David Beckham's MLS is a Galactic Mess

He was supposed to change MLS and soccer in America forever. David Beckham’s signing in January 2007 with the LA Galaxy was supposed to elevate his new club and by extension its league to heights never experienced before. Eighteen months later all parties (except AEG, the Galaxy’s owners who have made a killing off the Beckham name) must ponder whether it was really worthwhile.

David Beckham is a true footballer and a class act. Like most English footballers his work rate is exceptional and his understanding of true football is commendable. The truth is a footballer of Beckham’s stature deserves better than the LA Galaxy or what MLS has become thanks to his presence. It is ironic that on this day when we ponder the massive overhaul of Beckham’s team, that the two dominant forces in MLS remain the two sides that have lived within their means and have promoted continuity over flamboyance and mass marketing: Those two sides, Houston and New England should be held up as examples of what MLS was at one time and should return to once the league returns to its senses. The continued of presence of Designated Players and signings of overage foreigners has done little to sustain new support for the league. While it has stimulated some new interest, much of the interest has turned the television off when exposed to a bad product, which many MLS games not including Houston or New England remain. The one designated player who has helped transform his team for the better on the pitch, Cuauhtémoc Blanco I believe could have still been signed by MLS without the DP rule. How you ask? How did the MLS sign Luis Hernandez, then in the prime of his career in 2000? How about Carlos Hermosillo signing in 1998? Carlos Vaderrama and Roberto Donadoni in 1996? You do not really believe that MLS never had Designated Players before 2007 do you?

Blanco has been an important addition for MLS and for a Chicago Fire club that was previously under performing at the gate. But I believe Blanco could have and would have been signed by MLS without the DP rule. How sure am I of this? The second Blanco was thrown off the national team by former manager Ricardo LaVolpe, rumors in Mexico began circulating that he was coming to MLS. Unlike, Europe the examples of Hernandez and Hermosillo demonstrated that for top Mexican attacking players, MLS is always an option late in your career.

I have no comment on the firing of Alexi Lalas. While I have been very critical of Los Angeles personnel moves since the untimely death of Doug Hamilton over two years ago, I am less certain than ever Lalas was actually charged with building the squad. It seems Lalas, a man of near legendary status as a player for the US was used by the Galaxy’s owners to sell their product to the world. The responsibility for finding players was not important to the Galaxy, because after all they had David Beckham.

Regarding the resignation of Ruud Gullit, this is a black eye for MLS: for the first time since Carlos Quieroz in 1997 a big name international coach was attracted to the league, and despite having an obvious tactical edge on his competitors his employment to a team that is essentially a marketing outfit, not a proper football club made it impossible for him to do his job. No doubt the critics of MLS in Europe will come out of the woodwork with Gullit departure to heap scorn on the league. However, unlike many times in the past, this go round the scorn is roundly deserved.

Major League Soccer despite the continued success of Houston and New England has become more glitz than substance since David Beckham’s arrival. The league feeling a constant need to answer critics and over sell its product have made boastful claims about its competitiveness and the value of its franchises with no real substance to back up these claims. These are the unwanted corollaries of the “Beckham effect.”

David Beckham is a class act, a great footballer. He should once and for all talk to the Galaxy brass and ask if they are going to continue to use him as a way to sell shirts and make money or if they want him to settle down and help them win football matches. Beckham should also have a role in identifying players for the Galaxy. If the club does not want to do this, it is best both parties move on. Beckham can still find a club in Europe during this transfer window and MLS and the Galaxy can pick up the pieces of its broken reputation abroad and focus on the things that made the league successful for the eleven seasons before David Beckham came to America: fiscal discipline, player development and cultivating the American soccer media.

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Gullit Links Big News for Galaxy

Well Alexi Lalas said he wanted a sexy name and if published reports are to be believed he got one. Ruud Gullit may not be the right manager for the Galaxy but he certainly has a name in the world of international football, which will create yet another publicity splash for a club so lacking in on field performance but with a Hollywood air to it.

