The Soccer Thread

[sethuel1]

 

Its embarassing for everyone involved. The excitement is over after the first little fight, but they show more replays, scrums etc. afterwards.

That was terrible. The guy on the Fox Soccer Report last night called it "swimming"

[Transmogrified Tiger]

 

Its embarassing for everyone involved. The excitement is over after the first little fight, but they show more replays, scrums etc. afterwards.

That was terrible. The guy on the Fox Soccer Report last night called it "swimming"

 

It almost looked like an elaborate fake. I laughed when I saw it.

[Mark Priors Calves]

Clint Dempsey did indeed get his work permit, so he'll be joining Fulham FC during January's transfer window.

 

Also, David Beckham and Real Madrid can't seem to negotiate a contract extention past this season. The English papers and Sky Sports seem to think it's a lock that he's heading to the MLS. In fact, the oddsmakers have him at 3-1 he's heading to America to play. That's the odds on favorite. The LA Galaxy seem like the most obvious team for him.

[shnsajax]

Clint Dempsey did indeed get his work permit, so he'll be joining Fulham FC during January's transfer window.

 

Also, David Beckham and Real Madrid can't seem to negotiate a contract extention past this season. The English papers and Sky Sports seem to think it's a lock that he's heading to the MLS. In fact, the oddsmakers have him at 3-1 he's heading to America to play. That's the odds on favorite. The LA Galaxy seem like the most obvious team for him.

 

Its LA or New York, with LA as the very high favorites. I seriously doubt I will see him living in Frisco, Tx :-).

[davecubsfan]

It's getting closer

 

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=399456&cc=3888

[USSoccer]

It's getting closer

 

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=399456&cc=3888

 

I guess the question that needs to be asked, is if a player like Beckham is worth the money LA is going to shell out to land him.

 

He's not really an exciting player. He's never been strong on the ball, and age has deteriorated the ability he had. He's still lethal on set pieces, but is that really going to energize a fanbase? Does this move make MLS better, or just give LA a PR angle with which to sell tickets? How many people are going to go to games expecting Beckham to be the Man U Beckham and be dissapointed and turned off?

 

I'm not sure about this move.

[davecubsfan]

IT"S OFFICIAL AT LEAST ACCORDING TO THE BBC. MLS just got it's first major star

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/6248835.stm

[davecubsfan]

It's getting closer

 

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=399456&cc=3888

 

I guess the question that needs to be asked, is if a player like Beckham is worth the money LA is going to shell out to land him.

 

He's not really an exciting player. He's never been strong on the ball, and age has deteriorated the ability he had. He's still lethal on set pieces, but is that really going to energize a fanbase? Does this move make MLS better, or just give LA a PR angle with which to sell tickets? How many people are going to go to games expecting Beckham to be the Man U Beckham and be dissapointed and turned off?

 

I'm not sure about this move.

 

I couldn't disagree more US. I love Becks and have always viewed him as exciting. He can come over here and absolutely DOMINATE in my opinion against the God awful talent in the MLS, plus he can teach Landycakes a few things. I think this move will help Landycakes a lot. As soon as it's confirmed over here, I'm buying a Becks LA Galaxy jersey.

[Marco4]

:D - He's not joining OM!

[goonys evil twin]

IT"S OFFICIAL AT LEAST ACCORDING TO THE BBC. MLS just got it's first major star

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/6248835.stm

 

five-year deal, reportedly worth £128m.

 

 

MLS must be expecting to a do a lot better than they have so far.

[davecubsfan]

IT"S OFFICIAL AT LEAST ACCORDING TO THE BBC. MLS just got it's first major star

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/6248835.stm

 

five-year deal, reportedly worth £128m.

 

 

MLS must be expecting to a do a lot better than they have so far.

 

This will be a steal by the end of the contract IMO. I really think this move is a floodgate opener and we'll see some real talent in MLS next season. I'd love to see Zidane and Ronaldo follow Becks over as well. I'd say that Ronaldo will eventually end up over here, but I'm guessing that Zidane is really done.

[USSoccer]

IT"S OFFICIAL AT LEAST ACCORDING TO THE BBC. MLS just got it's first major star

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/6248835.stm

 

five-year deal, reportedly worth £128m.

 

 

MLS must be expecting to a do a lot better than they have so far.

 

Good God, that's a lot of money.

 

Here's hoping they don't go NASL on us.

[goonys evil twin]

IT"S OFFICIAL AT LEAST ACCORDING TO THE BBC. MLS just got it's first major star

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/6248835.stm

 

five-year deal, reportedly worth £128m.

 

 

MLS must be expecting to a do a lot better than they have so far.

 

This will be a steal by the end of the contract IMO. I really think this move is a floodgate opener and we'll see some real talent in MLS next season. I'd love to see Zidane and Ronaldo follow Becks over as well. I'd say that Ronaldo will eventually end up over here, but I'm guessing that Zidane is really done.

 

That's ARod money.

[davecubsfan]

IT"S OFFICIAL AT LEAST ACCORDING TO THE BBC. MLS just got it's first major star

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/6248835.stm

 

five-year deal, reportedly worth £128m.

 

 

MLS must be expecting to a do a lot better than they have so far.

 

This will be a steal by the end of the contract IMO. I really think this move is a floodgate opener and we'll see some real talent in MLS next season. I'd love to see Zidane and Ronaldo follow Becks over as well. I'd say that Ronaldo will eventually end up over here, but I'm guessing that Zidane is really done.

 

That's ARod money.

