I’ve been told that I’m the biggest David Beckham fan people have ever met. I assure you that I don’t go gaga over his pics, but as a player he is everything you’d expect - extremely hard-working, talented, gives 110% every time and is flawed as well as simple genius.
Becks had an illustrious career with Manchester United before being kicked out by SAF and thrown Real Madrid’s way, who then proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot by giving him a poor contract which led him to head towards LA Galaxy, where Becks will, in all likelihood, end his professional career.
He’s been excellent for England as well, both under Eriksson and under McClaren (who saw the light finally and picked him for the national team).
Major League Soccer’s second week kicked off on Thursday, with two matches, and finished with five more at the weekend. Also, CONCACAF Champions Cup semi final action took place in Pachuca, Mexico, and Houston, Texas.
Written by Liviu Bird. Leave a response
David Beckham scored his the first goal and set Landon Donovan (who set Becks up for the first one) up for another as LA Galaxy win 2-0 against the San Jose Earthquakes. I don’t care what the match was like. I don’t particularly care about the LA Galaxy either.
All I care is that Beckham scores - and without being presumptious, that’s a view many other non-American ‘newcomers’ to the MLS hold as well.
Here’s hoping for many more from Becks this season. Here’s the goal (don’t have the Beckham assist / the second goal, if anyone has a video link to it please drop it in the comments.
Will Beckham start when England play the US at Wembley? I imagine pressure from sponsors will make it happen, but then Beckham sells, and that’s what football in the US needs in the first place - the ability to attract massive attention.
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 3 comments
We’ve talked a lot about youth football here on Soccerlens, especially where non-official ventures such as the Ministry of Football and Fugees Family are concerned. It’s all about developing a community-level interest to invest in the game instead of waiting for the people in charge (who often don’t have enough money to invest).
Written by Ahmed Bilal. Leave a response
In this week’s WagSnatch roundup, Beckham plays for his England and Hollywood future (what, you think Indiana Jones is just about the money?), Rooney is getting bald, Coleen does not want his name and Danielle Lloyd, famous for stripping in front of a lens, is in a titz over some ‘personal’ saucy photos…
Written by Roberta Striga. 3 comments
In today’s edition of WagSnatch Roundup Ashley Cole has a sex ban, Clancy loves her cheeseburgers, Posh launches a new line of men jeans, Chantelle is a wannabe WAG, while we also have a new WAG alert, Danielle Lloyd is still sticking to her no-footballers resolution, what led Gazza to depression and Goldenballs old flame is still milking her 15 minutes of fame.
Written by Roberta Striga. Leave a response
In today’s WagSnatch Roundup – is the Cole soap opera FINALLY over, Goldenballs gets chummy on LA Galaxy tour, Posh in a deal for a new reality show, Goldenballs sister celebrates her birthday (without a cat fight this time), Danielle Lloyd says no to footballers, new craze among the WAGs, Rooney likes to float and a bit of a sad news to wrap it all up.
Written by Roberta Striga. 3 comments
Following up on my previous article about why the MLS will be successful in the future, I have realized that not many people know just how the MLS works today. Sure there are two tables, a playoff system, and some weird rules about players and salaries, but who knows exactly what goes on in this league? Fortunately for readers, I do, and for what I don’t know, the MLS website definitely does.
As mentioned before, the league is split up into two tables: Eastern Conference and Western Conference. The structure is based on the geographical distribution of clubs. Have a look at the image:
Written by Liviu Bird. 13 comments
In this week’s WagSnatch Roundup is Gazza finally on the mend, the Spurs boys are still celebrating, not one but two WAGs get into a catfight, Beckhams exposed and moving on up, Cheryl Cole goes back to her roots and the strangest pulling technique ever.