Gullit's previous managerial stints have not ended well. At Chelsea he was sorely out of his league as a player but did well as a manager winning the FA Cup and having Chelsea in line to chase the Premier League title before being sacked after a dispute with Ken Bates. At Newcastle he in inherited a gutted from Kenny Dalglish (who had taken over a great team from Kevin Keagan) and didn't last very long. He clashed frequently with Alan Shearer and found himself sacked after less than a year in charge.

But Gullit is best remembered as a player. No offense to the current starlet in Los Angeles, but Gullit was a much more significant footballer on the world stage than David Beckham. Gullit was twice named world player of the year and was immensely versatile per the "Total Football" model Dutch teams employed at the time. By the time Gullit arrived at Chelsea after a long career in Italy and Holland his skills and quality had diminished but he was one of the first international footballers of note to play in England and if he comes to MLS he will be one of the first international managers of note since the early days of MLS (when several big name foreign managers graced our shores) to arrive stateside.

While MLS is clearly not at the level of the Premier League in sophistication of tactics and overall quality (but not technical ability which quite frankly was lacking in the Premiership throughout the 1990s, but has now caught up to the rest of Europe) managing in the United States will take some vetting. Firstly, managing travel in MLS is a monster for any manager coming from outside. Teams don't have chartered coaches to take short 200km journeys like they do in England. In MLS, teams fly cross country in economy class and often have shortened weeks. The fact that the Galaxy will not be participating in any international competitions next year is good for Gullit if he takes the job because that makes managing the travel less daunting. Secondly, most rank in file American players lack the tactical know how to play disciplined 90 minute football. This isn't meant as insult to our younger player but the reality is our emphasis in coaching youth soccer is very different from what is emphasized in Europe and Latin America. Thirdly, Gullit presumably faces a language barrier. I assume he does not know Spanish, but a good percentage of the players in MLS as well as the press who covers MLS speak Spanish as their native tongue. Knowing the language is essential for managing in most MLS markets.

Irrespective of these obstacles, if Gullit is hired the Galaxy would have made a very loud statement to the international football world about its place. Alexi Lalas would have also fulfilled his promise to make a "sexy" hire. Now the Galaxy need to begin playing like a football club and not a celebrity circus who acts as sacrificial lambs on every road trip to another MLS market.

Coaching Rumors Bizzare and Unrealistic

Steven Cohen of World Soccer Daily seems convinced that Steve McClaren is going to be next manager of the Los Angeles Galaxy. Why would McClaren who has the England job, albeit tenuously and managed Middlesbrough be interested in a second tier Major League Soccer job, a job that was ditched by Frank Yallop in order to take over an expansion team? I can point blank without any sources on the matter dismiss the talk of McClaren, Fabio Capello or any of the other sexy international names associated with the Galaxy job. At the same time I believe Red Bull New York who dismissed Bruce Arena on Monday, (the club was formerly know as the Metrostars) will not only end up with an accomplished international manager, but they could end up with someone whose name will blow your socks off.

These two jobs aren't comparable: The Galaxy face a multi year rebuilding effort and have taken on the persona of a traveling circus since David Beckham's arrival. The Galaxy have traded or in some cases given away the supporting talent that could have made Beckham successful in MLS. The Galaxy's best bet is to hire an accomplished assistant in MLS, a discarded Mexican League manager or let Alexi Lalas (if he has his coaching license) try his hand at the job. Again, the Galaxy are being viewed a joke across the globe, and David Beckham's continued curious behavior has many wondering if his legacy as a footballer and a man are being compromised by his strange and seemingly selfish behavior (thus very un-Beckham like) since moving to Los Angeles.

The Red Bulls on the other hand have a much more attractive situation. A new stadium and training facility opening next year with a marque striker in Juan Pablo Angel, and potentially an open DP slot with the option of dumping Claudio Reyna or engaging in a renegotiation with him into a non-DP type salary. With young starlets Jozy Altidore and Dane Richards as well as several other solid professionals, a new coach could make a run at an MLS Cup title next year with this squad. Besides, New York is the most cosmopolitan and international city in the US, and the second most cosmopolitan city in MLS behind Toronto.

New York has a history of attracting top international managers. Carlos Quieroz and Carlos Alberto Parriera both managed the Metrostars in the its early years and later Bora Milutinovic and Bob Bradley managed the club. Ironically the most successful New York manager has been the unheralded Octavio Zambrano.

