No wonder L.A Galaxy are keen to get Beckham sooner rather than later because they are lying 2nd bottom of the MLS table, Behind Toronto FC :015: :015: :015: no offence Scotty! Anyhoo I would be very suprised that when Beckham goes to Galaxy that they will immediately climb the table to the top.

beckham couldnt tackle a fish supper.. where you getting that from?    because he poses for photoshoots and shaves his legs?

the guys a great midfielder and is as committed as any of the players you mention, i was as surprised as anybody to see him playing infront of the back four at real but he made gravesson look like nakamura.

when he did make himself space and had more time to pick a pass the only player ive seen this past 5 years that bettered him was zidane.  only critique of beckhams style is that he doesnt come forward often enough, if he worked himself into positions where he could whip shots in hed score about a dozen goals a season

I'm getting that from having watched his matches for 10 years or so, he's just not very good at tackling which probably comes from having spent a lot of his career on the right wing which doesn't require him to be flying into tackles very often.

You say he's committed - big wow! I'd be committed if I played for Real Madrid or Man U but I'd still be shyte!!

I'd agree that when it comes to hitting long balls there's probably very few who can match him in that department, but is he good enough to find that available space consistently in a holding role to pick those passes? I don't think so. It would be very easy to take Beckham out the game if his role was to collect the ball from the back four and ping long balls, a simple marking job would prevent them giving it to Beckham and he's rendered useless.

You say he's the best holding midfielder in the world, yet criticise him for not getting forward? Thought the whole idea of a holding midfielder was to act as cover while other players go forward more often.

I reckon Beckham's best games are behind him because he was at his prime at around about the time Man U won the treble and it's been down-hill since then and this is a last chance gasp to recindle his career.  Right now aswell I'm sure teams like AC Milan or Bayern Munich or someone like that would be happy to sign him even though he's not as good but who's going to want him after he's played for LA Galaxy?

Gattuso, Makelele, Xavi, Mascherano, Cambiasso, Pizarro are just some players who would be easily ahead of him and a fair few others as well.

Like Russeldinho  :021:

who's going to want him after he's played for LA Galaxy?

Apart from the blatant geographically based football snobbery displayed in that post, the simple truth is that in Beckham's case no-one will want him after the LA Galaxy and he wont want to play for anyone else anyway as he will be 37 and the (figure)head of a chain of succesfull "soccer" academies across North America with a wife who is haplessly (or maybe hopelessly) wandering from one Hollywood mishap to the next.

While MLS is currently not up to the standard of EPL, Serie A, Bundesliga etc and may even be below SPL, it is improving all the time. But the MLS is just a means to an end in Beckham's case, or in the case of his backers/sponsors.

forget Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, and all those other American sports .. the NUMBER ONE participation sport in North America for youngsters up to about the age of 11 or 12 is "SOCCER". The equipment is cheap, the maintenance of facilities is reasonably cheap, and the schools can make it 'co-ed' (in other words both boys and girls). This is the market where Beckham hopes to make far more than the millions he is actually making for playing for the team .....

As the kids get older, they get into things like NFL, NHL, NBA etc as that is definitely where the salaries are to be made (MLS only pays youth players about $12000 a year !!) but the younger kids dont take part in basketball or even baseball in the same numbers as football .... and thats his market.

who's going to want him after he's played for LA Galaxy?

What I meant in that comment is that that is the attitude of many big teams like AC Milan or even Man United and I couldn't name one player who was very well known who went to the MLS and then moved to a bigger club in Europe and as many teams know he is now playing in America they will think that he is now in the latter stages of his career and is not now worthing buying no matter how good he is at the time.

Clint Dempsey, Shalrie Joseph and Taylor Twellman are all players who were reported to be interesting European teams at the back end of 2006 ... see http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story...97&root=mls

Brian McBride (Fulham) went to England from MLS

DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers) went to PSV from MLS

Eddie Johnson (Kansas) a target for Derby this week.

Freddy Adu - constant rumours

You're right about these players but can you name anyone who is very famous who has gone to America and then come back?

Gattuso, Makelele, Xavi, Mascherano, Cambiasso, Pizarro are just some players who would be easily ahead of him and a fair few others as well.

Like Russeldinho  :021:

 

cristiano ronaldo. gerrard. riquelme.. the list is endless............

the only thing beckham really excelled at is in his choice of fashion consultants!

Is Eddie Gaven any good who plays for Colorado and I've seen videos of the Chicago Fire keeper Thornton online and he looks quite impressive.  Do you think these players would be good signings for ICT?

I don't actually dislike the MLS, I think that there are some players in it but I just think Beckham is making a mistake going there at this pint in his career.

I don't actually dislike the MLS, I think that there are some players in it but I just think Beckham is making a mistake going there at this pint in his career.

At this point, Beckham's football playing career is winding down but to the Americans he is a huge draw, with superstar friends (Tom Cruise and Katy Holmes, along with Will and Jada Pinkett Smith threw him a welcome party !!!).

This move is a superb one for him as he will be able to establish a business that will keep huge wads of cash rolling in long after his career is finished. Lets face it, he is never going to be a silver tongued commentator or professional pundit and as his career fades he will be less and less in demand .... the academies that are being setup in his name will be his legacy.

I don't think you should be allowed to name teams after chocolate bars anyway.

It's not as bad as "Real Salt Lake"!

Why do teams in America always have ridiculas names? eg Chicago Fire and Coloroda Rapids.  I think Toronto and DC United are the only teams in the MLS with sane, respectable names.

I don't think you should be allowed to name teams after chocolate bars anyway.

You'd think they'd have learned after the Kansas Curly Wurlys franchise went belly up in the 1990s! 

