10 Reasons David Beckham Should Stay With AC Milan

By: Daryl | February 4th, 2009

You thought all the transfer rumours would stop once the transfer window shut? You thought wrong.

There’s still the little matter of David Beckham to AC Milan. Goldenballs has hinted at wanting to stay in the past, but now it’s all out in the open – more or less – with Milan’s GM Adriano Galliani letting the world know that Becks definitely doesn’t want to return to LA on March 9th, as planned.

“His desire is to stay – he hasn’t hidden that – but it’s a problem between him and the Los Angeles Galaxy. ” said Galliani. “In this we, as a club, cannot get involved.”

Unless broadcasting the fact that Beckham wants to stay counts as getting “involved”. Which it does.

So, assuming Beckham’s lawyers can work something out with Galaxy, it’s more than likely that Beckham will be staying at the San Siro. Here are 10 Reasons Why David Beckham Should Stay With AC Milan:

1. Milan > Galaxy & Serie A > MLS. We can debate the various merits of those two teams and those two leagues, but you can’t argue with facts.

2. Reputation. The common consensus on Beckham was “washed up.” It’s taken just a handful of Serie A games for people to remember why Beckham was famous in the first place: he’s actually quite good at this sport.

3. Beckham’s not a young man anymore. He’s 33 years old. which means it’s nearly closing time on his career at the top. Now or never.

4. England. Beckham wants to play for England, but Fabio Capello wants him playing a good standard of football, and MLS doesn’t seem to impress Fabio.

5. LA Galaxy let Beckham down. Becks hasn’t been (wasn’t?) brilliant in LA, but he’s been playing on a nightmare of a team, with revolving personnel and no defence. If David Beckham came to stay at your house, and you gave him a bedroom that was actually a toilet, then you wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted to leave.

6. Job done in MLS. Beckham’s probably done all he can to raise the league’s profile. He’s sold a lot of jerseys, appeared in a lot of commercials, been on Letterman, Leno etc. The only way he could raise interest more is if the Galaxy actually won something. Which doesn’t look like happening.

7. MLS might be better off without him now. He definitely attracted some stargazers, but Beckham’s presence – with the schedule arranged to accommodate him, etc – only served to remind everyone that he was so much bigger than the league itself.

8. Five years was always too long. That contract was crazy. Not just because of the money involved, but because it lasted half a decade.

9. Brand Beckham. After being dropped by Pepsi, there was a general feeling that Brand Beckham was coming towards the end of its shelf-life. Being a Milan player will add a little more sparkle.

10. Beckham looks at home in a Milan shirt. He never looked comfortable in a Galaxy shirt – despite or maybe because of the Real Madrid inspired redesign.

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Category: World Football

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Diane

FYI from an MLS and Serie A supporter/reporter -- with a better-than-I-could-describe player's perspective on World Cup
http://www.majorleaguesoccerta...
Laurie

For what it's worth, when he signed for the Galaxy in January '07, he'd been benched by Capello at Real Madrid for underperforming and dumped by McClaren at England. It was only after the Galaxy signed him that he started playing well again. Not saying there was cause and effect. (Although in my opinion there was -- being told you're amazing can be a powerful motivator.) Just pointing out the situation. People just think he had continually played well because he didn't come to MLS until that summer, after the La Liga season ended.

But I do think it's perfectly fair to fault him for not following through on his commitments. There are plenty of people who continue to do difficult things because they've agreed to do them and people are counting on them.
Nelson

second chance? he was playing just fine before going to LA...as I recall he was debating between Serie A (probably Milan) and MLS

he just came off helping real madrid win the spanish league...not really a man in need of a "second chance"

that isn't to say i think he should bail on LA...its a tough situation but at the end of the day i don't think you can fault him for putting his own priorities first
Laurie

John, agree 100%. Of course he wants to stay in Milan now that he's finally playing well again. Who wouldn't?