But New York is an attractive job. Let me speculate about some possibilities:

Lothar Matthaeus:

The former Metrostars libero is now coaching the Red Bulls sister club in Austria. He loves New York and would fit the job like a glove.

Carlos Quieroz:

The former Metrostars manager is now Alex Ferguson's right hand man at Manchester United. With Fergie's implication that he'd like to manage a few more years, Queiroz may look to bail out and this would be a perfect opportunity


Roberto Donadoni:

The former Metrorstars player could be in trouble as Italy manager if the Azzuri lose to Scotland and do not qualify for Euro 2008.


Raymond Domenech:

France's World Cup finalist coach is in serious jeopardy of losing his job and Red Bull management may have a n easy big name target if he losses his job which is likely to happen even if France qualify for Euro 2008 through the back door.

Fabio Capello:

He's reported to have attracted previous interest from MLS and of course he was caught by the British press meeting with Sunil Gulati in London about consulting for the USSF.

Ricardo LaVolpe:

Former Mexico and Boca Juniors manager is tactically savvy and would probably relish the opportunity. Now managing Velez Sarsfield and is a bit of a long shot, but who knows?

The Club of the Americas

Pachuca is the little club that could. Late last night in front of a sellout crowd at the Home Dept Center they one their fourth trophy in nine months as they defeated a disgracefully outclassed LA Galaxy side in a penalty shootout. Landon Donovan missed an opportunity to win the match for the Galaxy when his pk in the 5th round was saved by Miguel Calero. But the game shouldn't have been in doubt as Pachuca missed several chances to finish fairly easy opportunities in regulation. Joe Cannon again proved last night that the standard of MLS and American goalkeeping is far above that of let's say English goalkeeping with a performance for the ages. He alone kept the Galaxy in the match so that Chris Klein whose bicycle kick goal was a thing of beauty could even the match in second half stoppage time.

The Galaxy's loss further emphasized the point that the club has been gutted by inept player personnel decisions and that the circus surrounding David Beckham's arrival with the Galaxy has killed club. Beckham for his part played 28 minutes and was injured again. Now Beckham may have been a world class player for Manchester United and a slightly above average player for Real Madrid but in those places he had an enforcer who gave him cover in the midfield. Paul Scholes and Roy Keane played that role with United and with Real he had any number of talented and tough ball winners around him. What we have learned is with Beckham playing with a poor group of surrounding players, against much more accomplished teams like Pachuca.

Pachuca is one of the best clubs in the world that nobody in the European media seems to be aware of. A small city team, they have built a super club through an extensive network of scouting in Latin America and even through MLS rejects like Damian Alvarez. In all deference to Boca Juniors, I'd love to see Pachuca take on the best from Latin America and Europe. They are simply that good, and that special for as a small club they have broken the big club monopoly in Mexico and dominated the league recently.

Mexico's Pain and New Love for Lalas

I must admit having a new respect for the Mexican people today even if I still detest their national football team. They are a people who seemed to have so much hope that today they would finally remove the spell Landon Donovan (aka the Mexicutioner) and his mates have on their national team, and yet deep down they knew when they took the 1-0 lead it would not last. All morning long anticipation filled the air, even in this a glorified tourist town. The locals planned to shut down their businesses of bring in large TVs to the shops to watch the match. I watched the game as a promised at La Moreno in Cozumel where the restaurant owner had brought in a big film screen for patrons to watch the match. As the only American fan in the establishment (wearing a #17 DeMarcus Beasley jersey) I stood out like a sore thumb.