Written by Roberta Striga. One comment
In this week’s WagSnatch Roundup, the mythical creature that is a gay footballer exists, Coleen and Wayne snap a Ł2.5 million deal, Rooney’s family banned from celebrations, Beckham on a diet, Victoria has some dedicated fans, Beckhams have another performer in the family, Defoe back with Charlotte, while Danielle Lloyd insures her booty to Ł2 million and last but not least does Ashley Cole still has a wife?
Written by Roberta Striga. 3 comments
Instead of churning out another David Beckham soccer academy, Goldenballs has decided to go bigger and better with the creation of David Beckham’s World of Sport, set to be complete by 2010.
The location this time is in Brazil and the setting is luxury resort Cabo São Roque, located 20 miles north of Natal, the capital of Rio Grande do Norte. The digs are basically the standard trimmings for luxury resorts (indoor/outdoor pools, two golf courses, tennis courts) but Brand Beckham adds a special tourism niche.
Written by Cherie Getchell. 5 comments
In today’s edition of WagSnatch Roundup the Cole soap opera continues, read all about the Beckham effect, the most expensive text in the world, Jamelia wants a pre-nup thank you very much and slideshow of the football’s sexiest WAGs.
Written by Roberta Striga. 4 comments
So Capello named his squad last week, and as usual all the attention was centred on one man. Not the likes of Curtis Davies or Gabriel Agbonlahor, who received their maiden England call ups (but surely not their last). Not even the likes of Ashley Young or Jermaine Jenas, who are two of the in-form players in the Premier League right now. It wasn’t even the seasoned internationals such as Steven Gerrard or Wayne Rooney who were getting the headlines. No, it was a man who wasn’t even named in the thirty man party who had every tongue in the country wagging.
Written by Neil Jones. 9 comments
The top stories this week - Arsenal overtaking Manchester United at the top of the Premier League, the end of the january transfer window (questionable signings coupled with last-day shenanigans), Capello’s first England squad and life in the Championship.
Deal or no deal?
Whilst transfer deadline day generally passed in a haze of tiresome tedium – thankfully I didn’t have to endure the torture of Sky Sports News exclusive interviews as the window creaked painstakingly shut – some interesting transfers did at least eventually develop:
Written by Hugo Steckelmacher. 3 comments
Manchester United returned to the Premiership summit midweek with a comfortable 2 – 0 victory over Harry Redknapp’s Pompey side.
Whilst many would argue that United could have gone on to score six or seven, such was their dominance and quality of play, I’m sure the Old Trafford faithful would have settled for two and the spectacle that was Ronaldo’s free kick.
Written by Luke Smith. 12 comments
The first name noticeable by his absence is of course David Beckham. I am deeply disappointed by this, but I’ve written my views elsewhere and don’t want to rant on about it any more!
Aaron Lennon, Joe Hart, Theo Walcott and Steven Taylor may be slightly disappointed to find themselves in the under 21 squad as they would have been hoping for a call up to the first team. Certainly Lennon would have expected to be in with a chance, particularly with Beckham being left out.
Joe Hart will have looked at the average form of the other England goalkeepers and wondered who might be chosen ahead of him. Walcott has shown no signs of form, and Steven Taylor is a fine player but finds himself playing in a position where England are blessed with many fine players.
Written by Graham Fisher. 23 comments
Fabio Capello names his first England squad this weekend for the forthcoming friendly against Switzerland. There is eager anticipation to see which new players will be selected and which of the old guard will be left out.
However, not for the first time in relation to the national side, the name on everyones lips is David Beckham. Will his old manager at Real Madrid select him for this friendly?
Written by Graham Fisher. 13 comments
In this week’s WagSnatch roundup Ronaldo’s mum begs his son to come and play for Real Madrid, Wayne Rooney is voted the ugliest footballer (but that would not stop women from dating him), Gunners lose to Spurs and get into a tussle at the pitch, Becks brings attention to Sierra Leone and Slaven Bilic put rumors to rest once and for all – he is not in it for the money.
