The usual morning haze will begin to lift as David Beckham steps onto the pitch at the Home Depot Center today to be introduced as the glamorous new face of Major League Soccer. Not since Pelé appeared in the defunct New York Cosmos in the 1970s has the game across the pond had such a glitzy name. Yet as the LA Galaxy rejoice in their hit, the prevailing feeling is that the entire national league is holding its breath to witness the ‘Beckham effect’ and assess whether it can change the face of soccer in the United States.
The former England captain’s image appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week, the first British sportsman to claim that honor since Ian Woosman in 1991, with the six-page article including a particular admission from the 32-year-old. . “This is not a big brand thing,” he said, reflecting the cynicism that greeted the confirmation that he was leaving the Bernabéu to play league games at places like Dallas’ Pizza Hut Park. “This is about me being the ambassador for MLS. If I can make people more aware and make kids realize that you can reach higher levels and make a living playing soccer, that That’s what I’m going to do there.”
However, despite the fact that the league, in its 12th year, will expand from 13 to 16 teams by 2010 and that there are 42 million Hispanics in the United States, many of whose loyalties are related to soccer rather than of more traditional American sports, questions remain as to whether Beckham’s arrival can truly inspire lasting interest in the game here and take it to the next level.
“He’s the first big superstar to come to the United States and to MLS and I hope to God other players come,” said former Italy international Giorgio Chinaglia, who was capped 14 times for his country, which participated in the final of the 1974 World Cup. , moved on to the North American Soccer League in 1976 and played alongside Pelé for the Cosmos. “But a great player cannot revolutionize the sport. The league has to change the way they think about him.
“They are trying to say that Becks is like Pele, but I am waiting to see what he is like when he plays. First of all, the salary is not $250m (£120m). [over five years]. It’s 5.9 million dollars to play and he’s got deals on the side for so many jerseys and other things because soccer in the US right now, as far as television goes, you don’t have ratings and it’s very hard to sell commodity”.
LA Galaxy disagree. “We already far exceeded the quarter of a million units [replica shirts] that they took care of, without knowing how they were going to turn out,” said the club’s general director, Alexi Lalas, after the premiere of a new shirt, all white and reminiscent of Real Madrid, this week to take advantage of Beckham’s arrival.
“MLS has never seen 70,000 people, the New York Red Bulls are averaging 10,000 right now and I don’t think Beckham alone can change all that,” said Chinaglia, who scored 242 goals in his 254 NASL games. “If they really paid $250 million to recruits, then a lot more stars would come, but that’s not the real figure. Good stars will only come here when their careers are over. When Pele came here, he played only three years, but the Cosmos it only started getting big crowds after he left when we had Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Neeskens, Carlos Alberto and myself.
“We had more than one great player and 16 different nationalities. Chicago has Cuauhtemoc Blanco, the Mexico international, but at least 50 players of that character are needed. Also, Pelé and Maradona could dribble and score goals, but David is a great player. but he doesn’t score many goals, so it won’t be easy for him. He is almost a special team player, like a football player. But Galaxy is not a great team and they are struggling.”
The Galaxy may be one of the most successful clubs in the league, but they have been in decline since 2006 and languish in second place in the Western standings at present with just three wins all season. The administrative staff instigated something of a midseason shakeup with Beckham as one of a quintet of new faces in Carson City. However, the results will have to improve from now on. “It’s strange to see so many new faces come in and see people leave as well,” said US international Landon Donovan, the team’s former star. “But we had to do something.
“If we go out and embarrass ourselves [because] our players are a bunch of individuals who don’t work together, it all falls apart,” said Tim Leiweke, president of Galaxy owner AEG. While Beckham may have set his sights on helping the long-term development of the game in the United States United, the short term, and his ability to transform this club’s sloppy season, is key to any of his goals being met. The Galaxy has 11,000 subscribers for its 27,000 seats and expects an average attendance to get closer to its capacity with Beckham in their ranks, the newcomer has a reputation to justify in the coming months.
State of Play in Major League Soccer
