David Beckham craftily picked a good time to re-enter Major League Soccer last night when the already impressive LA Galaxy faced off against the continually discouraging New York Red Bulls. His triumphant return conveniently coincides with one of the most unimportant games of the season against a New York team that seems to make every opponent look good. The Galaxy certainly looked good winning the match 3-1 with impressive goals from Alecko Eskandarian, Landon Donovan, and Eddie Lewis. Beckham himself made several key plays including setting up Eskandarian on a nifty back heel flick. Beckham had been on loan to AC Milan, playing in Europe for the last several months. Regardless of the Thursday night's outcome, wasn’t Beckham supposed to do more for soccer in the states? Upon his arrival two years ago, many were comparing his move to “The Trade” when Wayne Gretzky went to the LA Kings. Coming from out of the country, Gretzky came for many reasons, but a large portion of it was to bring good hockey awareness to the States and to be the franchise face for the sport. He did it by constantly talking to the press, going to events, and being a part of the community. So far, Beckham hasn’t done any of those things, even though he said it was about being an “ambassador” for the sport. So far all he does is go to movie premiers with Posh Spice, make colognes, and pose for magazine ads.
The only press conferences he does are short and he never reaches out to the fans. Beckham isn't even on good terms with his own teammates. He and Galaxy Captain, Landon Donovan have recently recently bickered back and forth through the media on these same issues of "unprofessionalism." All Beckham has really done for the sport is make the rest of us wonder how it’s possible to sign a contract for $250 million (50 times the average MLS salary) and not play for the team you signed it with. So he’s an Ambassador, eh? He can’t even keep his butt in his theoretical “Soccer U.N.” seat. His extended vacation to Milan had him missing the MLS playoffs for a third straight season. Apparently helping the team that pays his salary is out of the question. But it’s all for the “good of football” anyway, right?
Whether you love Beckham’s move to the Galaxy or think he moved to prostitute “Brand Beckham” to the LA circus, it is undeniable that he makes good teams better shown clearly in the outcome of last night’s game. So Galaxy and Soccer fans rejoice, after a long hiatus from the MLS, Beckham is officially back. That is until he decides to leave again to go play in Europe. In fact, in recent press conferences he has even stated the possibility of him returning to Europe on another loan to maintain his status on the England squad. With the World Cup right around the corner, maybe Galaxy and MLS fans shouldn’t get too excited.
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