More Criticism of Brand Beckham
By: jen | September 5th, 2009My favorite sports writer, Paul Oberjuerge, has done it again. A well-written, scathing criticism, of Beckham in Fabio Capello’s camp.
This is a guy with one goal and one assist in six matches so far this season in Major League Soccer, which he couldn’t be troubled to join until the season was more than halfway over. He remains the No. 1 draw for the Los Angeles Galaxy and MLS, but he is little more than an above-average player. No huge surprise, at age 34.
I’m not sure I share the same perspective on Beckham. But I give weight to Oberjuerge’s words because I highly respect his knowledge of the sport.
What do you think?
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I’ll leave the analysis of Beckham the player to wiser minds, and make these observations about Oberjuerge’s post:
Every time Beckham has been named to an England squad in the past decade half the English press write that article and the other half hail him as savior of the realm.
Regarding the “gag-reflex-inducing kiss-up job” Oberjuerge quotes, I’ve read similar, and/or more complimentary, comments made about Capello’s management by John Terry, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Theo Walcott, Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch. Is Capello selecting all of them because they are good apple polishers? (It must not work as well for poor Crouchy).
Fabio’s last name is Capello not Capella.
And, yes, Beckham is a “blogger’s gift that keeps on giving” — just as the name is for any individual or enterprise that seeks attention/publicity/marketing. Brand Beckham has always turned a tidy profit for critics as well as investors.
Posted from
United States
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I’d be a lot more in agreement with Oberjuerge if Beckham wasn’t comparing Capello to Steve McClaren — simply because it’s pretty obvious to even the casual observer that everything he’s saying is true. Relatively speaking.
If Beckham were brown-nosing by saying the same thing about McClaren, I’d be calling BS.
Wait. Did I just defend Beckham?
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United States -
I’m with you guys. Capello’s record speaks for itself. This isn’t Beckham kissing-ass. This is Beckham saying the obvious – he is, in fact, a master of stating the obvious, and making headlines out if it.
Oh, and any player who wanted a place on the national squad will say nice things about the manager when speaking to the media. I mean – really – what’s he going to do? Slag off on the guy to the press?
And so what if Beck’s in it for the money? Uhm, aren’t the teams in it for the money? When they buy and sell & trade on the celebrity of players? How on earth does this make Beckham a devil in the world of professional sports?
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United States -
Laurie, just lie down for a few minutes and let it pass
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United States -
Good points, both of you. Diane, you made me chuckle with that last one.
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United States -
I think he is full of you know what. He clearly hasn’t watched a Galaxy game in the last two months because nearly every time he plays you can tell that Beckham is one of the greatest talents in our league.
If he was only in it for the money, why would he pay out of his own pocket to play for Milan?
If Milan was so important and he could care less about the Galaxy, why didn’t he just pay a little more and not come back? The Galaxy would have sold his contract outright for the right price.
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United States -
David I’m inclined to disagree with you. When David takes the field he plays out of position, weights passes to heavy or too light, and gives up on runs leaving others open and out of position.
The Galaxy’s level of play is not bettered when David is on the pitch, and it infuriates me that Bruce allows him to float over the pitch rather than hold a formation. When David (Beckham) was off showing his committment to the MLS and American soccer (…in Milan), we were playing a much better quality of football. Our team held our positions and formation, our rookies were never caught out of position because the right winger or CAM was unwilling to “Play his part”.
Trust, as someone who hasn’t missed a G’s game (live) in 2 years, the quality of our overall football has gone down…dramatically, when he’s on the field
Zero
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United States -
Jealousy is a bitch. Beckham at an advanced age still better then most anyone in MLS. Unfortunately the talent around him is not that good. Seems like the Galaxy are a better team with him. All that other stuff does not matter. The experiment did not work the way anyone had hoped but it has nothing to do with Becks as a player.
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Yup, Beckham is a god. Bow down before him and kiss his feet. He is the only reason the G’s are where they are in the standings. None of the other players on the G’s have contributed to the success….NONE! It’s all due to Beckham. (*sarcasm*)
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United States -
Zero, you and I must be watching different games. The most important change the Galaxy made was hiring Arena as Coach and GM and firing Lalas and Byrne. The most significant additions to the team are the men on the back lines. The most valuable player on the team is Donovan.
But the fact remains that this team was achieving mediocre results right up until Beckham came back. The fact remains the even in the dismal depths of last season, Beckham and Donovan were still the most successful scoring pair in the league.
The Galaxy can succeed without Beckham but they are better with him. And from a business perspective he is a bonanza.
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Canada -
I’ve never subscribed to the notion that athletes are either gods or bums (as it t’row da bum out). Great players have great runs and poor runs, players with limited tools step up magnificently. Same with teams. If it was all cut and dried, as these debates seem to attempt, there would be no need to play the games in order to see who wins.
I believe that there are some fantastic players on the Galaxy, including Donovan and Beckham, who play a sport where very little can be accomplished without the support of teammates. Spot kicks are the only individual endeavor in the game. Even successful set pieces rarely go in without the work of teammates in the box (fun when they do though).
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It’s more Arena and the two new defenders from Maryland although Beckham is still pretty good–see free kick versus Barca. College soccer? I think Edu is from Maryland also. USA should be thankful for U of Maryland.
Posted from
United States
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