Written by Roberta Striga. 6 comments
I got the news the other morning when I turned on my computer and checked The Sun website for some fun articles. And there he was. Beckham in a black or navy sweatshirt with ‘Fly Emirates’ written all across it in golden letters.
Surely that was have the work of a journalist who played with photos to make some kind of sinister joke, but, in the background, jumping with joy, was none other than that insufferable little prick, Fabregas.
Then, the words caught my attention, “It’s Fab! Becks joins Arsenal.” Disaster! How could he? The prick is the reason I became a Manchester United fan in the first place. He is like a hero to me; when I was a little kid I wanted to become just like him, and now he joins that club. The one club which I cannot stand.
Written by Andrei. 19 comments
While football accomplishments and failures are usually measured season to season, the end of an year gives an opportunity to view a team’s (or a player’s) performance from a different perspective.
Here’s a look at the teams and people who deserve to be nominated as the worst performers in 2007, allowing for slumps in form and what not.
Written by Jay Maniyar. 51 comments
Here are some notable quotes made during the past year. Each was stated by the named individual; however, my responses were created, and are not meant to represent the views of the individuals. Nor libel them in any way. This is both a factual and (hopefully) a light-hearted article.
Written by Steve Amoia. 19 comments
I’m a fan of David Beckham. I think he’s a hard working, solid player, completely outside of any marketing or publicity tools he brings to the table. I’m not sure that Beckham is one of the greatest players in world, but he is skillful, and particularly good at what he does. One of the things he does well is play England’s style of football.
With Croatia dropping England out of the Euro 2008 tournament, and McClaren getting sacked (finally), I’ve read an awful lot about the tactics that England plays and the style of their games. Forefront in many of those discussions are whether David Beckham has a role in the English team of the future.
Unless the team plans to play a radically different game than it has for the past 40 years, my thought is that he definitely does, if for no other reason than Beckham has the skills necessary to play the game that England plays. It’s easier to put him in the squad than try to change the way the country as a whole plays the game.
Written by Guest Authors. 3 comments
It was Lord Sebastian Coe’s presence that helped London win the rights to host the 2012 Olympics and now it’s the turn of a certain David Beckham to do the same in a different ball game. David Beckham is easily the most recognizable footballer on the planet and it is his face and the billions stringed to it that the English FA want to use to bring home the 2018 World Cup.
Written by Subhankar Mondal. Leave a response
Before Tottenham Hotspur star Dimitar Berbatov began to sing Juande Ramos’ praises, the speculation surrounding whether he would stay or go swirled with rumor, one of which was that Manchester United were top of Berbatov’s January transfer window wish list. It’s no contest that this season Manchester United is performing much stronger than Tottenham, and because Berbatov is widely known as their marquee player, a rumor surrounding his eventual transfer is, to some degree, to be expected.
The perception generally is that clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea are the big clubs in the EPL – and selective big club status necessitates rungs of smaller clubs. Because Berbatov’s form seems to be so strong (stronger than this season’s Spurs, in toto), the natural progression seemed to be well on its way: Berbatov was moving from the Spurs and up into the powerhouse of the North where he belongs. Whether this sets itself out of newsprint and into an actual contract has yet to be determined, but it is just the most recent example of what can look like a proverbial chicken or the egg question for football fans. Can a player ever be(come) bigger than their club? Or does the issue just boil down to dollars and cents?
Written by Cherie Getchell. 5 comments
According to The Times, Becks is set to return to England. No, we’re not talking about a sensational career turn-around for the ex-England captain, but rather an arrangement of opportunity: Beckham will be given the chance to keep his fitness level up during the Major League Soccer Winter break, and all reports seem to suggest he’ll be doing it with Cesc Fabregas & friends.
