Comments on: 10 Reasons David Beckham Should Stay With AC Milan

By: Cory Thompson

Cory Thompson — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:41:19 +0000

GFR to Beckham. Good _ Riddance.

At LA and Milan it seems his teams become just an aerial threat – cross, long cross field pass, another cross, loss of possession, etc. . . Not an effective style (unless you have a 6′7 Crouch heading), especially in possession oriented Serie A. You can already see the negative reactions of his team mates when he gets the ball. To sum his MLS experience up for me – I realized he wasn’t that good a player, and moreover, is a detriment to whatever team he plays on. He’s not a footballer, he’s an entertainer. GFR!

By: Diane

Diane — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 07:25:16 +0000

FYI from an MLS and Serie A supporter/reporter — with a better-than-I-could-describe player’s perspective on World Cup
http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/ciao-david-beckham/1860

By: Laurie

Laurie — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 07:14:51 +0000

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.

By: Nelson

Nelson — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 05:48:49 +0000

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

By: Laurie

Laurie — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:27:54 +0000

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.

By: Daryl

Daryl — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:42:46 +0000

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.

By: john

john — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:34:04 +0000

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.

By: Chubby

Chubby — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:11:18 +0000

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.

By: shehan

shehan — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:49:33 +0000

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.

By: Nolan

Nolan — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:19:10 +0000

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.