Soccer thread

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 5:57 pm

Zeppo wrote:
davet010 wrote: As for Zeppo's comments about Beckham being surprised at the MLS being a tough physical league....I take it you don't watch much Premiership or Primera Liga then ?
No, you misunderstand me. It's that they expect it to be more of a walk in the park than it turns out to be. It's a league with a lot of hacks, where physically eliminating the few skilled players on your opponent's team is a viable strategy for victory (because there are only a couple such players on each team), and where the referees vary from easily fooled to flat out incompetent and are at best inconsistent.

I'm not saying it's any tougher than the big leagues, just that many when they get here seem surprised how physical it really is. And then the whole summer-time heat thing gets added in.

As to the whole handling passes thing. . . pretty much.

Fair enough Zeppo, you are probably right on that score.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:28 pm

Becks marketability is already paying dividends in the city of Toronto as tickets sales have skyrocketed since the announcement of his presence in the MLS.

With that huge contract he becomes automatically among the top 10 best payed athletes in the world behind the likes of A-Rod, M. Schumacher, Tiger, Kobe B, etc.

Post by **Jared** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 7:19 pm

Next rumor:

Edgar Davids to FC Dallas.

FC Dallas, managed by former Arsenal midfielder Steve Morrow, are hopeful of signing the 33-year-old, who is surplus to requirement at Spurs.

"We are actually in negotiations with Edgar Davids - we've been speaking for a couple of weeks," said Morrow.

"We were excited to hear about his availability, so we spoke to his agents and have been told he is available."

Beckham agreed a five-year contract with LA Galaxy on Thursday and will leave Real Madrid for the US at the end of the Spanish season.

And Morrow is confident of taking Davids to the MLS as well.

He added on BBC London: "It appears Tottenham are willing to listen to offers.

fanatic · Post by **fanatic** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 8:12 pm

10spro wrote:Becks marketability is already paying dividends in the city of Toronto as tickets sales have skyrocketed since the announcement of his presence in the MLS.

With that huge contract he becomes automatically among the top 10 best payed athletes in the world behind the likes of A-Rod, M. Schumacher, Tiger, Kobe B, etc.

I'm in Toronto and was thinking about picking up some seasons' last night. Today's announcement has got me a bit excited I have to say. Not that I'm a huge Beckham fan, but that I'm really optimistic about the city becoming really into the MLS.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 9:40 pm

No one is worth that kind of jack. That amount of money for a 31 year old has been from Europe is absolutely ridiculous. I thought the MLB salaries were absurd. This takes the cake by a long margin.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:19 pm

sportdan30 wrote:No one is worth that kind of jack. That amount of money for a 31 year old has been from Europe is absolutely ridiculous. I thought the MLB salaries were absurd. This takes the cake by a long margin.

He's worth every penny if two criteria are met:

1. MLS grows into a widely respected league worldwide that is seen as a destination for young and in-prime international stars.

2. MLS gains a foothold in the American sports consciousness and becomes one of the major leagues in this country within the next decade.

Most minor leagues would freely spend $50 million per year on marketing to achieve those aims if they had the money. And that's exactly what Beckham is to MLS -- a huge marketing opportunity.

And before you say it's impossible, I suggest you watch "Once in a Lifetime: The Story of the N.Y. Cosmos." Great movie, and it shows that a league can go from playing in front of 200 people on a dirt pitch on Randall's Island to putting 75,000 in Giants Stadium in just five years.

It can be done. It might not be done, but it can be done. And Beckham is worth the risk. What other options does MLS have right now?

Take care,
PK

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 10:22 am

Isn't most of the money coming from giving Beckham control of his image rights? It's not like the Galaxy are going to be transferring $50 million from their bank account into Beckham's bank account every year.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/3926653a1823.html

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 10:25 am

davet010 wrote:
Feanor wrote:
Because he's the only good white soccer player in the world, and the public, media and corporations hate non-white soccer players. Happy?
Probably best not to make comments regarding sports about which you appear to know very little. There aren't many who would put Beckham in the top 50 players in Europe at the moment, and the reason that he hasn't come back to the Premiership is that none of the top 4 would want him, and he isn't really interested in gutting it out among the also rans.

LOL! For a pom, you're not very good at realizing when someone's quite obviously taking the piss out of wco81 for his "Great White Hope" nonsense.