But that doesn't negate the fact that he's screwing over the team and the league who offered him a second chance. Let's hope he and Milan have to pay through the nose for it. The sooner MLS puts Beckham behind them, the better.
Daryl

There's definitely an argument that - in terms of putting together a decent football team - it's in Galaxy's interests to let Beckham go and start building a proper squad.
john

A better title for your list would be "Why Beckham Wants to Stay in Milan." None of those reasons really take the Galaxy's best interest into consideration. Not to say there aren't reasons for the Galaxy to let Beckham go, namely the trough full of cash they'd insist be paid to buy out his contract, and the things they could do with that money.
Chubby

Its a business, Galaxy are trying to ride the wave Becks created by coming, and somewhat succeeding in Milan, they are trying to take advantage of that opportunity and a little more juice, if not from David, then from Milan. Too American like to my taste.
shehan

i think one of the main reasons that beckham moved to LA was because he thought his career with england was over. mclaren was no longer calling him up, and beckham consequentially thought that he was finished as a player.

with that comes the philosophy that you no longer have to prove yourself to anybody anymore. but when mclaren called him back, that is when he realized his mistake.

i wouldn't be surprised if he stays at milan. LA have squeezed as much juice as they could from beckham. the people who will buy a beckham jersey already have bought one. its time to move on, i think.
Nolan

Daryl - I agree with most of what you said. Beckham is certainly an interesting character - mostly for the wrong reasons, but he's a part of modern football culture for a reason.

But I have little sympathy for him in his attempt to stay with Milan, as he has basically lied to Americans about his commitment to football in America. Now I'm not the biggest MLS fan out there and the LA Galaxy has indeed been horribly managed, but Beckham's one trick was overrated even by the player himself, and is part of the reason for LA's failure.

Yes he's a hard worker and always shows the right attitude on the pitch, and there is nothing wrong with showing greater ambition than MLS, but the cynical among us can also point out that the Berlusconi media circus can be more glamorous than even Hollywood.
Ibracadabra

Daryl - exactly. And the reason the team has been reduced to one of the worst (defences) in the league? No wiggle room because of having Beckham and Donovan on the books..

Lack of cash or free agent slots for a lock down defender or goalkeeper all came with bringing in Beckham (not to mention holding on to Ruiz for some strange reason)...
Daryl

Ibracadabra, I agree Beckham should have known what he was getting into with MLS as a league, but I think he had the right to expect more of Galaxy as a team.

This was a team that won MLS Cup in 2005, and has since been reduced to one of the worst teams in the league.
Mike

When he moved to the Galaxy he sold out to the US. He realized his mistake the moment he put the Milan jersey on and now he is trying to right his wrong.

He is a great player and does offer a lot to the game and to Milan / England. I would like to see him stay at Milan.

I think the MLS needs to grow at it's own pace. Adding big names can only do so much and does not help the credibility of the league.
Ibracadabra

I agree, Daryl - but as for No. 5 - Beckham should have known what he was getting himself into - "If David Beckham came to stay at your house, and you gave him a bedroom that was actually a toilet, then you wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted to leave."

He knew the league was a toilet, not a master bedroom suite, but he figured the "challenge" of the sport in the US, his celebrity/fame and wife's lifestyle in LA, and the $250M payday perhaps clouded his judgment and/or made the decision to live in a toilet rather than a bedroom that much easier.

I respect the courage of the man and the 'global' move and media frenzy, but let's be honest - he really should have known better and accepted the fact that the quality on the pitch just isn't there.

I live in LA and have seen Becks play many times, and he just didn't have the passion on the field. A shame.
daryl

Nolan, I want to take you up on that.

I know Beckham's over-exposed as a celebrity, which causes people to react against everything Beckham related (including pretending not to be at all interested in him even after you've blatantly just read a blog post all about him.)

But ignoring the celebrity stuff, he's a really interesting footballer.

How many other players have joined a team with the intention of making football more popular in that country, only to realize halfway through that they actually want - and are still capable of having - a career in a major European league?

Whatever else Beckham is, he's a unique footballer with a fascinating career.

Can anyone else really say that they "don't care" what Beckham does?
Nolan

Now give me 10 reasons why I should care about Beckham.