Arrivederci Italia, Beckham Returning to the U.S.
By Joe K
All five Ameircan soccer enthusiasts can take a deep sigh of relief, as
MLS messiah
English midfielder David Beckham will be leaving the Italian Serie A football club, AC Milan, and rejoining the Los Angeles Galaxy. Despite his wish to remain in Italy, Beckham will return to the Galaxy next month when his two month loan agreement with Milan expires.
AEG President Tim Leiweke, told reporters that he had discussions with Milan officials earlier this week about the possibility of making the loan permanent. However, he heard nothing from them on Friday when the deadline for resolving the situation passed. As a result, the negotiations are officially over, and Beckham will be expected to report to the Galaxy on March 9th for the start of training camp.
"“I know David is emotionally invested, but I don’t think Milan really was that interested in spending the money we would have had to receive to compensate us for our losses,” Leiweke told the Associated Press. “We need David to honor the contract and come home and let’s stop the distraction.”"
As a genuine Southern California sports fan, I find this whole situation to be absolutely disgusting. The Galaxy were kind enough to offer an over-the-hill player such as Beckham a five year $250 million contract and provide him with the opportunity to market himself on a global stage. Instead, Beckham, who has earned additional millions of dollars in endorsement deals by playing in Los Angeles, now wants to leave after just two years with the team.
Beckham’s reason for a possible departure may come across as noble for he has stated that he wanted to stay with Milan in a bid to play one more World Cup with England in South Africa next year. But if that was really the case than why would other MLS stars be suiting up for their countries in international competition. Just because a player does not play in a prominent Italian or British league does not exclude him from participating in the World Cup. Current Galaxy coach even stated during an interview today that Beckham’s return to America still coincides with his goal of playing in one last World Cup.
Therefore, the fact that Beckham is so eager to leave the states might have something to do with the Galaxy’s underwhelming on the field performance and his own inability to “save American soccer.” When an injured Beckham arrived in Los Angeles in July of 2007, he finished the season with no goals and just two assists as the Galaxy finished with a 9-14-7 record that was third-worst in the league. Last season, Beckham had five goals and 10 assists, but the Galaxy were once again at the bottom of the league with a 8-13-9 record, tied for the worst in the MLS. Like most athletes, Beckham is a fierce competitor to two near last place finishes is enough to make anyone want to bolt out of town.
But the real reason for his desire to departure stems from the fact that “Beckhamania” has now officially warn off. When he joined the Galaxy back in 2007, Beckham was not afraid to share his thoughts on the future of soccer in America:
"“I’m coming there to make a difference…I’m not saying me coming over to the States is going to make soccer the biggest sport in America. That would be difficult to achieve. Baseball, basketball, American football, they’ve been around. But I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think I could make a difference.”"
While it would be a stretch to suggest that Beckham thought that he was he going to turn soccer into the most popular American sport, it wouldn’t be such to point out that he did feel as if he felt he would increase soccer popularity.
And at first he did.
Prior to his formal introduction as a member of the Galaxy, sales of his number twenty-three jersey had already reached a record figure of over 250,000. His first game against Chelsea became the highest watched MLS game ever on ESPN. He even graced the cover of Sports Illustrated. But soon that buzz faded and stories regarding Beckham and the Galaxy were on page seven of the Los Angeles Times, not the front page.
He experienced that initial jolt of excitement, but Becks has finally realized that Americans just don’t go for soccer. They paid some attention at first, but as expected, most of us simply have short attention spans. Now that he has finally hit the glass ceiling here in Los Angeles in terms of fan excitement, Beckham now wants to Europe.
And I say good riddance.