Beckham to be bigger in the US than Tiger or Jordan

[Five-hole]

At least according to the GM of the team that signed him.

Link

[getbak]

Tiger Williams and Jordan Leopold?

[Resolute 14]

He's taking human growth hormones?

[604flames]

They are really promoting the proposed friendly between the Galaxy and Whitecaps here in town, except the only way you can get tickets now is by buying a five-game pack for the 'Caps.. Really hope it happens, cause it'll be WAY bigger than Romario's league visit last year.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Taking anything serious from Alexi Lalas is just damn foolish.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by VANFLAMESFAN

Taking anything serious from Alexi Lalas is just damn foolish.

No kidding. The guy is out of his damn mind. Hes just blowing alot of smoke, he doesnt understand that MLS is still the world's biggest joke for a soccer league.

He says MLS is on par with the EPL. Maybe you should try some smaller leagues on for size first, like the Dutch and French leagues which are considered growth and development leagues.

For proof of Lalas' rampant lunacy I present David Beckham's pay. Lalas threw more money at David Beckham than Real Madrid. And even then, he entertained bailing on it to stay with Real. At the end of the day someone paid more for a player than Madrid, the worlds most notorious overpaying club.

Insanity.

[FlamingLonghorn]

Originally Posted by Locke

No kidding. The guy is out of his damn mind. Hes just blowing alot of smoke, he doesnt understand that MLS is still the world's biggest joke for a soccer league.

He says MLS is on par with the EPL. Maybe you should try some smaller leagues on for size first, like the Dutch and French leagues which are considered growth and development leagues.

For proof of Lalas' rampant lunacy I present David Beckham's pay. Lalas threw more money at David Beckham than Real Madrid. And even then, he entertained bailing on it to stay with Real. At the end of the day someone paid more for a player than Madrid, the worlds most notorious overpaying club.

Insanity.

Beckham is important for the growth in the US. I wish the rest of the league would have followed in the Galaxy's path and made a play for some of the bigger stars. Maybe throw money at Cristian Ronaldo, Ronaldhino, Wayne Rooney (even though I hate that guy), or other stars that are either up and coming or still in their prime....

Btw although the MLS is the biggest joke of a league to most. It really has some good football. One thing I think it has over pretty much every other league save Mexico is the physicality. There's a lot more rough play and less diving in the MLS than the Euro leagues.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Sowa

Beckham is important for the growth in the US. I wish the rest of the league would have followed in the Galaxy's path and made a play for some of the bigger stars. Maybe throw money at Cristian Ronaldo, Ronaldhino, Wayne Rooney (even though I hate that guy), or other stars that are either up and coming or still in their prime....

Btw although the MLS is the biggest joke of a league to most. It really has some good football. One thing I think it has over pretty much every other league save Mexico is the physicality. There's a lot more rough play and less diving in the MLS than the Euro leagues.

MLS isnt bad soccer. Its not on par with EPL. Not even close. It will not attract players in their prime for a long time, regardless of how much money you throw at them.

MLS is where good players go to retire and die. They cant make an international name for themselves in the states. Its currently impossible, they stagnate and retire. The level of play just isnt high enough. Every time an American team has brought over a huge star, they light the place up, get bored and quit. Thats a career killer for anyone in their prime.

I watched a Toronto FC game on CBC and have seen a few MLS games, and I agree with you, its pretty good, and much more physical, they let a lot more go so diving is reduced. While this is a positive step, there has to be more to it. The caliber just isnt there. And Lalas is crazy.

[FlamingLonghorn]

Originally Posted by Locke

MLS isnt bad soccer. Its not on par with EPL. Not even close. It will not attract players in their prime for a long time, regardless of how much money you throw at them.

MLS is where good players go to retire and die. They cant make an international name for themselves in the states. Its currently impossible, they stagnate and retire. The level of play just isnt high enough. Every time an American team has brought over a huge star, they light the place up, get bored and quit. Thats a career killer for anyone in their prime.

I watched a Toronto FC game on CBC and have seen a few MLS games, and I agree with you, its pretty good, and much more physical, they let a lot more go so diving is reduced. While this is a positive step, there has to be more to it. The caliber just isnt there. And Lalas is crazy.

My point wasn't really to bring over just a few stars, but many so it would be a competitive league. First and foremost though the US has to keep its own stars and not let Beasley, Mathis, Howard, et al. go to Europe To really cultivate it into a good league they need their own stars to stay.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Sowa

My point wasn't really to bring over just a few stars, but many so it would be a competitive league. First and foremost though the US has to keep its own stars and not let Beasley, Mathis, Howard, et al. go to Europe To really cultivate it into a good league they need their own stars to stay.

This is a good point except for one flaw. These stars wont improve to the international level. They will only be as good as their best competition. What they really need is their stars to go over and play for big clubs in Europe. I'm not talking 1st or 2nd Division English leagues, or EPL bottom feeders/midtable clubs, but the really big clubs in the EPL, Spain, Germany, Italy, even top tier clubs from France, Portugal and the Netherlands would be an improvement.