Just to spell it out in case you're still confused, I know there are heaps of better white soccer players than Beckham at the moment, including (IMO) Morten Gamst Pedersen of my team, Blackburn. And I don't actually believe the soccer world hates black people.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:28 pm

Quick indication of just how PR-savvy Beckham and his advisory team really are: Did anyone else notice that during his canned interview yesterday Beckham called the sport "soccer" in every reference to the sport in America?

Already, he knows that Americans call the game "soccer," not "football."

It's small, but pretty shrewd.

Take care,
PK

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:24 pm

Michelle Lissell, the former FSC anchor, has taken a position with Toronto FC. She was on that FSC Center Circle roundtable yesterday, and she said that they sold 600 sets of season tickets yesterday due to the Beckham announcement!

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:29 pm

Tom Anselmi of MLS&E, who owns Toronto FC, said they got hundreds of calls, and had sold about 100 (not 600) seasons tickets. I hope it is the 600 though.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:32 pm

I got an email from DC United saying they had sold 200 season tickets within the first few hours of the Beckham announcement.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:53 pm

Now would Ronaldinho be having the same effect?

Is it the futbol cognoscenti buying up these tix?

Or do futbol cognoscenti know better and recognize Becks is a faded player living on reputation and hype?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:53 pm

The Galaxy supposedly sold between 1,000-2,000 season tickets yesterday.

Pat O'Brien is hosting the Beckham press conference now on FSC. Every time I see him, I can only think of one phrase:

"You're so f*cking hot. YOU ... ARE ... SO ... F*CKING ... HOT. You're HOT!"

Take care,
PK

spooky157 · Post by **spooky157** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:06 pm

pk500 wrote:The Galaxy supposedly sold between 1,000-2,000 season tickets yesterday.

Pat O'Brien is hosting the Beckham press conference now on FSC. Every time I see him, I can only think of one phrase:

"You're so f*cking hot. YOU ... ARE ... SO ... F*CKING ... HOT. You're HOT!"

Take care,
PK

Only if Betsy can watch...

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:17 pm

Feanor wrote:
davet010 wrote:
Feanor wrote:
Because he's the only good white soccer player in the world, and the public, media and corporations hate non-white soccer players. Happy?
Probably best not to make comments regarding sports about which you appear to know very little. There aren't many who would put Beckham in the top 50 players in Europe at the moment, and the reason that he hasn't come back to the Premiership is that none of the top 4 would want him, and he isn't really interested in gutting it out among the also rans.
LOL! For a pom, you're not very good at realizing when someone's quite obviously taking the piss out of wco81 for his "Great White Hope" nonsense.

Just to spell it out in case you're still confused, I know there are heaps of better white soccer players than Beckham at the moment, including (IMO) Morten Gamst Pedersen of my team, Blackburn. And I don't actually believe the soccer world hates black people.

I wasn't previously aware of the American variety of sarcasm, obviously took me completely unawares.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:31 pm

RobVarak wrote:Michelle Lissell, the former FSC anchor, has taken a position with Toronto FC. She was on that FSC Center Circle roundtable yesterday, and she said that they sold 600 sets of season tickets yesterday due to the Beckham announcement!

Suckers! The Gals only go to Toronto once, and who knows if that's when Beckham is actually on the team? Of course, the league could just switch Toronto to the west just to keep them happy! But to be serious about it, they'll do their best to make sure LA plays all their away games against the east teams after July. That leaves some 15 or 16 home games for Toronto without Becks.

Still it is cool that Toronto is selling so many tickets, even before this whole madness began. At least they'll get to see their new draft pick (draft was today btw), Maurice Edu, from Maryland! They're going to have a nice little stadium to play in too; hell I bet they open the stadium with Becks n' the Gals. It needs a roof though.

Wco: Ronaldinho would have a ga-jillion times the effect of Beckham.

More interesting to me is that Edgar Davids has signed with Dallas. At the end of his career, surely, but still he's a pretty high-level player that hearkens back to the type of players they had at the start of the league, but we haven't really seen for a while. We'll see who else gets brought over this offseason, but I'm sure Beckham's coming over will help produce some interesting signings for us, for whatever reason.

Meanwhile, Esky isn't afraid to express his feelings:

"The first thing that jumped out at me was the figure he was making. I mean, that's unbelievable," said former D.C. United player Alecko Eskandarian, who was traded to expansion club Toronto FC last month. "As much as I'm all for the exposure, I feel like if [MLS clubs] have all this money they could divvy up some of it, especially for some of the younger players with developmental contracts. It's really not fair what they make. To think that one guy could make more in one day of practice than some guys make for a whole year of effort is pretty shocking."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00516.html

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:51 pm

Davids will be a fan favorite because of the "Cobi effect" -- serious dreads. Plus the Oakley specs will help, too.

