I seriously doubt if he knew just how poor the MLS was. God I wish the Americans would stop playing rugby in 20 miles of padding and calling it “football” and join the rest of the world in playing the beautifull game.

Let’s face it, if the boot was on the other foot and one your big name basketballers wanted to come over here and try and promote basketball but wanted to leave to increase his chances of playing for the USA national team he would be loved by everyone.

Why don’t the Americans play a sport seriously that the rest of the world play? Football (REAL Football), Cricket, Rugby…

I’m pretty sure that was the gist of my post.

The Milan Lab got him back to peak physical condition. His first friendly with Milan saw a tired, almost clumsy player running around senseless, constantly out of position, inaccurate (for him) in his long passes, and unable to even shake off a second-rate defender. Three weeks later, he was fresh, he’d improved his touch, he had stamina and had recovered a yard of pace (i.e. 50% of his pace). That’s not just him “wanting it”. That’s physios knowing what training schedule to put him through to bring him back to his best. Did LA’s physios have the know-how and the ability to act upon that know-how? I don’t think so. Hence why Beckham started out OK, and over the course of his stay in LA saw his form go downhill.

How about his team-mates? LA’s not a bad club, but I’d venture that Kaka, Gattuso, Ronaldinho, Pato and the rest of the Milan squad are better all-round players than the Galaxy, in particular in their passing and anticipation of the game. This means that Beckham can do what he does best -stay by the wing and wait to cross the ball in from deep-, without having to go out of position to help the central midfield, the defence or the strikers and even more importantly, has space when he gets the ball. Less running around to help players in other positions meant he had more energy to do what he does well, and the good passing, movement and anticipation of Milan’s whole squad increased the efficiency of how he played. Instead of getting balls by the half-way line, where he was too far to cross and since he’s not a great dribbler couldn’t do much but pass back to whoever passed him the ball, he was getting balls 30-odd yards from the by-line, where he could whip in the early crosses that made him famous.

Milan put him in a situation where he could play to his best: proper training schedule adapted to his needs, team-mates and tactics allowing him to concentrate on the best aspects of his game, and allowing him to concentrate on his football.

If LA thought they were buying a playmaker when they signed Beckham, it’s a gross misunderstanding of how Beckham plays. He’s got a limited set of skills, but with hard training and dedication became one of the best in those few skills. He’s not a tackler, nor a dribbler, nor really able to anticipate play, he’s slow and he’s only got one foot. But give him the ball down the wing and a bit of space and he’s able to deliver crosses with almost mechanical precision, allowing attackers chance after chance to score. Similarly, blocking him out of a game is easy : just put a player on him for the 90 minutes. He’ll not turn his man, nor out-run him to get to a long ball, and he’ll drop deeper to get the ball (and pull the defender out of position to allow the wing-back to overlap and cross, but LA didn’t seem to grasp that)… What did LA think they were getting? Zidane? Kaka? A central midfield playmaker? Keane? Vieira? A central midfield enforcer? Pirlo? A deep-lying playmaker? Ronaldinho? Giggs? A dribbling winger? Henry? Ronaldo (the real one)? A versatile attacker? Beckham is like Van Nistelrooy, Makelele or Inzaghi, a player who’s all-round skills aren’t very good, but when used as part of a team where he is given a precise role, he’s excellent. Makelele isn’t a midfielder able to pull a Zidane, and that’s not his job. Inzaghi doesn’t do link-up play that doesn’t involve a freak rebound off his knee or neck. Van Nistelrooy doesn’t understand that he can touch the ball outside the penalty area. Does this mean they’re useless? Well, yes if your team can’t put them in a situation where they’re -just- doing what they’re best at. If you never get the ball into the penalty area, Van Nistelrooy is useless. If you’re not piling on pressure, then Inzaghi is useless. If you’re unable to create anything going forwards, then Makelele is useless. Beckham’s the same, just a very good crosser of the ball and not much else. He’ll never win games alone, nor turn a mid-table team into league-winners. As soon as he’s not able to only do what he’s good at, he becomes a jack of all trades, and not even a good one at that. LA couldn’t let him concentrate on his crossing, Milan could. Hence why he seems to be a better player for Milan. Nothing to do with how much he “wanted”, but much more to do with how much he “could”…