Nonetheless, the patrons were all more than kind and respectful of me. They must have known as a lover of the beautiful game back home that I must get lots of abuse from the adherents to the jockacracy that runs the American sports media and that I must be a real lover of the game to actually own a US jersey. (What they do not know is that I am a sucker who buys every new kit once Nike introduces it, and I probably could have given each and every one of them an old out of date US jersey) Moreover, since the US has become so dominant in the rivalry between the two nations, Mexicans fans have a begrudging respect for the American team even if they keep mentioning how dirty they feel Oguchi Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra are. When the US tied the match at 1-1 the Mexicans all knew it was a matter of time before the roof caved in. Nonetheless, the comical finishing of Brian Ching and DeMarcus Beasley left the door open (and opened the door for me to be laughed at wearing a Beasley jersey) for a potential equalizer. But as the restaurant owner told me on the way out, “Your keepers always find a way to steal from our best attackers,” an obvious reference to the outstanding match Tim Howard had, and a retrospective of Kasey Keller and Brad Friedel before him who have often times won matches for the US against Mexico, that we otherwise had no business winning. But today was different. We should have won, but the suspect finishing that cost us all Gold Cup long reared its ugly head again today and forced Howard to be the hero.

The funny thing is when the match became 2-1 I had the same reaction as the Mexican fans. Having watched every match in the last ten years between these two nations, I fully expected us to get one or two more counterattacking goals, which we almost did if it had not been for some amazingly suspect finishing. I sensed the Mexicans fans were almost relieved the scoreline didn’t end up 4-1 or 5-1 as it could have, and now they can claim Howard robbed them while their manager Hugo Sanchez blames the officials for his no-call in the 88th minute. This match was wildly entertaining and back home I believe a tape of this match should be sent to the skeptics of the beautiful game. A packed Soldier Field, an intensity unmatched in most American professional sports matches and a wide open, free flowing game, particularly from minutes 30 to 65 would sell skeptics on Soccer, if they were ever willing to give it the time of day.

What was most interesting about my conversations with the Mexican fans however, was the new almost cult hero worship some have developed for Alexi Lalas following his worldwide publicity last week. Most Mexican fans it seems regard English football and the Premiership with contempt. Several fans pointed out to me that the Premiership simply plays a style of football that is incompatible with most of the world. One patron at La Moreno even told me that he felt the EPL was inferior to all of the other big Euro leagues because of the lack of quality Brazilian, Mexican or Italian players in the league. This morning in the center of town one Mexican merchant who spoke perfect English told me that Lalas was dead on with his comments and he felt that both the Mexican Clausura and Major League Soccer are comparable to Premiership. The same man went on to explain to me how the English media is responsible for creating the perception that CONCACAF nations don’t understand football, and that he is concerned by the number of Americans he sees in Cozumel wearing Manchester United, Chelsea or even England jerseys. His theory is that the English media has influenced the American public to turn on its own national team and domestic league in favor of an inferior imported product. In other words, this fellow agreed 100% with Lalas. Another person in broken English told me “Lalas hablar facts es Londres,” which I interpreted to mean Lalas speaks the truth about London, or England. Another fan told me Jared Borgetti, one Mexico’s best ever players was “ruined” by the Premiership that forced him to play a “British game, rather than the way the rest of the world plays.” The same fan told me new LA Galaxy signing Carlos Pavon, a Honduran who once played in Serie A and La Liga is better than any England player other than David Beckham. He went on to mention to me what flops Michael Owen, Steve McManaman and Jonathan Woodgate were for his favorite team Real Madrid. He finished by telling me Lalas should replace Sepp Blatter at FIFA, which of course is a absolutely ridiculous suggestion. This fan showed a clear contempt for the English game and everything he feels it represents.

The Premiership is making great strides in popularity both in Asia and the United States. However based on today’s conversations I believe the EPL will NEVER see the light of day in Latin America. An unhealthy does of nativism exists here coupled with some very honest critiques about the style of play (but not the quality) and a new cult hero in Alexi Lalas.

Galaxy Acquire Pavon and Klein

Carlos Pavon who scored four goals in this year's CONCACAF Gold Cup signed with the LA Galaxy yesterday. Pavon will compliment new acqusition Edson Buddle in the Galaxy attack. Today the Galaxy traded for US National Team veteran Chris Klein. It's obvious that Alexi Lalas finally realizes that the squad is bereft of talent and that several moves need to be made before David Beckham's arrival stateside for the Galaxy to have any chance to keep Beckham beyond this season.

Lalas Attacks "Inferior" EPL

Alexi Lalas makes some excellent points in his discussion with the Guardian, but it is obvious the British media wants to turn him into a laughing stock, and make him appear to be the stereotypical American. Check out the entire interview:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,330046416-103,00.html