Oh, and because Davids is an aggressive player who gets stuck in on tackles, so that will play well in the football nation of Texas.

Take care,
PK

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:55 pm

Zeppo wrote:More interesting to me is that Edgar Davids has signed with Dallas. At the end of his career, surely, but still he's a pretty high-level player that hearkens back to the type of players they had at the start of the league, but we haven't really seen for a while. We'll see who else gets brought over this offseason, but I'm sure Beckham's coming over will help produce some interesting signings for us, for whatever reason.

Meanwhile, Esky isn't afraid to express his feelings:

"The first thing that jumped out at me was the figure he was making. I mean, that's unbelievable," said former D.C. United player Alecko Eskandarian, who was traded to expansion club Toronto FC last month. "As much as I'm all for the exposure, I feel like if [MLS clubs] have all this money they could divvy up some of it, especially for some of the younger players with developmental contracts. It's really not fair what they make. To think that one guy could make more in one day of practice than some guys make for a whole year of effort is pretty shocking."

It was just a matter of time before someone said it, but Esky's thinking is fundamentally flawed. It's not like MLS was sitting on $250 million and said "hmm, should we spend it on youth players, 2 $10m players per team, or just Beckham?" In reality, the money (which is coming from multiple sources) was either spent on Beckham, or didn't come into the league at all. ESPN speculation on contract structure

And has the Davids deal been finalized? I haven't seen it like that anywhere. Either way, I like the deal. The guy has an amazing resume (Ajax to AC Milan to Juventus to Barca to Inter....), and should still be a excellent MLS player. Aside from that, any casual fan who sees a single game will instantly remember the dude with the goggles and dreds.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:55 pm

Zeppo wrote: "As much as I'm all for the exposure, I feel like if [MLS clubs] have all this money they could divvy up some of it, especially for some of the younger players with developmental contracts. It's really not fair what they make. To think that one guy could make more in one day of practice than some guys make for a whole year of effort is pretty shocking."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00516.html

Yeah, the clubs really aren't being very equitable about this. For instance, some of the owners are large corporations, and they have more than enough money to blow on prospects who are never going to do a damn thing in the sport

fanatic · Post by **fanatic** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:19 pm

An update to Toronto's seasons tickets sales:

Since the Beckham announcement yesterday morning, 1,600+ have been sold. Including 2 from myself....Should be fun with the new stadium. Also, the U-20 Fifa World Cup will be going on here.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 12:22 pm

Beckham to play the full MLS season this year?

I raised an eyebrow when, during the MLS draft, Commissioner Garber gave a very non-committal answer about when Beckham would join the league. I was expecting him to say August straight out. Now comes the news that Cappello won't play Beckham for Madrid the rest of the season.

Also, MLS is very close to announcing the return home of Claudio Reyna.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 12:34 pm

Wow. The only way he could come before June is for MLS to pay a transfer fee to Madrid. Looks like he's screwed himself out of playing time by making the announcement, poor sucker.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 2:06 pm

Zeppo wrote:Wow. The only way he could come before June is for MLS to pay a transfer fee to Madrid. Looks like he's screwed himself out of playing time by making the announcement, poor sucker.

LMAO, yeah I'm sure he's all broken up about getting those checks for working out and sitting around answering to Posh

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 3:06 pm

Naples39 wrote:Beckham to play the full MLS season this year?

I raised an eyebrow when, during the MLS draft, Commissioner Garber gave a very non-committal answer about when Beckham would join the league. I was expecting him to say August straight out. Now comes the news that Cappello won't play Beckham for Madrid the rest of the season.

Also, MLS is very close to announcing the return home of Claudio Reyna.

I am currently in London, England as I write this, and indeed sports news all over the tube and UK papers are discussing the F. Capello's decision not to include Becks for the remaining of his contract. He thinks it would be a distraction to the team and Beckham was separated to another group of players during practice yesterday. Management in Real Madrid are willing to clean house after a mediocre season last year and the next big names rumoured to be in the dog house are Ronaldo, and Antonio Cassano.

"The Cup" is what they are after and Capello is willing to go to extremes to start such a revolution. Of course Beckham appears as a perfect scapegoat now in Madrid and don't be surprise if Galaxy is already in talks with Real to quicken the transfer.[/i]