David Beckham will make he return to the England squad for the friendly against Brazil this Friday (on FSC at 3 p.m. ET) as a Real Madrid player. However, most of the speculation regarding his international future has centred on his next stop - the Los Angeles Galaxy.
During the interview Lalas expressed reservations (not surprisingly) about releasing Beckham for friendly matches. But the bottom line to the issue is that Lalas and the LA Galaxy have no say in the matter as long as the FA restricts call ups to dates reserved on the FIFA international calendar.
The calendar details dates reserved for competitive fixtures as well as friendlies although strangely it does fail to block time for next summer’s European Championship.
So how many friendly internationals can the Galaxy expect to lose Beckham for? As it turns out the answer is not many. The only remaining date in 2007 reserved on the FIFA chart for international friendlies is August 22. That means that if McClaren decides to keep Beckham around for the fall qualifiers – assuming of course that McClaren is still around – then the Galaxy will be missing his services for the ESPN nationally televised derby game on August 23 against Chivas.
Looking further into the future dates are reserved for friendlies on February 6 and March 26 in 2008. The February date is unlikely to conflict with Galaxy commitments although March 26 might be a problem should LA qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League – albeit an unlikely prospect at this time.
So once you get past the headlines you find out that there is very little substance to the rash of headlines relating to the release or non-release of Beckham for friendly internationals.
As it turns out David will not even have to miss the 2008 Oscars scheduled for February 24.
Bobby l think the biggest test the galaxy will face which l am afraid of is that l am not so sure lalas and yallop will be able to manage a big star like becks, which is challenging.okay galaxy want to use him as a cash cow , but if he does not agree with yallop you get the impression that galaxy will fire yallop to make becks happy, throw in the international debate , things get ####y.we have seen jose have problems managing egos, you look at wenger and fergie and usually avoid big egos.the biggest question is who is important yallop/lalas or becks to the galaxy because if that is nt highligted you see problems occur if becks wants to go an england kit presentation when he is supposed to train.there are a lot of pemutations and combinations because in a way becks association with england give the galaxy the much needed attention they are looking for especially from europe.the reason for my thinking is that yallop and lalas do not give the galaxy the money and attention , so lalas and yallop will need to be very cautious
In 6 months neither the LA Galaxy nor the England national team will have much use for him. He couldn't find any motivation playing at the Bernabeu, so I'd hate to think how poor he's going to be for the Galaxy. I don't think they're going to be fighting over his services!
Purely my opinion, but he strikes me as an incredible talent who always lacked strength of character to be a great player. He waited until he's on the way out the door to find his motivation in Madrid. He quit on his international career (and playing top fight football) way too early; now he sees what he can accomplish with a bit of determination and hard work, and all of a sudden he's regretting his premature move to the MLS and he's not even here yet.
I'm still glad he didn't, but he should've signed with Milan in January, and I'm sure he knows it too. He would've finished his career in style, and assured himself his 100th England cap, and maybe even a run at Euro 2008 glory. However now he knows that after he comes to the US it'll be for good. The new EPL season will be well underway by the time the next round of qualifiers come around, at which point Becks will be nothing more than a distant memory.
It was a very premature, hasty move on his part. In retrospect, he should've simply stuck it out and played the part of martyr until Capello buckled down and included him again.
I expected him to come to the US when he was 35 or 36.
All the Beckham talk of missing games for LA ,will he/wont he ,will become irrelevant after these two games.He is only in the squad to ensure a full house and for him to say goodbye to the English public ,which I do not begrudge him.
Then he will ride off into the sunset (boulevard) and live happily ever after.
Bobby
With Re*l and the other team from Espanyol level on points ,what do you think is the best way to split two teams in that position ,goal difference ,head to head records ,or a one game play-off?
And do you know why the Dutch are allowed to allocate their european places via play-offs?
First: Lalas did a great job in the interview.
Second: a lot of assumptions made a: Becks lacked motivation and thus was dropped at RM. answer-most of the stars were experiencing a WC slump and Becks was nursing an injury to boot and trying a new manager out. Maybe not a lack of motivation but of needing some time to heal. b: Becks regrets coming to the US. answer: A happy wife makes a happy home. His move to the US is probably paying dividens in his personal life that only the married among us can appreciate. He will be treated like a hero and be able to refresh his professional batteries while he is here and enjoy the US marketing/endorsement machine like never before...adding to the bank account also makes the wife happy. Finally, it doesn't matter what he does it will be scrutinized and criticized.