This would help them improve as players. The key here, is then being able to bring them back in large enough numbers that their domestic MLS players would be up against stiff competition and elevate their game accordingly.

I dont mean to single the States out, Canada really needs to do this too. But until the domestic league has sufficient star power to bring the overall quality up, you have to cultivate it carefully.

[Maserati]

$ alone will not get the big stars to come..the prestige of playin in the top leagues in europe and the champions league is unlike any thing MLS can offer..football is the #1 sport in europe and the majority of the world,.this isn't the case in USA or Canada.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Locke

No kidding. The guy is out of his damn mind. Hes just blowing alot of smoke, he doesnt understand that MLS is still the world's biggest joke for a soccer league.

He says MLS is on par with the EPL. Maybe you should try some smaller leagues on for size first, like the Dutch and French leagues which are considered growth and development leagues.

For proof of Lalas' rampant lunacy I present David Beckham's pay. Lalas threw more money at David Beckham than Real Madrid. And even then, he entertained bailing on it to stay with Real. At the end of the day someone paid more for a player than Madrid, the worlds most notorious overpaying club.

Insanity.

The reporter asked him a dumb question and he gave an outrageous answer. Might as well get some press out of it!

[mrdeeds]

Originally Posted by Maserati

$ alone will not get the big stars to come..the prestige of playin in the top leagues in europe and the champions league is unlike any thing MLS can offer..football is the #1 sport in europe and the majority of the world,.this isn't the case in USA or Canada.

True enough, but soccer is one of the few sports that has tremendous growth potential in North America. I am very encouraged by the Beckham deciding to come to the MLS as well as the buzz that Toronto FC is getting.

[llama64]

Originally Posted by mrdeeds

True enough, but soccer is one of the few sports that has tremendous growth potential in North America. I am very encouraged by the Beckham deciding to come to the MLS as well as the buzz that Toronto FC is getting.

I'm hoping that the MLS continues to grow and gain in prestige. I doubt it will ever attain the mystique that the European leagues enjoy, but to have some good competitive soccer to watch in North America is nice. I could find myself following Toronto FC until Vancouver gets a club going.

Out of the major sports on TV in North America, which one is most at risk to losing audience to Soccer? I imagine it's baseball or basketball, since Nascar and Football are basically part of the American bloodstream.

[sadora]

Originally Posted by Sowa

Beckham is important for the growth in the US. I wish the rest of the league would have followed in the Galaxy's path and made a play for some of the bigger stars. Maybe throw money at Cristian Ronaldo, Ronaldhino, Wayne Rooney (even though I hate that guy), or other stars that are either up and coming or still in their prime....

Btw although the MLS is the biggest joke of a league to most. It really has some good football. One thing I think it has over pretty much every other league save Mexico is the physicality. There's a lot more rough play and less diving in the MLS than the Euro leagues.

I would beg to differ with this opinion. I'll give you the fact that there's a lot of diving in the European and South American Leagues but the physicality aspect is very much a presence in most European Leagues, specially in Italy...just look at how many times Ronaldo was injured during his stint with Inter Milan.

Fact is that European leagues are more exciting to watch by far and not only because of the number of superstars, the prestige of these historic clubs makes European football what it is. Even in South America with clubs like Boca Jrs., River Plate, Santos, Flamengo and even San Lorenzo now, these leagues have better quality football.

Don't get me wrong, I think that the MLS is improving and that's a good thing for the developement of North American football. There's still a long way to go before we see MLS clubs with a lot of big names on their rosters. Players like Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney might find their way to the MLS later on in their careers but not now, not when they still have a lot to give in European and International football.

Becks is probably the biggest name so far on a very short list of notable players to be a part of the MLS, but at 32 Becks doesn't really have too much longer in the game. I hope I'm wrong about that because it would be great to see him play in another world cup. I'm glad that he's leaving Europe as a champion after having a real amazing last run with Real Madrid. He had an amazing last third of the season after being benched for most of it when he signed with Galaxy. Now with a lot of European teams trying to keep Becks in Europe on loan for a year, his coming this July will be huge, short lived, but huge. I say short lived because after missing the first half of the season Becks will miss the last six games to go play for England in Euro 2008 qualifiers, country before club.

So the real effect of Becks in the MLS might not really be felt until next season. His short stint, while he's playing as good as he has been lately, will probably be a huge boost for the league but still not enough to even begin to compare the MLS with any European and South American leagues, even on the physicality level.

[mrdeeds]

Beckham finally scored off a patented free kick. He lead the Galaxy to a 2-0 win over DC United. The Galaxy now move on to the final of the inaugural Superliga final vs. Pachuca. After a couple of uneventful appearances, Becks makes his mark! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6emjydYXPk