MLS Week 19 Review: Some Football Related Beckham Questions

By: Daryl | August 12th, 2007

Beckham topless It was the week that Beckham made his MLS debut (vs DC) but it was also yet another week when he failed to play because of that ankle injury (vs New England.) Worse for LA fans the result was exactly the same in both games (L 1-0.) It’s been argued that Beckham’s failure to play regularly so far has been a huge missed opportunity for MLS, but it’s worth considering that the early Beckham attention is for the most part just people gawking at a celebrity. For those of us more interested in what happens on the field, Beckham’s imminent arrival as an MLS regular brings up some interesting questions…

To what extent can one player carry a team in MLS? Galaxy have been mostly God-awful so far, so will be interesting to see if the big daddy of Designated Players has what it takes to turn it all around. How much respect will other players show Beckham? His fellow MLSers could be overawed , or they could go the Steve Sidwell route (minimum respect, maximum slide tackle.) Is Beckham’s left anke more famous than his right foot? At the moment the answer is yes, but hopefully this will change with time. Finally, the most interesting question (for me, anyway.) Can David Beckham play center midfield? He’s spent a career playing right mid but has always expressed a desire to play centrally. The last time he tried it, England lost to Northern Ireland. If Beckham doesn’t spend the game playing early crosses in from the right, does he still have what it takes to positively influence a game? Will he sit deep and ping passes? Drive forward? Sit in the middle and dictate the tempo? I’ve got a suspicion there’ll be a lot of Beckham recieving the ball from his defenders in his own half and playing too many long balls from deep. No doubting his passing ability, but a long ball is a long ball no matter who plays it, and it risks losing possession. Will be genuinely fascinating to see what Galaxy, Yallop and Beckham himself decide is the best way to utilize his particular talents in MLS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NNraY-8-gg

Elsewhere, there are players who played more than 20 minutes out of a possible 180 this week. So, let’s recognize them with The Offside MLS Awards for week 19…

MLS Form Player: Luciano Emilio
The guy is on fire right now. He scored the winner in DC’s 1-0 win over Galaxy (see above) and now sits alone on top of the scoring charts.

Best Attempt To Ruin Beckham’s MLS Debut: Kyle Martino
Martino’s nasty tackle on Fred (above video, about the 1:20 mark) made sure Becks started his Galaxy career with one less teammate than expected. Martino has argued his relative innocence, but it still wasn’t pretty. He wasn’t alone though. In just six games this week, there were four red cards, with Ugo Ihemelu (Colorado Rapids) Marcelo Saragosa (FC Dallas) and Chris Pozniak (Toronto FC) all joining Martino in taking an early bath (seperatley, obviously.)

Most Surprising Villain: Dwayne DeRosario
Anyone can score an own goal, but it still seems hard to believe that DeRo – easily one of MLS’ most gifted and most effective players – can do it. There’s no video so I haven’t seen exactly what happened (if anyone has, please share) but DeRo gifted the Colorado Rapids a 1-0 win over Houston with an own goal.

Most Confident Penalty Taker: Andy Herron
Herron showed no nerves as he hammered his penalty high into the net. The Columbus Crew striker hit it straight up the middle, as hard as possible and as high as you can without hitting the bar. Wasn’t enough to secure any points for Crew though, as Clarence Goodson claimed a good 3-2 win for FC Dallas with 93rd minute header.

Most Depressing Image: Gridiron
Try watching New York Red Bulls 3-0 home win over Toronto. It features a crisp finish from Juan Pablo Angel, as well as a brace from Jozy Altidore (once scrappy, the other classy.) It also showed the beginnings of a serious strike partnership between the two men with differing degrees of experience. But watching the highlights makes my eyes hurt because it’s played on a field with fresh white gridiron markings. Pointy football seaosn is coming soon (less than a month) and for teams without soccer specific stadiums that means games are going to induce headaches from here on out, as well serving up constant and very symbolic reminders of soccer’s place in the US sports pecking order.