I agree most players experience a WC slump, but Becks is still on his 2002 WC slump.
Sheva moved to Chelsea to keep his wife happy, and now she wants to move back to Milan – it is impossible to keep a wife happy – those of us who have been married a while can surely attest to that. If Becks moved to the US to improve his family life then good for him, but I doubt anyone can argue that it will somehow improve his playing career.
I am still doubt he will have any significant impact on the MLS in terms of popularity and quality of play, but it sound like he’ll make a decent living. I would guess that if he continued to play for the England national team it would actually benefit the MLS, so the Galaxy should be thrilled that is getting called up.
VVV, I will agree with you on the wife thing...The first time she is turned down for a part or her show is cancelled or she meets some resistance from Hollywood they may split for...Sweeden or Holland. My point in my previous post was that this Becks thing is full of assumption. Fun to discuss and prognosticate but in the end...we'll see.
Mags:
Just making the point that Sheva requested a transfer to Chelsea to keep his wife happy, it practically ruined his career, and now she wants to move back to Milan. I hope Becks isn’t moving to LA just to keep his wife happy, that’s all.
Here’s the facts:
Beckham will have little impact on the popularity of the MLS. In this country, David Beckham isn’t going to draw mainstream sports fans; look at the most popular sports figuers in this country and why people love them; they have nothing in common with David Beckham no matter how wicked his crosses are! He will not take the Galaxy any closer to a title than they are now. As long as he plays in the MLS, he will not play for England again. My personal opinion is that he will try and get a loan deal at least next season because I’m sure he feels he’s good enough to claim a place at Euro 2008, but not while he's playing in LA.
Let's face it - most of what Lalas says is just to hear himself speak. Or in this case, to try to draw attention back to the Galaxy when Beckham was recalled to England. This recall has almost zero effect on the Galaxy. I wonder what Lalas will be making up when Becks England career is truely over.
This actually validates the league even more IMO. Lalas doesn't need to be sending signals to European players that MLS doesn't want them to play in National team games.
All of this talk about a washed up player. Beckham is in America to promote his soccer schools or training centers, whatever you wish to call them. If England is counting on Beckham to bring home the Euro 2008 trophy, I would call that wishful thinking. Since Becks arrival with the National side, can anyone out there please tell me what he has accomplished?? How about a big fat NOTHING. He is over rated and has always been.
Well it's been ruff the last few mpnths sinds after the world cup for Beckham, but yeah i think if he got a recall from his country national team then i mthink it's a good thing for him, so the LA Galaxy is not gonna mis him that much anyway,they suppose to be happy and supportive in this situation.One LA Galaxy is gonna be his Employer but still his country is number one, he got his recall for the National Team so, i don't know i think he got to represent himself for his country.That's a good thing my opinion,but oh well you gonna have different opinion from other people too so i respect that.Beckham is one of the worldclass player so he deserve this.
VVV:
I get your point.
None the less, it is impossible to know the reasons or facts in a players decision to move: Family, finances, fallout with the manager, scheming agents, and last but by no means least; irresponsible and creative ? journalism.
The last being of particular concern when based in England.
Beckham’s reasons are his own and for the life of me I cannot understand why there is so much fuss created by what he or any other player freely chooses to do or not to do. We may not like it but which of us is willing to give up similar freedom of choice?
He may be looked at as only a dead ball specialist, an effective on at that; and unlike a few of our esteemed fellow blog contributers he is not a graduate student in economics, physics or whatever; but he does the best with what skills he has.
From my distant seat he has done an admirable job given the typical ups and downs of any footballers career in particular this past year with Capello and McClaren.
Let’s put all this tabloid hysteria aside and move on to more productive issues:
How did the upcoming match with Estonia become a must win?
What are Juve’s chances next year upon return to Serie A?
Will Ashley succeed with his Newcastle buy-out? I hope so.
Will Madrid or Barca win La Liga?
