh, and nearly three years out of date, but Stevem OTM upthread about Giggs.

Seems to think people in America gives a shit about him and his missus. Expect to be disappointed. Should have gone to the J-League, at least he'd have the 12-year-old Japanese girls screaming.

NO LONGER REAL DEAL HO HO HO

the comparison has to hurt a little

As far as professionl career goes, going to America feels like an admission of defeat. But if he can't fit in a top 4 English club anymore then what can you do?

Seems to think people in America gives a shit about him and his missus.

What gives you this impression? He is being offered a job there by people who want him there.

yes, but he took part, and i'm sure he feels that's what really matters

aside from eventually winning capello over (nuh uh) this is the only career option that isn't an admission of defeat, it's the only high ground left for him.

My sources say 36 (b. June 1970)

and i thought you only talked crazy about musics!

maybe Actua Soccer 3 is slightly better, anywayz. Barry Davies AND Martin O'Neil AND aftertouch shooting! Plus the best 'make your own player' custom editor EVER! UNBEATABLE

you should probably try poppage

I haven't actually played AS in years, I'm just saying this as an act of partisanship (i.e. it was MY football game and nobody else I knew had actually heard of it). of COURSE pro evo is miles better. what I will say in total seriousness is that AS 3 really IS better than ANY Fifa game.

But here's the deal: the owner of LA Galaxy is very, very rich. Philip Anschutz is worth around $10 billion, depending on the day, and I know that's only about twelve of your UK POUNDS, he's not going to miss the money that much.

He also has an enormous stake in the league: he formerly owned five of the ten teams in MLS a couple years ago. (Apparently FIFA was really unhappy with potential conflicts of interest, and the mandate came down to strip his holdings down.) He sold the Metrostars to Dieter Mateschitz and Red Bull, and several investors are buying DC United, but Chicago, Houston, and LA (Galaxy, not Chivas-- LA has two teams) are still his. So you've got to assume that Beckham's salary is gonna be leveraged by an increase in the sale price of other two teams Anschutz's company is selling off. What's that worth? Original fees to join MLS were $5 million; DC and Metrostars/Red Bull NY went for $30-35 million, without stadiums. Both Houston and Chicago draw reasonably well for MLS (about 20k per game), and if Beckham-- who is possibly the only footballer in the world who would be regularly recognized on the streets of any mid-sized or larger city anywhere in the country-- increases the visibility of the professional game here, and that drives up the value of Chicago and Houston (and at least for the next year or so, when folks realize he's just not that great, that'll surely be the case), he's paid for a huge chunk of his extravagant contract.

Which kind of brings me to point two: he's not that great, but he's perfect for ESPN Sportscenter, and Sportscenter drives the US sports market. No matter how much of a waste he is during open play, he can still take some very nice free kicks, and he'll score on more than a couple of them. And one nice goal curled around a wall will be on Sportcenter for three straight days, on the week's recap, and in the year end highlight show. ESPN and ABC are paying MLS enough money in TV rights to pay for the miserly salaries of 90% of the league's players, and they want an ROI. Beckham will bring TV viewers, for Galaxy matches on national television, but also for other MLS matches.

Anyhow, back to the round-and-round bullshit about what a joke the sport is in America.

The true circus atmosphere at the Galaxy offices is provided by Alexi Lalas, recently hired president of the club, who cut his hair and put on a suit, and has become a shameless whiner and egotist, possibly worse than Mourinho.

Cobi Jones owes his career to interminable, mindless runs up and down the field. But I give him credit for being a punching bag to fuck with Mexico in Japan/Korea 2002. Didn't he get broken ribs on that red card?

The problem is the Premiership, la Liga and the Champions League. They get good audiences and if the people who watch the sport could be persuaded to watch MLS in the stadium and on TV, they'd have something to start generating income and coverage. At the moment, the league is on ESPN-2 and practically has to pay the network to get coverage, which is as near to leprosy as sport gets in the US in terms of broadcasting clout.

If Beckham can change that, then they've got a proposition. I can't see him making much impact on the hispanic fanbase, but that's as problematic as with middle-america soccer fans. They love football, but don't care in anything like the same numbers about the MLS.

More interesting is how they stop everyone doing it badly; if the other clubs start to sign players a little bit older, a little bit more past it, you get the problem of the NASL, of declining players playing exhibition quality football at serious wage levels, which just blow the league. I like the way they've done the Designated PLayer rule as a way of balancing this need to pump the brand with the need to retain the control of the league over salaries and stop an arms race for has-been talent. Interesting times.

