Becks Will Travel to Toronto. But What Will He Do There?

By: Laurie | August 3rd, 2007

According to MLSnet, David Beckham will be making the trip to Toronto. The question is, will he play?

Frank Yallop was working hard to keep people’s expectations low. Apparently the ankle is getting better, but fitness needs some work. “It’ll be tough to put him in the lineup with what he’s been doing,” Yallop said, citing Beckham’s lack of training with the club. “The chances are probably slim, I would think.”

I’m thinking, and I’ve said this before, that he’ll limp onto the field at about the 78th minute. Then some overzealous TFC defender will take him out at the ankles. Then he’ll limp off the field and not play again till the next nationally televised game (when he will limp onto the field in the 78th minute…)

Or maybe he’ll just wave prettily from the sidelines? Wouldn’t that be better for all concerned?

Jeff Bull’s It’s a Simple Game, one of my favorite thought-provoking blogs, had an interesting post yesterday on what, exactly, is David Beckham? A player? A commodity? An ambassador? What, exactly, should MLS expect from him, especially in the wake of the Dallas no-show that disappointed so many people?

An interesting quote:

Turning to the player theme, there’s something about the pressure for Beckham to play that rides the ridge of off-putting and tilts a bit to the alarming side. The day he played in the friendly against Chelsea, a shift in the kind of commodity he was occurred: he went from “brand” to slab of meat. My “mind’s ear” heard echoes of “Dance, Monkey!” That’s kind of the scary side of all this.

I agree with this. For the most part. And this is the price one pays to have seventeen servants and a twenty-some-million-dollar house in Beverly Hills. Off-putting? Absolutely. But we all make our choices in life. Beckham willingly made the choice to be the monkey and to dance the dance when he signed on with Simon Fuller and leapt into the American Idol life.

I don’t mean to sound unsympathetic to what he’s going through with his injury. Truly, I’m not. But when you sign on for this kind of money, particularly relative to the other players, you cede a certain amount of control of your life. It’s just the way life works.

When Beckham signed, I don’t know that I fully understood how little his soccer skill really mattered to his American life. I’ve begun to see this since his arrival. (And this has very little to do with Beckham himself — a man who lives to play the game.) A large number of Dallas fans didn’t really care whether or not he played; they just wanted him there, in the flesh, for them to see. And maybe to sign a few autographs.

MLS made the choice this year to move toward a celebrity-based league. (And be sure to stop by Jeff’s blog to read his thoughts on this; I’d quote a lot more if I had more time and space.) Originally I thought this would be a wonderful thing for the league.

Now, though? The words “mixed blessing” seem more appropriate.

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Category: Player News

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KIm

This is a very nice post, and I want to see how others react to this.
Laurie

Diane, I desperately want to see the article but can't get the link to work. Would you mind reposting or e-mailing it to me? Thanks!
Diane

Laurie, did you catch this ankle column? Injury info makes sense, and Nick Webster's conclusion makes sense...wish even more that Lalas would take this and all similar advice and let everyone get on with it, enough with the bullshit. http://msn.foxsports.com/socce....
Diane

Mag, I think PPG must mean points per game.
But, Todd, I don't think that's the exact criteria. The obvious beauty of Beckham's game--even to the uninitiated will be the pin-point accuracy of his crossing and passing and the purity (and accuracy again) of his long strikes. The one smile I got out of the Chelsea match was when the thought entered my mind that the one thing Americans understand is the beauty of a perfectly placed 40 yard pass! Maybe 80 in Becks' case :-). Every sports fan can sense the kind of commitment he brings to the cause, and appreciate the obvious support he gives his teammates. No worries that he'll be fun to watch, especially if they wait until he's 100% to let him play.
mag

Todd Pounds

"PPG: Beckham needs to average at least 1 point per game."
Sorry,didn't understand.What does it mean?
mag

Diane
You right he never speaks if it's nothing to say about his football game. He isn't that kind of person that opens mouth on every corner. Even when Capello axed him from Real and didn't allow to train with the team (wich nobody knew because after 15 minutes press wasn't allow. 15 minutes he trained with the team and after that capello send him to tarin alone). and when Calderon said that he isn't a footballer but bad actor,Beckham never said a bad word about tham,never complained,wiched everything best to Madrid and every game sit in the box to support them. The same story with pink face McCloun...don't even want to talk about him.
This is one of the main reasons why I like Beckham: no metter what was said and done he is always real gentelman,he knows how to fight back and work hard.
Diane