Which Championship manager worked the biggest turnaround: Keane or Davies?
These questions and others will, in ten years time, have far more impact on the game than this latest mindless speculation about Becks.
Mags,
I'm with you. I will throw my two cents in on the questions you asked: Juventus--I like them in fourth Milan,Roma,Inter,Juve--battles Palermo for 4th. Estonia: any England national team game is a must win. What will happen when Brazil puts the hurt on them and they struggle against Estonia? Newcastle--please kick Shepard out! I'm still not sure about Big Sam being the man either...why did they shy away from Sven? He has a good record. (although, Bobby even said it, he is looking a little silly asking for jobs) Oh, I will go for Keane with the biggest turn around. (I am biased on that one though) I was surprised to see Derby beat West Brom. I thought for sure they were back in the top flight.
I didnt take the time to read everything but from what i saw theres alot of people who dont know about soccer on here, 1. Beckham is a great player and always will be if im correct he started playing for Man U at the age of 17 and thats b4 alot of greats and to be that young and playing at that level is amazing, if im correct beckham helped lead Man U to , 6 Barclay Premierships, 2 FA Cups, 3 Community Shield/ Spanish supercups, 1 UEFA Champions League, 1 Intercontinental Cup, and also won 2 silver fifa World Player awards, So unless you know what your talking about i would watch what i say hes one of the greatest players and because of the #### fabio capello he has given beckham a bad name but as you can see a manager like him ruins great teams for example juventus.....Anyway you dont play for madrid and man u if you arnt a great player and you definantly dont become captain of england
This is just another reason why MLS must get in line with the world schedule. The league will not attract top level stars if there are too many conflicts with the international calender. Also, it hurts the league when its stars must a significant number of league games.
This is just another reason why MLS must get in line with the world schedule. The league will not attract top level stars if there are too many conflicts with the international calender. Also, it hurts the league when its stars must a significant number of league games.
Diadorsccr,
Yes he was part of those winning teams. Back then nobody could match MU. He is a good footballer, not a great one. He has not proven that he can lead his National side to victory. He has only proved to be a libility. Being thrown out of matches missed penalties. When the going got tough, Beckham was AWOL. This whole story is being blown way out of proportion.
Diadora:
Using the argument of statistics and titles, Capello is then the greatest manager of the last quarter century. Heck, he started his coaching career with a 58 match unbeaten streak in the Serie A, 3 straight Serie A titles and 3 UCL finals in his first 4 seasons. He probably has a god complex, but so do a lot of managers who have had much let success. Beckham signed for another club half way through the season without even notifying his team - his old manager would have thrown him out onto the street personally. Capello later saw Beckham's sincerity and changed his mind, but I don't fault Capello at all.
As far as the topic of debate you are going to have to complain with the Blog Master, he starts these threads even though we always tend to go off on all kinds of unrelated tangents.
Capello did a great job at Juve, he wasn't the one talking to the refs. In fact he is on the short list for their vacant manager's position.
I think Juve will be very good next season, and will be right back up in the top 3 of the Serie A. They will have the 'benefit' of not playing in Europe, and are adding to an already strong squad of 16 or so internationals.
England have a routine match at Estonia which they will win. The Brazil match doesn't really matter other that a warm up. Three of their last four matches in the group are 2 against Russia, and Croatia at Wembley. That is what will make or break them, and McClaren is going to have to figure it out because he may just get a coaching lesson from Hiddink.
With La Liga ending June 17 ,and the Inter-Toto 3rd round 1st leg on July 21 ,the Spanish entry will have exactly 5 weeks from the end of one season ,and the start of the next!
-Normally I would charge in here and rant about why most of you (VVV) are totally misguided and have let Becks public persona negatively cloud their judgment towards the player, but I have had to produce at work so I am tired.
-To say Beckham is playing much better now than he did at the WC before he was injured is ignoring reality. the guy has been suffering serious back trouble for the last 2-3 years and playing too much. I would say the whole Madrid side has finally started playing well since '04, What about Raul, Ronaldo, Zidane Figo,etc. they have all looked awful in the magic whites in the past few years.
-IMO I believe that his game has abslolutely benefitted from his absence from the national team and I hope this little recall doesn't ruin his push to win La Liga.
-Lets get a few things straight. To say Beckham is not a great player that he doesn't deliver the most consistently dangerous ball is, as Diadoras said, to not know football.
-If Becks is not a great player then that is a sad commentary on the England side, remember he is being brought back b/c the team has looked awful and they need him, not vs. estonia but Russia and Macedonian and Croatia.
-The truth is hard to take: that Becks is one of only 2 great players(Gerrard) on a limited, but very tough England national team
-Lets give Capello some credit. Madrid look fantastic. Beckham looks fantastic, Robinho looks fantastic, Diarra looks great, Raul looks good, the 2 argentines look good, Sergio Ramos looks absolutely awesome, testy but awesome. Cannavaro looks great as does Torres, And finally Ruud looks awesome, I never really doubted him but I dropped him off my top 5 strikers, like an ####.
-They are a little shaky at times at the back.
I've watched Madrid almost religiously since '04, I had GolTV, then I lived in Mexico where ESPN shows every Barca and Madrid game.
-They are finally comfortable with each other. They are finally a team
For England Becks was a one man show when he is not that type of player, his career would have benefited if he were never captain. I will say again he should decline to play for those ingrates, but the guy loves the badge.
In the face of all this animosity the guy never lashes out. He has positive things to say about everyone.
-You all should be ashamed of yourselves, this witchhunt smacks of jealousy and envy.
Bobby, Sir Alex Ferguson is a master at enabling perfectly fit and elligible players to NOT travel to Friendly Internationals.
Just this season Scholes missed a Friendly; he was selected for; with England in the week and played rather well for Machester at the weekend. His reason for not playing in the friendly, injury.
EURO 2008 qualifying games are a tad different.
If England do manage to qualify for EURO 2008 it'll give Yallop and Lalas a real headache.
Bad news for Atletico Madrid and the Spanish national team: Fernando Torres may miss the end of the season due to an ankle injury he picked up while training with the national side. At this point, he will need about 10-15 days to recover from it.
Last edited by atleti_female on May 29th at 5:02 PM.
It appears Figo might not head to Saudi Arabia afterall. According to the Portuguese press ('O Jogo'), Al-Ittihad have breached some parts of the contract...
MasMaz, Please give it a rest. England is a very tough National side??????? Perhaps when they play against the minows. England has folded like a cheap tent against the worlds top teams. If England wants him back now it is only due to desperation, and they lack the depth.
Sorry to be a bloghog. I know I said I am leaving but...
Yes very tough and very limited, how else do you explain them being one of the top 8 teams in the world. It aint blinding offensive flair and talent. Its the defense which was very tough until McClown.
England have some talented players, particulalry in midfield and defense, they can score goals.
England's perrenial problems are a lack of mental toughness, technical skills and a manager who can coerce the best out of the squad.
Sometimes the best players are left out in favour of the more popular and well known ones.
They won't qualify for EURO2008
Yo, MasMaz,
If you are going by the FIFA World rankings, they don't mean squat. The USA were ranked in the top 10 prior to the 2006 World Cup and where did they finish?? Brazil, Italy, Germany, Argentina, those are tough teams, England is not in the same class. Hey, craigy. England, talented, I don't think so. They haven't achieved anything in the last 40 years, even, (66'WC) that is questionable. England is in the same group as Spain, Portugal, the Czech's, and Holland. They all have the talent.
MasMaz:
Carragher is a very underrated player - I'll give you that one - he is an excellent defender, and England are 'lucky' that Ferdinand is injured and Carragher gets to partner Terry.
"To say that Beckham is not a great player, is not to know football". That's a bit of a stretch. He's very talented, but doesn't have an ounce of greatness in him. (sorry!)
If England are in the world's top 8, then they're 8th, and I'd even argue that one. But it's a subjective argument so we'll concede 8th. I don't know why they struggle so much at the international level, but they've only ever reached one major final, and that was over 40 years ago. They have world class players, they all play in their home league, but they just can never seem to get it together. I don't know why?
Athleti it would be sweet if Seville pip Real and Barca, but if Real win it I won't complain since I have always admired them.
The Becks thing I won't say anything all I know is that Becks is NOT a great player, he is a good player I wouldn't rank him in the same level as the Zidanes, Ronaldhino, Figo etc. I would even rank Gerrald ahead of him in great players.
The problem for England in my opinion is that they just have never found the right coach. A team with Rooney,Lampard,Gerrald,Rio,J.T and many other great players should be on the same level as Brazil, Italy etc.
RINGO - I like the head to head rule but I can also the advantage of goal difference in terms of encouraging teams to go for goals late in the season. As for the Dutch - I believe that the national associations are free to allocate the CL and UEFA cup spots in any way they please. As far as I am aware there is no regulation from UEFA that dictates the allocations. The FS could award a plave in the CL to the FA Cup winner if they so pleased - the Premiership would however be mighty pissed off.
craigy f - I would certainly agree that Fergie and United has had more than his share of dodgy call offs for internaional duty over the years. However, I don't think it was Scholes as he retired from international football about three years ago and he has indicated on at least a couple of occassions that he was not willing to play. I believe that the rule now in place is that if a player calls off from an competitive international or a friendly to be played on a day reserved for international play on the FIFA calendar then he cannot play the next game for his club.
I think (agreeing with sentiments with other posts) that Beckham jumped to the states way too early. I think it had a lot to do with the aftermath of the world cup and his benching by Cappello. I wonder if beckham would love to pull the plug on the deal for now? But what with the high finance in place and media attention I dont think Beckham would have the nerve to postpone his deal.
As a fan of the New York Red Bull I'm waiting for two things to happen......
1. Lalas to trade Beckham (yeah I know he's got a no trade clause!!)
2. Lalas to trade his entire team around Beckham!!
Bobby,
Thanks for responding. I'll double check my stats. Maybe I'm thinking of Giggs.
You are right of course that for a while International England Friendlies pose no real problem for an LA bound Beckham.
However, should England win against Estonia and Beckham plays well the pressure to pick him will become greater for McClaren.
Given the EURO2008 qualifying schedule for England this Summer into the Autumn Lalas & Yallop will have some tough decisions to make.
Check out my blog on this website for more details.
ttfn
craigy
Italy, Brazil, France, Argentina, Portugal, Holland, Germany, Spain/England, the 8th spot depending on time of year, during tournaments Spain is not in the top 10 even, while England will likely make the quarters.(pre-McClown)
-I give up, I will no longer defend Beckham or Henry anymore.
So there I was idly tuning from station to station on my short wave radio, and lo and behold there was my buddy Roman being interviewed on Echo Moskvy (That translates to "Radio Saltmines" to you illiterati.) By the end of the interview I was truly amazed at what he said.
I was about to post it on the blog, when I saw that the BBC site had got the translation all wrong - just typical. The Beeb just reported that there was no truth in the rumours about Roman stopping the spending spree. No, no, what Roman actually said was....
"I don't kyare if Beckham has 6 billion rouble contract with LA Lallygoats, I hyav deal that swaps him for Lampard so he kyan play alongsyde new zignings Thierry Henry and Wind-up-motor-man Tyevez. It's all tax write-off anyway so who kyares."
BTW is that really Roman's "niece" who's been sitting next to him in stands recently?
Beckham is a great player and always will be thats just how it is...I do agree capello isnt that bad of a manager but I have followed madrid since I was little my family is from spain and the way i see it he came in thinking he was the best and soon learned he cant take a team and do with it whatever he wants and expect to win look at the squad now and u see he learned but from what i hear and see he may not be with madrid for much longer and i think its great that becks got called up just because he was injured doesnt mean he still isnt great
About Venti_vidi_vici I have to say you just don't like him. If there is one thing about Becks you can never question is commitment or profesionalism. Its obvious you have never liked him or you are angry that he snubbed your club. There have never been a time throughout his career that you could have labeled him unmotivated. Ask anybody that knows anything about football, the 3 things that makes becks who he his are his crosses, free kicks and work ethics. You say he should have waited till 35, 36...... tell us what use will he be at that age. No doubt part of the motivation for him to come over now has to do with money, but for a football purist he came at the right age. Do I think he will play out the 5 yrs? No, he is good footballwise for 3 years max. His skill level can't carry him further than that.
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