So does this mean the Red Bulls are inches from signing fat old Ronaldo?

If you don't want him we'll take him back as Canada's mens coach.

I am so not missing the LA Galaxy vs Toronto FC game this year. :P

One slot per club, but clubs may trade that slot for a given period of time. New York sent Amado Guevara to Chivas USA for a second "Beckham" slot, so they're the only team with two.

Only $400k of the designated player's salary counts towards the salary cap of around $2.5 million a year.

Teams will be allowed to carry additional current players making more than $400k per year at that amount for the 2007 season. That said, I doubt MLS will demand that LAG get rid of Donovan, or make him swallow a pay cut. Surely they'll revise the rule after this year.

I've heard Chicago is seriously talking to Pavel Nedved. Figo was apparently pretty close to a deal with RBNY to rob Mateschitz, but Bruce Arena didn't want him. (Frankly, Figo would be a nice fit next year, with the new stadium opening in Harrison-- with Harrison, Kearny, and especially Down Neck/Ironbound within a mile of the new stadium, tens of thousands of Portuguese would be within spitting distance.) I don't know if the supposed DC interest in Martin Palermo is more than a rumor, and then there's stuff with New England getting Blanco.

I'd say that the only teams capable of making any noise even close to the Beckham signing are Chicago and NY. Red Bull will gladly waste $100 million on Ronaldo, and even if they use one of their two "Beckham" slots on a comparative non-entity like Reyna, they'll want to get some attention with the other signing, even if it's in the summer.

I think, to be honest, it's about legitimizing the MLS in the USA, rather than in the eyes of Europe.

Maybe they can tap into the UK market in the same way that UK clubs sign prominent Japanese, Chinese and South Korean players to boost eastern TV markets.

Mmm...I'd double-check that claim, Dave. I'm sure it sold out without English-language TV, yes, but if they didn't advertise that thing via Spanish-language TV and radio, I'd be *damned* surprised.

"I see him playing centrally in our league. We have to get him on the ball as much as we can, making us tick."

haha uh-oh

You tell me looking at a local BB

You get thrown out for "heckling" in the US? *picks jaw up from floor*

Rapper THE GAME has challenged British soccer ace DAVID BECKHAM to a one-on-one match - because the hip hop star fancies himself as a "pretty good" soccer player too.
The Game - real name JAYCEON TAYLOR - regularly proclaims he is the best rapper in the world, but now thinks he could easily beat the Real Madrid star at his own game.
He boasts, "I'd kick David Beckham's ass on any given day. I'd just pick the ball up and kick the s**t out of the stadium, game over."

http://www.uscho.com/images/uwire/2006/29918_04.24.rugby.CHEN.jpg

Awesome. Hasn't been done since Temuri Ketsbaia scored for the Toon.

DOES POSH TAKE IT UP THE ASS?
DOES - POSH - TAKE - IT - UP - THE - ASS?

(iirc only about 50 of the 250 million is actual salary, the rest is endorsements and shit)

Oh yeah, it's really bad:

'You can never,
You can never
You can never rest Easy
'Cause the team you're playing
Is the L. A. Galaxy.'

If anyone's the least bit interested, I can post more MLS songs. They're generally awful, though I do like the "your mayor smokes crack" song at NY-DC games. No matter how many years Marion Barry has been out of office, it's still funny.

New England Revs were quite good with "Where in Ireland is Glasgow?" at the Celtic match in the summer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDfnKzXzK7Q

YOU'RE JUST A COUNTY IN ENGLAND

xpost

:-D

YOU'RE JUST A FORMER ENGLISH COLONY!

California wasn't! (Then some smuggos found some gold.)

More bad news for women and the gays.

Never let the facts get in the way of an abusive football chant.

One of my mates was the first to ever chant "Woooo-ooooo-ahhhh Asamoah, watch out boys, he'll score a goal" at an English league game. Shame he only ever scored, like, seven for us.

BUT I'M HUNGRY NOW

Your sister is your mother,
Your uncle is your brother,
You all fuck one another,
The Norwich family!
(da-da-da-da clap clap)

The wheels on your house go round and round

fwiw, the main reason i have yet to take an interest in MLS is because of the stupid fucking franchise names. Glad to see there's a trend towards simple names now, though (c.f. Toronto and Dallas)

I'm happy about this. But I'm happier that Clint Dempsey is going to Fulham so I can watch him play.

Also true. I really hope he does well over there.

I'll definitely keep tabs on Fulham, though.

So anyway, Beckham has been told he's not playing for Real Madrid again. Cue massive scramble of clubs looking to sign him on loan.

as for senor beckham, i think he should have made this move a couple of years later - it's essentially a retirement from competitive football, and 32 is a little too young to do that. he will not get back to his best, but he could have been a good talisman for a smaller english club, or perhaps gone to italy, where the slower pace of football would have suited him. this move also seems to play into the hands of the likes of lawton - beckham is taking the soft option for the first time in his career, dropping down a level rather than trying to raise his game and stick it down the naysayers throats, as he's done well at times in the past.

i think beckham is someone who set himself huge footballing goals, which he never quite lived up to, but has hit close enough to the mark to have had an excellent career. that footballing ambition seems to have been reined in now, a little prematurely, perhaps. now lawton and his ilk are free to sneer at beckham's celebrity lifestyle, and a perceived gap between his image/rewards and his achievements, without there being a possibility that beckham will hit back and shut them up with a run of excellent form: good performances in the US league will be written off, due to the poor standard of the football.

i think capello's decision is harsh - if he considers beckham a good professional (as he says in the same interview) he should trust him to give 100% until his contract runs out. i imagine that this will just mean that becks will head to the US in time for the start of the league in april, with a little cash going madrid's way.

ugh, just read this latest one from our pal lawton. particularly enjoyed the lauding of larsson for not staying in the comfort zone like beckham. um, going to a below-par league aged 32 after a long career in two high-standard leagues Vs spending the best years of your career in a below-par league, and also finishing your career at helsingborg (sorry, ailsa and co., larsson is a terrific player, but the double standard is mindboggling)

It wasn't enough to make me not go to games. Sub-mediocre play, the four-year travesty of the shootout, gaudy uniforms, the insane merry-go-round of managers and players on my absolutely crappo team, and the ridiculous names-- it's still football soccer.

But here's a history of MLS team names, for your pleasure.

Silly names? Yeah, lots. I went nearly every home Metro(Stars) game for ten years before I moved, and nearly every east coast away game. I can't abide by the new conventional take on MLS: that the sport is okay, but why watch the equivalent of minor league baseball if you can watch the Yankees?

Atmosphere, for one: MLS isn't England, but there's plenty of excitement within RFK Stadium for a DC-NY game, or at the HDC for the LA derby, but the catch is that it's incumbent upon you, the spectator, to provide it. Soccer "fans" who decide that what they get through the TV of the spectacle of Real-Barca or England or whatever shows that MLS is just totally neutered can fuck right off.

And the other thing: MLS is very much underrated by a lot of people. There are scores of American players in Europe; nearly all of the ones who play regularly were at some point in MLS. Friedel, McBride, Bocanegra, Howard, Dempsey, Beasley, Convey, Hahnemann play anytime they're available in the Premiership. Are they the best in the league? No, but they're good and getting better.

The world's top players are concentrated in just a handful of countries. I lifted this from the Wiki entry on FIFA World Player of the Year: top three finishes by country since the award has been given. (I'm not going to fix the formatting.)

Country First place Second place Third place
1 Brazil 7 (1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005) 3 (1993, 1997, 1998) 3 (2000, 2003, 2006)
2 France 3 (1998, 2000, 2003) 4 (1991, 2003, 2004, 2006) 2 (1997*, 2002)
3 Italy 2 (1993, 2006) 1 (1995) 1 (1994)
4 Germany 1 (1991) 1 (2002) 2 (1992, 1995)
5 Portugal 1 (2001) 1 (2000) 0
6 Liberia 1 (1995) 1 (1996) 0
7 Netherlands 1 (1992) 0 2 (1993, 1997*)
8 England 0 3 (1999, 2001,2005) 2 (1991, 1996)
9 Bulgaria 0 2 (1992, 1994) 0
10 Croatia 0 0 1 (1998)
11 Argentina 0 0 1 (1999)
12 Spain 0 0 1 (2001)
13 Ukraine 0 0 1 (2004)
14 Cameroon 0 0 1 (2005)

48 places over 16 years; 28 different players; only 14 countries. And of those 14 countries, only SIX (6) had multiple players.

Sure, there's a methodology issue here, and as you go down from the year's top three players, there's going to be a little more diffusion between countries. But the US isn't unusual in not producing a "great" player yet. It's bound to happen eventually, looking at the numbers, but I don't see a candidate right now (and I'm looking right at Freddy Adu).

Great players are concentrated in Brazil, England, Germany, England
And there's another factor: it's really difficult for US players who don't already have EU passports-- through a wife or grandparent or some such-- to play in most EU countries. Just look at the shit Convey put up with. The UK government turned him down twice earlier for Spurs before okaying him with Reading. Hell, Dempsey had to appeal and still barely got his work permit, for only playing 9 of 13 games for the US last year. The criteria that because a player doesn't play in a top league, or in Europe, he isn't any good is fundamentally flawed.

Here's what I suspect about US soccer fans who turn their noses up at MLS: if they lived elsewhere, they wouldn't go to matches to support their teams. It's a really qualified kind of "support," this snobbery, and it seems in a kind of conflict with the way that friends of mine who grew up in other countries, with clubs all around them: that a key part of following football is supporting-- really supporting-- a club. So shut up about the lame names and humdrumness, and go to a fucking game.

if i move back to chicago i'll absolutely try and get down to see some games, but i'm really crossing my fingers for a Minneapolis FC.

but, yeah, you're pretty much OTM. i still think that it's a travesty that the Metrostars are now named after a soft drink, though.

Lawton is a cunt. Who knew?

say it ain't so, david

;)

A favourite being belted out in the Stretford End yesterday (including an enthusiastic middle-aged woman next to me): "My old man said be a City fan, and I said 'bollocks, you're a cunt', I'd rather shag a bucket with a big hole in it, than be a City fan for just one minute, with hatchets and hammers, stanley knives and spanners, we'll show those City bastards how to fight, oh I'd rather shag a bucket with a big hole in it than be a City fan, all together now..."

Beckhamsan vs Utadachan

My friend just bought those Becks Adidas Predators, the ones he wore at the 2006 WC... they're mental. two different insoles with different weighted soles for more power behind kicks OR more speed. i still use my 8 dollar clearance diadoras that are too big by about a half-inch :(

ayo the reception dude got in LA yesterday was the craziest thing i've ever seen for an athlete. can anyone explain the guy's international appeal? i get why he would be huge in england, but why does the rest of the world care abt him so much? like he's not a great player from what i understand, not even one of the top 20 in the world, and there are plenty of better-looking soccerball players - thierry, that swedish dude who looks like a male model, mb zidane. the closest american analogues i can think of are derek jeter or joe namath, and jeter at least has come close to justifying his status at times (mvp-worthy last year, even), and i dont think their profile outside the US was ever that significant~~

1) He's very cute.

2) None of the rest of the guys you mention are brits.

3) He's married to Posh Spice.

4) Despite note being the best mid-fielder in the world, he's still a very good footballer.

he's married to a spice girl, so all their fans know of him and, i'm guessing, swoon over him. he *was* a top 20 player at one point, no?

i thought the rest of the world hated brits!

do the spice girls really still have fans? i'm not trying to be a wiseass, their profile here diminished a lot after 97-98. i wonder if it's cuz so many broads play/watch futbol~

broads

not only do broads watch it, but so do dames and flappers

and skirts and floozies too, all the way down the line

http://einsiders.com/features/columns/images/immortal3.jpg

i was gonna say slores but it struck me as uncouth~~

I'm really loving Victoria's new hairdo. She's never looked better(was never a big fan before).

his pinpoint crosses were directly responsible for england's latest european cup win - probably saving england's manager from getting fired. a lot of people think he's overrated but he still seems capable of zidane-like magic from deadball situations and crosses. also, he looks like sting innit.

The awesome curving free kick and the pinpoint cross right to the feet of an oncoming striker are the second and third best things you can possibly do as an attacking footballer. Beckham at his best (like the second half of last season) does them perfectly. It doesn't mean shit that he can't fanny dangle. On last season's form, he is one of the best 20 footballers in the world, no question.

This is, however, something of an Indian summer for him. And whether or not his LA Galaxy form matches up to that of the European leagues is frankly an irrelevance. Until he plays for England of course.

Have you SEEN Major League Soccer?

He'll do fine.

On the evidence of the games I've seen (that I've been able to sit through), stray passing is yer average MLS player's forte. So he's oing to look like a genius. Plus he'll have Dec, Rod Stewart and Robbie Williams alongside him in midfield. Can't wait.

england's latest european cup win

england? cup win? you WAG

can anyone explain the guy's international appeal?

I think a lot of is due the willingness of the media to create a star. It isn't/wasn't entirely up to him. His media persona did grow even bigger once Posh entered the picture and she certainly created his bigger than life persona. The media just followed, really. She's a clever girl, she knows how to work it.

gah well what do you call it when they win a match as part of the european cup tournament?

A fluke?

He made his MLS debut tonight against DC. ESPN2 was milking it for all it was worth. There was even the "Beckham Cam" that cut into the main view of the game to show him alternately sitting on the bench, warming up, and even (after he was finally subbed in) running around the field. He had one very nice pass to Donovan who got pwned by the goalie.

Sold out RFK, or near to it, though. Maybe someday he'll get an assist!

Oh yeah, DC won 1-0.

Not as fast as a T. Rex

The idea that anything could be faster than David Beckham makes me feel physically uncomfortable

NY Red Bull beat them 5-4 though, right? Chalk another one up for Juan Pablo Angel.

That game was ridic.

Beckham & His Gals were denied a playoff berth at the hands of Chicago yesterday. Better luck next year, suckers!

http://chicagoist.com/2007/10/22/fire_defeats_ga.php

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7555106.stm

Sexy firing

David Beckham: Player/Manager, Los Angeles Galaxy

also:

Lalas is such a tool, really. I remember hearing him say, in all earnestness, that the Gals would be the first MLS "superclub".

-- dan m, Monday, August 11, 2008 1:44 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

Galaxy bought England midfielder David Beckham to the club with a five-year deal worth £130m in July 2007 and have been under intense scrutiny ever since.

US soccer team, LOL @ intense scrutiny

Intense for LA. (Meaning that when not talking about the Lakers, the Dodgers and USC/UCLA there's a general acknowledgement that something is happening somewhere involving soccer maybe.)

Yeah it'll be a long time before the intensity is on par with the NFL or Euro leagues, but the guy basically is the face of MLS at the moment unless you're 1. already a fan of the game or 2. a Blanco fan (vamos Cuau!).

http://www.kickette.com/images/uploads/beckhamslego.jpg

lego boobs are disturbing.

they just keep on coming

http://theoriginalwinger.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/beckhamstormtrooper.jpg

It was announced this week that David Beckham will be returning to the Galaxy and here's my questions on that:

Who's the Galaxy?

And when did Beckham leave?

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2009/02/14/2009-02-14_gene_orza_and_donald_fehr_lead_baseballs.html?page=2

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/7933407.stm

lol

if he thinks he can raise the profile of the game over there it would seem to be a good business move?

Oh, I think it's a good idea, just that the potential for comedy capers is huge.

if only dudley moore was still available for the movie, which beckham would no doubt produce for megabucks.

vinnie jones IS david beckham

if he wanted to raise the profile of the game over there maybe he shouldn't be begging desperately to stay in Milan?

his playing career in the big leagues will last til the end of next season. he'll be able to concentrate on the US league after that. i know what you're saying but it's not exactly tough to see where he's coming from.

The team will inevitably be called Brooklyn Beckham. I'd prefer him to revive Brooklyn Hakoah myself. Do Americans go in for local rivalries? Because if footy ever took off there properly a New York derby would be pretty cool

The problem with an NYC derby is getting enough people to come to EITHER team's games on the regular. Altho when our new stadium opens in 2010 we'll see how much that helps.

He’s a footballer with a stylist, what can be classic or dud about that?

Altho there are some NYC peeps who have refused to support the existing NY team since the Red Bull buy-out in 2006, those guys have been agitating (kind of prattishly) for a Brooklyn- or Queens-based team. But why split the base when it's too small already?

rip

What a player though

#legend #banter

What a player though

Not according to Glenn Hoddle

LOL that should be Chris Waddle of course!

Someone should make waddle sit down and put together his list of 1000 premier league players better than David beckam tbh, fucking daft thing to say

I wouldn't say he's the best, but he's in the top one thousand

David if you read these comments Thank You for many years of good football

:) :)

well he's retired now, so he can spend all of his days readings comments on newspaper sites about him

whatta quitter

http://www.theonion.com/articles/david-beckham-announces-hes-a-quitter,32463/

Becks a cunt... allegedly.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2780648/david-beckham-emails-unicef-charity-knighthood/

Sending abusive letters to the honours committees is probably worth a shot. Billy Connolly spent decades brown-nosing the royals and only got a CBE for his efforts. Becks was on Desert Island Discs yesterday - Things you don't care about etc...