Written by Marco Pantanella. 3 comments
Yes, I’ve said it before: it’s ‘Top 100 Ranking’ time. Fresh from publishing their Top 100 footballers list last month, English magazine FourFourTwo just released their a list of the Richest players and club owners of the English Premiership, sort of a “2007’s Billionaire’s club” if you will. As the editors eloquently put it, the key message of this year is that “British football is getting richer, and the rich are getting richer“.
Written by Marco Pantanella. 25 comments
It’s that time of the year again. The time when a random (ok, let’s call it ‘well-respected’ if you prefer) football publication makes an “All Time Best” ranking that never fails to create controversy and offend a few people.
FourFourTwo did one of those last month, this time it’s the turn of the ‘Association of Football Statisticians’ to make its Top 100, after studying every fact and figure from the beautiful game over the past 100 years.
Points are given for goals scored by forwards and clean sheets for defenders. Players also get awarded marks for trophies won, captaincy and the level they played at throughout their career.
Written by Marco Pantanella. 101 comments
Image courtesy of Adrian Clarke and Sport Media Solutions.
Soccerlens is very pleased to welcome a former footballer turned journalist. Adrian Clarke, who was born in Cambridge, began his football career with Arsenal in 1991 and went on to make nine first team appearances for the club. Previously he had represented England at Under-15 and Under-18 level. After six years with the Gunners, which included loan spells at Rotherham United and Southend United, Mr. Clarke, a midfielder, signed on a free transfer with Southend in 1997.
During three years with Southend United, he made 75 appearances and scored 9 goals. He then played two seasons for Stevenage Borough, and finished his career with Margate and Welling United. Mr. Clarke retired from full-time professional football in 2000, and decided to pursue a new career in sports journalism to run alongside his semi-pro career. Adrian retired from football in 2007.
Written by Steve Amoia. 7 comments
Last week the LA Galaxy was shut out of a play off berth thanks to similarly situated team, the Chicago Fire. The Fire were also bestowed with a designated player this season, so naturally, the game was penned as the Blanco v. Beckham match-up. In the end though, it was nothing close to that head to head scenario.
Beckham entered near the 60th minute though no one really noticed, besides the screaming girls in belly shirts, screaming his name while madly snapping away with their camera phones. No such fanfare for Blanco, which makes sense since no one would probably claim Blanco to be sexy or celebrity or even on the radar of 15-year old American girls. Blanco did play the entire 90 minutes though, and proved indispensable to the Fire’s late season turn around from bottom of the conference to play off qualifier.
Despite the rumors that the Galaxy and the MLS at large was attempting to fix the last few Galaxy games (presumably to ensure that some more mileage could be gotten out of their cash cow), in the end, the rumors were meritless (or the league was simply incapable of orchestrating successful match fixing). On Sunday, the American public bid farewell to the inaugural season of what has become the Beckham rollercoaster.
Written by Cherie Getchell. 4 comments
This article is a submission for the Soccerlens Football Writing Competition; to participate, please read the details here.
This article was first published at World Football Commentaries.
Recently, David Beckham disclosed that he may return to Europe after the MLS season is over. Some in the media, both mainstream and soccer-specific, have criticized this potential move.
It actually makes a lot of sense for Becks.
Here are a few reasons why:
Written by Dan Leo. 8 comments
This article is a submission for the Soccerlens Football Writing Competition; to participate, please read the details here.
Written by Laurie.
Question: What do soft-core photos, star-studded parties and a (probably) non-existent diamond-encrusted vibrator have to do with “saving” American soccer?
Answer: All are part of the complicated package that is Brand Beckham.
In case you missed it, David Beckham came to the LA Galaxy in the summer of 2007 to “save” American soccer. This must be true, because that’s what all of the world’s press told us at the time.
Of course, nobody ever really explained what this actually meant. Some vague “quality of play” thing, apparently, combined with bringing in new fans and dumping gazillions of dollars into the pockets of MLS (and, consequently, David Beckham.)
Now, several months in, how is this whole Beckham-saving-American-soccer thing working out?
Written by Guest Authors. 10 comments
