David Beckham wants to go back to Europe next month, go figure. (Getty Images)
This just seems about right. Each year since David Beckham joined the LA Galaxy and Major League
Soccer it seems around December or so he's looking for a winter/spring loan back to Europe. Most
people thought this year would be different since his last loan back in Europe didn't go so well as
it ended in a nasty Achilles tendon injury with AC Milan.
Go ahead, debate it. You know in the last day or so you've though about the impact of David
Beckham vs the impact of Thierry Henry to Major League Soccer. Both have their pluses and minuses
but each in my mind do the same thing, make the league that much better with them in it.
I've seen a lot of banter over the last couple days about each guy and what they've done or will
do for the sport here in America and for MLS in general.
Gotta love stuff like this. Seeing Snoop Dog, David Beckham and other adidas folks in the old
Star Wars cantina scene. Pretty clever. Jabba wants Becks to play for FC Jabba...love it. (H/T to
SF at TOR)
Everyone is wanting Edson Buddle to get that all important call-up next month for a possible
roster spot on the World Cup team. Today MLSSoccer.com caught up with Buddle's teammate David
Beckham, and Becks believes Buddle deserves a call-up (as do I).
David Beckham will be a club owner in the near future. (Getty Images)
While we don't know where the location of the 20th Major League Soccer club will eventually be
we do have a pretty good idea of who the owner of the club will be. It's been reported nearly
everywhere that David Beckham has an option in his mega-MLS contract that stipulates he can own a
club once he is done playing in the league.
Beckham looks to be on the move again this winter. (R. Epperley for WVHooligan.com)
Looks like David Beckham will be back in Italy this winter as ESPNSoccernet is reporting today
that a loan deal between AC Milan and the LA Galaxy is nearly a done deal.
Negotiations have been going on for some weeks and on Wednesday night Beckham intimated that
they were 95% done, although the Milan chief has now confirmed the move.
It has been quite a full day for some, others are left catching up on all the twitter messages
that were lost today. There are plenty of good links to discuss so let's not waste any more time
with the formalities.
First up is the lovely discussion that will be on going for the next 20 or 30 years with Major
League Soccer.
It's been a fairly busy day around these parts. From catching up to things, to getting back to
the daily grind at my normal job, and to getting back to work on things with this site. I wanted to
kick off with a couple items that a few of your have emailed me and commented on recently here. Its
mostly end of year items and seeing how we are towards the end of the season it is fitting to
revisit some of these things.
As the playoff race has heated up in Major League Soccer, so have the goals that have been
scored. This week we saw plenty of good goals but only a select amount were above the rest.
The best goal for me was either Sainey Nyassi's run against New York or Brad Davis' strike
against RSL.
(Note QuickKicks on the league site did not have the Columbus/Chicago goals)
Order of video: David Beckham, Edson Buddle, Brian Ching, Yura Movsisyan, Brad Davis, Dax
McCarty, Jimmy Conrad, Sainey Nyassi, and John Wolyneic.
Not too many goals to pick from this week with all the 1-0 games we saw. So this week all the
goals are included in the list.
My favorites were Beckham's and Richards. What did you all like?
Order of goals: Dane Richards, Julien Baudet, David Beckham, Pablo Campos, Bryan Namoff, Steve
Ralston, Wells Thompson, Ramon Sanchez, Pablo Campos (Chivas game), Fabian Espindola, and Robbie
Findley (1 and 2).
A few stories tonight that are worth checking out. A lot of MLS based items that need discussed
and a little US-Mexico hype for Wednesday. If you got a link that you feel needs discussed here
just send me an email and I'll do my best to get it up tomorrow.
Blanco and Kljestan Grace FIFA Soccer 10 Cover
Link
Cuauhtémoc Blanco of the Chicago Fire and Sacha Kljestan of Chivas USA will be featured on the
front packs of FIFA Soccer 10.
Time to round out the end of the work week with some links and thoughts. I have a couple MLS
thoughts and one US national team item to discuss tonight.
DC Plays For Trophies
Link
I love DC United and how they market their club. They've put little stickers on newspapers
throughout DC with the date of the US Open Cup final against Seattle.
You know it is noteworthy when Fox News picks it up.
More on the Goldenballs confronts Riot Squad member saga. I swear this will be the last I talk
about it...that is unless it continues to happen. Hat tip to SF over at The Offside Rules for
posting this earlier.
Gotta love when ego gets the way of things. As you all know by now LA Galaxy midfielder David
Beckham had a pretty rough go of things this weekend when LA hosted AC Milan. Instead of saying and
doing the right things like he always does, Beckham goes out and does just the opposite and
confronts some drunk Riot Squad members.