Mag--you can probably tell better than I, but it seems that, except when he had to speak as captain, Beckham always stops talking until he's playing (well) again in situations like this. Thanks for the background info and perspective. Diane
Diane

Hi Todd. The injury reports suck and verge, well they've long passed verging, into lies and/or inuendo. If MLS/Galaxy want the league and their new player to be taken seriously in sporting terms I agree that they should just give a straightforward injury report.
Then they should wait to play him until the ankle is ready to plant that foot hard enough, and then sustain the twist, during an 80mph free-kick, or corner...or just offer enough balance to sustain a nice shower of accurate deliveries to the boys up front--all the stuff we've been waiting for. I'd rather wait until its really possible(it doesn't just show more respect to the player, but to the rest of the team and even to the fans that might not yet know that their not REALLY coming to see a pretty face.
Here's what I've read about the ankle: no structural damage in MRI after initial injury, then got played on once more for England and a week later in RM league winner. Re-injured in latter, apparently not treated by RM, but told only rest needed by trainer. Had another MRI in London beginning of July, confirmed no structural damage, only worked out on bike before leaving Europe, seemed to improve, limp went, but the thing swelled up again on flight to LA. Yallop gave graphic description this week of swelling--fluid and scar tissue build-up (implying poor acute treatment, which seems likely) and said that deep tissue work would continue to drain it, ouch that's worse than the injury but it seems to work.
Todd Pounds

INJURY: The thing that bothers me about the injury is that there is no description for the injury. I read things like "ankle due to his shots in his last Real Madrid game, no swelling or structural damage". Have you ever heard anything like that before???? Maybe it is that the NFL, NHL, etc... give more injury information, but it sounds like a cryptic, Bill Belichek (NE Patriots) injury report. What is his real diagnosis????
Todd Pounds

I beleive that his on the field performance will matter once the initial "buzz" where's off. Two things need to happen at that point to avoid the ire of the media:
(1) PPG: Beckham needs to average at least 1 point per game.
(2) Playoffs: The LA Galaxy need to find a way to make the playoffs.
This thing will fail if he is not successful on the field! As for the injury, he needs to recover fully and then start playing.
Red Bull

Well duh what do u think he is going to do. He is not just gonna sit on the bench the whole five years he's there with the Galaxy but it is like mag said he is a very strong man and why wouldn't you let Beckham play that's exactly what he is there for. Beckham is stiil in shape even though he is hurt he may not be in the best shape that his coach wants him to be but what do you expect, him telling you he is alright when he really isn't it's common sense
mag

David Beckham is very strong man. He always prove how haters are wrong,he is always back....he is just that kind of person that never gives up...after Semione in 1998,broken leg in 2001, SAF's boot in 2003,two missed penaltys in Euro 2004, axe from both Madrid and NT in 2006,I don't think something can stop this shy Londoner to play his game.
Wait and you will fall in love with him just like a lot of fans.
Laurie

Hey, Zach! Thanks for stopping by. And I've been glad lately to see that you've ended your blogging hiatus. You were missed.
Z. Jackson

I'm on the side of this continuing to be a wonderful thing for the league, even if it is off to a fairly rocky start. The standout trait that makes David Beckham ideal for an experiment of this magnitude is that for him, this circus is standard issue; it is, in fact, the only way he knows how to live. This is why it doesn't seem to faze him, nor will it take away from his ability and approach on the field (whenever he finally gets out there). Ever since '98, when he kicked Diego Simeone and started dating Victoria, he's had to balance his three personas (commodity, player and person), and I'd venture to say that the scrutiny and risk involved isn't even as intense as it was in 2003, when he left Manchester United to join Real Madrid. He knows (and so do the Galaxy) that the spotlight will not desert him once he finally gets out there; this is why no one from that camp panicked when he stopped talking to the press recently. Two months from now, all of this will be a blip on the screen.

(Hi Laurie!)
Jeff Bull

Thanks for the counter-point, Laurie. I think you're certainly on to something about the connection between being a wildly successful celeb and giving up little pieces of yourself to the wider public; still, it's a mildly repellent concept to me because I know I couldn't live like that. As such, I tend to sympathize with celebrity's right to self-determination. But you're correct in noting that the game is working as it normally does; Beckham shouldn't be surprised and, as a testament to his mental endurance, he doesn't appear to be.

(P.S. Thanks for the plug.)