 

Becks >>>>>ARod

 

To me, this is the first move that legitimizes MLS. This has been my main argument against the league for years and one of my main complaints is now gone.

[Mark Priors Calves]

holy.... that's a ton of money. i never thought it'd be that much. that's insane. he better really sell a lot of tickets, otherwise this deal will be a disaster for the Galaxy and the MLS.

[USSoccer]

It's getting closer

 

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=399456&cc=3888

 

I guess the question that needs to be asked, is if a player like Beckham is worth the money LA is going to shell out to land him.

 

He's not really an exciting player. He's never been strong on the ball, and age has deteriorated the ability he had. He's still lethal on set pieces, but is that really going to energize a fanbase? Does this move make MLS better, or just give LA a PR angle with which to sell tickets? How many people are going to go to games expecting Beckham to be the Man U Beckham and be dissapointed and turned off?

 

I'm not sure about this move.

 

I couldn't disagree more US. I love Becks and have always viewed him as exciting. He can come over here and absolutely DOMINATE in my opinion against the God awful talent in the MLS, plus he can teach Landycakes a few things. I think this move will help Landycakes a lot. As soon as it's confirmed over here, I'm buying a Becks LA Galaxy jersey.

 

He's coming to a league that doesn't know how to protect it's skill players on the wing. He's not a physical player...he's obviously talented, but I feel that they paid for a name.

[USSoccer]

holy.... that's a ton of money. i never thought it'd be that much. that's insane. he better really sell a lot of tickets, otherwise this deal will be a disaster for the Galaxy and the MLS.

 

That's 5x what Real paid for him 3 years ago.

[davecubsfan]

holy.... that's a ton of money. i never thought it'd be that much. that's insane. he better really sell a lot of tickets, otherwise this deal will be a disaster for the Galaxy and the MLS.

 

Honestly, I figured it would be more. You're asking an international superstar to come to a fledgling league in a country where soccer is little more than an afterthought. I think the contract will pay off for LA, and I'm already making plans now to fly to LA to see Becks play. I can't wait.

[Mark Priors Calves]

holy.... that's a ton of money. i never thought it'd be that much. that's insane. he better really sell a lot of tickets, otherwise this deal will be a disaster for the Galaxy and the MLS.

 

Honestly, I figured it would be more. You're asking an international superstar to come to a fledgling league in a country where soccer is little more than an afterthought. I think the contract will pay off for LA, and I'm already making plans now to fly to LA to see Becks play. I can't wait.

 

I'd probably check out a Fire-Galaxy game, so they're already selling tickets. Where the hell is the Galaxy getting $250 million, is the MLS paying a huge chunk of it? Maybe Roman Abramovich is buying the Galaxy too.

[davecubsfan]

A consortium owns several MLS franchises, and I'd guess they're using the money from the DC United sale to help pay for Becks.

 

edited to add

 

The story is now on the front page of ESPN.com and Foxsports.com, so it's pretty close to official. :D :D :D

[USSoccer]

holy.... that's a ton of money. i never thought it'd be that much. that's insane. he better really sell a lot of tickets, otherwise this deal will be a disaster for the Galaxy and the MLS.

 

Honestly, I figured it would be more. You're asking an international superstar to come to a fledgling league in a country where soccer is little more than an afterthought. I think the contract will pay off for LA, and I'm already making plans now to fly to LA to see Becks play. I can't wait.

 

I'd probably check out a Fire-Galaxy game, so they're already selling tickets. Where the hell is the Galaxy getting $250 million, is the MLS paying a huge chunk of it? Maybe Roman Abramovich is buying the Galaxy too.

 

Isn't a lot of it going to be AEG's money? I would hope, anyway...

[davecubsfan]

holy.... that's a ton of money. i never thought it'd be that much. that's insane. he better really sell a lot of tickets, otherwise this deal will be a disaster for the Galaxy and the MLS.

 

Honestly, I figured it would be more. You're asking an international superstar to come to a fledgling league in a country where soccer is little more than an afterthought. I think the contract will pay off for LA, and I'm already making plans now to fly to LA to see Becks play. I can't wait.

 

I'd probably check out a Fire-Galaxy game, so they're already selling tickets. Where the hell is the Galaxy getting $250 million, is the MLS paying a huge chunk of it? Maybe Roman Abramovich is buying the Galaxy too.

 

Isn't a lot of it going to be AEG's money? I would hope, anyway...

 

I'd say most of it will be AEG's money.

[soccer10k]

Wow. This is a ton of money and I think it's going to make or break the MLS. I just hope it doesn't break it.

[sethuel1]

Wow. This is a ton of money and I think it's going to make or break the MLS. I just hope it doesn't break it.

yeah, those are my sentiments also.

 

I was never a huge Beckham fan, but I'll buy a ticket to see him when he comes to Chicago.

[USSoccer]

Wow. This is a ton of money and I think it's going to make or break the MLS. I just hope it doesn't break it.

 

That's my concern. They just gave one guy more money than the rest of the league makes all together. That's an incredibly risky move for a player on the decline.

 

I really don't like this move. For $50m annually? That could have bought you probably 6 other players from Europe under the Beckham Rule that probably help 6 different markets more than Beckham helps the league.

 

I don't think this signing means MLS is going to attract top talent. We can't even keep our top talent here. You're telling me European and South American talent are going to ignore going to Serie A, the EPL and La Liga just because Beckham is here? I don't buy it.

 

The league has no idea how to officiate technically sound players. He's going to take a bloody beating from oafish defenders. This move just doesn't make any sense beyond marketing to casual fans who are going to go see him once, and then walk away wondering what the fuss was about.