How's the tension between Landon Donovan and David Beckham? (Getty Images)
Let's just say tonight's clash in Giant's Stadium will be an interesting one to tune into if you
can. While the Red Bulls are embarking on one of the worst seasons in league history, the LA Galaxy
are hoping their chances of reaching the playoffs for the first time in a couple years continue to
grow as they get the return of David Beckham.
Nothing like some awkward moments at a press conference. David Beckham faced the media on
Wednesday. Gotta love the question from Grant Wahl at the beginning.
Hello, hello from Frisco, TX, time once again for another live commentary of FC Dallas. Today the
Hoops host David Beckham and the LA Galaxy. I will try to do some play-by-play commentary on here
for today's game that looks to be an interesting one for a few reasons. If you have any comments on
the [.
Gotta love the kicks that David Beckham a.k.a. GoldenBalls will be sporting tomorrow night at the
MLS All-Star game in Toronto. These are limited edition adidas gold Predator soccer cleats. adidas
only made 2,000 pair and they are available exclusively at Eurosport (www.soccer.com) for $200
each.
Thanks to SF over at The Offside Rules for linking this one up. Anytime MLS Commissioner Don Garber
talks with press about the game and of course about David Beckham I have to have a listen. So I
figured I would share it along with you all as well. Nothing too noteworthy to talk about. [...]
At least it appears that way. Just when you think the MLS Expansion dreams are dead in Miami,
someone comes along and pumps some new life into the South Florida city. The new word is that David
Beckham is interested in investing in a Miami club. Goldenballs has a stipulation in his contract
that allows him [.
I figure since I am going on vacation next week and the deadline is rapidly approaching for my
All-Star ballot to be turned in I would post about it today. Feel free to take a stab or three at
my picks with some of your own. Who knows I may change my mind before I [...]
Usually a third of the way into the season we have a pretty good understanding of where most clubs
are going to fall this season. Some clubs have slowly been turning things around as of late so we
may need to take some time at the halfway point to do this again. But the majority [...]
So, week number 10 is in the books and we can pretty much say now we are a third of the way
finished here this season. Most clubs have played at least 10 games here, a few stragglers have yet
to reach the 10 spot but for argument sake, we are one-third of the way [...]
Another month down here in Major League Soccer, but yes I know there is still one day left on the
calendar with games on it. But for the most part this list is basically going to be fine no matter
what happens tomorrow. Even if someone drops six goals in a game tomorrow, it really [...]
How freakin' silly of me. For some reason I thought these two games were tomorrow night. Instead
they are tonight. Yes, two other games going on tonight in the early stages of the 2008 US Open
Cup. The LA Galaxy host the Colorado Rapids, while Real Salt Lake visits the Columbus Crew. The
Columbus game is already [.
Sitting in the Pizza Hut Park press box last night, I got into a discussion with a couple writers
about the overall standings in Major League Soccer. Basically we all agreed that the parity is
clogging up the standings and no one is running away with the points here this season. Week nine is
even more [.
Week number eight is in the books and for some teams it was a statement week. Houston showed us the
win at home last week wasn't a fluke as they go on the road and score their second straight win of
the year. LA took their circus on the road and dropped a five-spot on [...]
On a beautiful afternoon in Frisco, Texas, the LA Galaxy came into Pizza Hut Park and walked away
with their first road win since late 2007. A hat trick from Edson Buddle lead the charge in the 5-1
thrashing of the home side. "It was an embarrassing performance. We're all ashamed of
ourselves in the locker [.
Week number seven is in the books. I think this weekend will easily go down as a weekend of firsts
for some players and clubs. A couple guys got their first goal of the year, others got their first
ever MLS goal of their careers. One club got it's first win of the year while we [...]
A lighter weekend for Major League Soccer here in week seven. Only five games unlike the normal six
that we've been accustom to so far this season. Both KC and Toronto have the weekend off to regroup
or whatever they both need to do in a week off. The usual game format for the weekend stands [...]
No real surprise that this weekend was mostly about David Beckham's two goals against Real Salt
Lake. The weekend lacked a lot of goals and wins for that matter but Beckham's brace shined
brighter than anything that anyone else did this past weekend. I tried long and hard to figure out
a better candidate that wasn't [.
A weekend that saw fewer goals but enough drama to keep us interested is over. Week six is in the
books and a few things remain as they were at the start of the weekend. The eastern conference is
still very close at the top, while the western side is starting to heat up. Only 14 [...]