Of course it didn't help that their defence was full of holes.

:rotflmao:

The names are a bit strange in some cases, but got me looking up the history ...... I learned a few things !

Toronto FC was named as such because the owners wanted a real football name. enough said.  :021: :021: :021:

Chicago Fire were named as such because they were formed on the 126th anniversary of the Great Fire of Chicago in 1871 so you could probably let them off too.  :022:

Columbus Crew were named by fans in a contest !!! (supposedly 'crew' refers to the working class background of the area and has nothing to do with Christopher's shipmates)  :020:

D.C. United was another that wanted a traditional football name so  :021: :021:

Kansas City are called the wizards because the main character in Wizard of Oz is from Kansas !!!    :020: :020: :020:

New England Revolution are so called because of the New England region's involvement in the American Revolution  :020:

New York have - in my opinion - one of the worst names as the 'Red Bulls' purely and simply because of commercial reasons (Red Bull purchased the club in 2006). Before that they were the New York / New Jersey Metrostars which was also a commercial name ... The club actually started as the 'Empire Soccer Club' but changed to MetroStars because the owner had a company called Metro Media. It might have been MetroFlash had main sponsor Nike got its way but a compromise of MetroStars was reached which is still better than Red Bull !!!  :020: :020: :020: :020:

Chivas USA (or more precisely Deportivo Chivas USA) is called this because the co-owners own clubs in Mexico (Deportivo Gudalajara) and Costa Rica (Deportivo Saprissa). The mexican side has the nickname Chivas so probably not a bad name in the end considering that most of its fans and players are latino.  :022:

Colorado Rapids - No confirmation of the origin of the name but most believe it is because of the Colorado River which is a very important resource in the state. The team signed a partnership deal with Arsenal in early 2007 and briefly considered changing name to Arsenal Colorado. fortunately this was shelved.  :020:

Dallas became respectable in 2004 when it changed its name to FC Dallas. Before that they were called Dallas Burn (not sure why).  :022:

Houston Dynamos are actually the San Jose Earthquakes in a new town (a bit like Clydebank/Airdrie although it is rumoured that San Jose will be back in the MLS next season which should be quite a rivalry). The name was originally floated as Houston 1836 (referring to the year Houston was founded) but this was controversial as the history had a lot to do with war between Mexicans and Americans and with a high latino population in the area, the name was dropped. Like Columbus, the owners then had a fan contest to decide the name but MLS stepped in and decided that fan contests would no longer be allowed to decide names for new teams and imposed the name Houston Dynamo. The Dynamo part is a reflection of the city's industrial economy and because a couple of defunct teams also had the name before.  :020:

LA Galaxy - not named after a chocolate bar but might as well be. The name is supposed to represent the fact that LA is home to a galaxy of stars !  :020: :020: :020:

Real Salt Lake - The owner chose the name as he wanted to associate his team with Real Madrid ! Although fans initially hated the name, the club has now forged links with the Spanish giants.  :020:

Boston Bounty

Kansas KitKat

San Francisco Star Bar

Texas Texan

Houston Hershey

Chicago Crunchie

Toledo Timeout

OK - I'll bite (especially with these names  :015:)

for the existing teams ......

Toronto Twix or Twirl

Chicago Caramel

Chivas Chocolate Oranges

Columbus Curly Wurly's

Colorado Creme Eggs

Dallas Dolly Mixtures or Double Deckers

D.C. (United) Dairy Milks

Houston Hula Hoops

Kansas City Crunchies

LA Fruit and Nuts (has to be doesnt it)

New England Nik Naks (was struggling with this one !)

New Yorkies

Real Salt Lake Revels or Rolos or just Salt Lake Snickers or Smarties

OK - I'll bite (especially with these names  :015:)

for the existing teams ......

...

Houston Hula Hoops

...

:33:

I'll try The Florida Flakes ...and that may well kill this thread stone dead

No teams in Florida now ... not since the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion were kicked out  :015:

but if we are going for non existent teams then how about

Baltimore Boost

Rhode Island Ripples

Miami Macaroons

Portland Puff Candies

Seattle Spangles

Washington Wine Gums

Tulsa Tooty Frooties

Oklahoma Opal Fruits (moved to California and became Sacramento Starbursts)

Las Vegas Lovehearts

Pittsburgh Polo Mints

Wyoming Walnut Whips

Albuquerque Aeros

Minnesota Munchies

Toronto Tunnocks Teacakes

Thank feck the new season is on the horizon, that's all I can say!!!

You forgot the San Jose Smarties!!! :015:

Good list there for the reasons behind the names and wasn't the Kansas City Wizards once called the Kansas City Wiz but I think that it was changed because of something to do with copyright.  I'm sure I read recently as well that Barcelona were keen to put a team in the MLS like Chivas USA which will probably be called Barcelona America or something like that.  I haven't heard anymore about it though and someone people thought that it would be hard for yank fans to support a team with another city's name in it.

wasn't the Kansas City Wizards once called the Kansas City Wiz but I think that it was changed because of something to do with copyright. 

100% correct - according to Wikipedia, they had that name in 1996 but were forced to change

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City_Wizards

What seems quite amazing is the number of times teams change owners and in some cases where one owner has multiple teams ..... Lamar Hunt used to own Kansas, Dallas and Columbus before selling Kansas to a consortium in 2006 and then popping his clogs. The Anschutz Entertainment Group owns the Galaxy, Chicago Fire and Houston Dynamo as well as many other sporting teams elsewhere (including a 49% share of Sweden's Hammarby) and used to also own New York before selling them to Red Bull.

I think that I might have found the best name of any American team.  A team from the USL First Division are called: