Champions League: Tuesday and Wednesday

Here is the US Television line-up for the next two days in the Champions League. Lots of good games here (especially Man United v. Roma and Real v. Lazio), but I do wish the big American channels (especially ESPN) would show more than just the English teams and Real Madrid and Barca. I’m a big Madrid fan, but we see those teams all the time, and the Champions league is a good chance to see good, but different, teams. At least Setanta is showing the Portuguese teams.

Anyway, also keep an eye on the Liverpool v. Marseille game, if for no other reason than to ensure that Steven Gerrard doesn’t hit any kids with his car on the drive to the stadium.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=468744&cc=5901

(As Triumph the Insult Comic Dog says: “I Keed, I keed.”)


Tuesday

2:30pm Manchester vs AS Roma ESPN2

2:30pm Steau Bukarest vs Arsenal Setanta Sports

5:00pm Stuttgart vs Barcelona Setanta Sports, ESPNCC

6:45pm Dynamo Kyiv vs Sporting Setanta Sports


Wednesday

2:30pm Liverpool vs Olympique Marseille ESPN2

2:30pm Valencia vs Chelsea Setanta Sports

5:00pm Lazio vs Real Madrid Setanta Sports, ESPNCC

6:45pm Besiktas vs Porto Setanta Sports

Weekend Matches: September 22-23

We have a loaded weekend of very good football coming up, with some great head-to-head matches to enjoy. First, I am very lad to see that GolTV apparently has settled their issues with Spanish television, so they are now once again allowed to show Barcelona and Real Madrid games. I’ll believe it when I see the games this weekend, but I’m very excited. The Barca-Sevilla game should be very exciting, in spite of Sevilla getting spanked by Arsenal this week. In Italy Roma v. Juve is surely the pick of the litter, but football fan-atics everywhere will have their eyes on Old Trafford on Sunday. The Manchester United — Chelsea clash has always been a big game, but most fans will want to see how the blues do without Mourinho at the helm. I know I’ll be watching. Finally, you will note that I even have a game listed from the Women’s World Cup, the Saturday morning match between USA and England. How progressive!


Saturday

7:55am USA vs England ESPN2

10:00am Arsenal vs Derby County FSC

12:00pm Fulham vs Manchester City FSC

2:30pm AC Milan vs Parma FSC

4:00pm Barcelona vs Sevilla GolTv


Sunday

8:30am Newcastle Utd vs West Ham Setanta Sports

9:00am Roma vs Juventus FSC

11:00am Karlsruhe vs Bayern Munich GolTv

11:00am Manchester United vs Chelsea FSC

3:00pm Valladolid vs Real Madrid GolTv

Champions League Overshadowed

Today’s post was supposed to be a brief recap of the action in Matchday One of the Champions League. And it certainly wasn’t a bad two days. We saw Arsenal absolutely dominate a very good Seville team, (the gooners might now very well be favorites for the cup, as well as other trophies) Thierry Henry score his first for Barca, Manchester United squeak by Sporting in a snoozer, and we watched Real Madrid do what it has done for the past eight months: turn on the jets in the second half and outlast the competition.

All of this has been overshadowed, however, by the most shocking result so far: Chelsea drawing with lowly Rosenborg at home in front of a half-empty stadium that had seemingly become bored by their home team. Or, to be more specific, the Champions League was overshadowed by what seems to be the direct result of that match. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has resigned.

Although there have been rumors circulating about Mourinho leaving Chelsea for quite some time now, the particular timing of the resignation could not be more shocking. Yes, it’s true that Chelsea have not been getting the results they wanted in the Premiership, and the draw in Europe was a bad omen, as was the sparse attendance. But with key players injured and Manchester United hosting on Sunday, this was the worst time for Mourinho to walk away (or be pushed away; details of what exactly happened will surely become clearer in a few days). Avram Grant has taken over the club for now; he has a “good guy, good coach” reputation but we don’t know much about him.

So this could be, at the very least, a short-term problem for Chelsea. They are already a little behind in the standings and missing key players Drogba and Fat Frank. Dropping three points at Old Trafford on Sunday could drive them out of the top four for the first time in recent memory.

That situation will bear watching, as will considerations about Mourinho’s time in London as a whole. I, for one, have mixed feelings abut the man the press insists on referring to either as “The Special One” or, perhaps even more stupidly, as “The Portuguese,” as if the newsmen from The Sun had never met someone from Portugal before. On one hand, I sort of liked Mourinho personally (not that I knew him, but from afar); he was smart, funny, and spoke his mind. He also obviously won, which is kind of the point of football in the first place.

But Mourinho was also increasingly making me despair. His version of football was getting grimmer and grimmer, as his team ground out one 1-0 win after another. It got to the point for me personally that I couldn’t stand watching Chelsea; I really can’t tell you the last time I watched an entire Chelsea match. Reportedly, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich first wanted to buy a football team after watching the now-legendary Real Madrid-Manchester United Champions League match in 2003 in which David Beckham came off the bench to score two goals, a game so good that Beckham ran into the locker to get an extra jersey so he could swap shirts with more than one player. Obviously, Abramovich loves attacking football, and he wasn’t getting it with Chelsea. Mourinho, for his part, was clearly getting players he didn’t want (like Andy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack) and felt he was getting undercut by front-office men brought in by Abramovich.

So the Mourinho era is over at Stamford Bridge. For all the boring games, I will miss Jose. As he once said, however, he will simply take some time off, watch professional wrestling with his son (Jose is a huge fan of the WWE, bizarrely) and then get another million-dollar contract to coach another team. Chelsea, on the other hand, must now see if they can continue the winning tradition they only so recently started.

Champions!

As all the readers of this page presumably know, the Champions league begins today and continues tomorrow. Below please find a guide to all of the Champions League games that will be televised in English in the United States. I eliminated Spanish-speaking television because, obviously, this website is in English and thus, presumably, all of my readers speak English. ESPN Deportes, however, (the Spanish-language ESPN channel) has some great games.

So, ESPN2 shows one game each day at 2:30, live. Setanta Sports also shows a live game at 2:30 and other games on tape later in the day. ESPN Classic usually shows a game on tape at 5:00, but is doing so only on Wednesday this week. (I will get to that in a moment.) The website UEFA.com shows pay-per-view games on its website as they are being played. I have never done that, so I can’t vouch for quality.

I am very much looking forward to seeing Real Madrid (since it is the first chance I’ve had to see them) against a good opponent in Weder Breman. Barca-Lyon should be good, and most people see Arsenal v. Sevilla as the pick of the litter. It should be, on the whole, a very good slate of games.

Finally, you will note that ESPN is only showing one game and not two today. Why? Because they are showing a Woman’s World Cup game instead. This leads to a question sent to me by a reader who asked about my thoughts on the Cup. My answer, unfortunately, is that I don’t have any. I’m not watching. I have too much football on my plate, and I just don’t care enough about woman’s football. I wish my country well, and will (maybe) watch the Cup Final, but to be honest I would rather watch the Champions League. Unfortunately I have to watch one less game of it than I wanted.

More coming later!


Tuesday

2:30pm Chelsea vs Rosenborg Setanta Sports

2:30pm FC Porto vs Liverpool ESPN2

10:00pm Real Madrid vs Werder Bremen Setanta Sports


Wednesday

2:30pm Arsenal vs Sevilla Setanta Sports

2:30pm Sporting CP vs Manchester United ESPN2

5:00pm Barcelona vs Lyon ESPN Classic

8:00pm Barcelona vs Lyon Setanta Sports

10:00pm Fenerbahce vs Inter Setanta Sports

News from the Front: Spain

Last season I almost always linked to the columns of Phil Ball, a writer for ESPN.com as well as a gifted chronicler of the history of Spanish Football. His weekly review of the action in Spain was always essential reading because he is the most literary football writer I have found on the Internet.

This season, however, Ball's work is more necessary than ever to American readers, as Real Madrid and Barcelona games are STILL not being shown on GolTV. Even though I am huge Real Madrid fan (and I desperately want to see how Henry is fitting in at Barca) my first chance to see them will be this week when the Champions League starts.

I don't know what the specifics of the problem are, GolTV, but you better get your act together soon. People here in the states are finding less and less reasons to watch your channel. In the meantime, readers, below please find a link to the latest Phil Ball round-up of action in Spain to keep your interest whetted.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=463801&root=europe&cc=5901&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos2

Seven Questions About Real Madrid

Watching yesterday’s stirring Real Madrid victory over Mallorca was probably the most fun I’ve had watching a game this year. Not only did Real win the game, but they did it in their own particular style, coming from behind to win the game and the Liga title over Barca. I loved every minute of it.

Since I live in the U.S., I have the luxury of supporting a number of clubs around the world. Aside from my hometown New England Revolution, I like Fiorentina in Italy, Sheffield United in England and Real Madrid in Spain. Of course, it was nearly a very dry season. Sheffield was relegated (virtually assuring I will not see them on television for all of next year) while Fiorentina had to fight for its life after a huge points deduction. Real Madrid, meanwhile, started the season with some hope before nearly collapsing around the holidays due to infighting, out-of-control egos, poor coaching and even poorer play. On January 7, I tried a new gimmick column where I “graded” every player on the team after a particularly frustrating loss. I didn’t keep up with the idea because this is a general interest football page and not one dedicated solely to Real Madrid. But today I want to talk about the blancos a little more, looking forward to next season in celebration of the great victory they have achieved this weekend. Below are seven questions every Real fan needs to ask as they finally head into the silly season.

What’s Capello Going to Do?
Head Coach Fabio Capello had a strange year. He began the season with great promise and expensive new signings. He loaded up even more during the winter break. But the first half of the year was a disaster; winnable games were lost and even wins were completed in a grim and boring style. There was serious talk of the great coach being fired around Christmas. After the holidays he benched David Beckham, a move he himself later judged to be among the worst decisions of his career. (This week he said Beckham was one of the greatest players he has ever coached.)

On the plus side, Capello eventually reinstated the former English skipper and the club went on an unprecedented winning streak that culminated in the league title, Real’s first in four years. By the end of the season Real was virtually spotting the opposition a goal every time then coming back with two or three of their own. Capello got the boys to believe in what they were doing, and by admitting and correcting his own mistakes, he saved the season. Should he be brought back? Yes? Will he? I don’t know; no one is even sure if he wants to come back at this point.

Why would Real Madrid let some homeless man play center-forward for them, and while wearing Raul’s shirt, no less?
Wait, that was Raul. He just played the entire season like a homeless man who had never seen a football before, alternating between being terrible and being invisible. Capello’s hard-man coaching style did not extend to Raul, probably the only sacred cow left in Real’s stable. Will they put up with another year of this for the fans or finally get some help for van Nistleroy? Stay tuned…

Who will replace Beckham?
David Beckham, along with Rudd van Nistleroy, was Real’s best player and arguably one of the five or six best players in all of Spain for the last two months of the season. We all know he is going to LA to become a scientologist, but who will play the Beckham role for Madrid? Franck Ribery was an appealing option, but he has gone to Bayern Munich. Real will have to look elsewhere, and replacing his passing, crosses, free kicks, and leadership will not be easy.

What’s the future of Robinho?
Robinho, at times, looks like he has the potential to be the best player in the world. And I love how he attacks, attacks, attacks. But he was given a major chance to start a bunch of games at the tail end of the season and didn’t produce like his fans had hoped. Like Christiano Ronaldo, he needs to move from the pretty stepovers to finishing, and he needs to do it soon. There are rumors he may be sold this summer; if not, he probably has one more chance to prove himself, and I sure hope he does.

How fast is Cannavaro going to high-tail it back to Italy?
Presumably, very fast. As I said in my January 7 column, there has probably never been a worse reining player of the year than Fabio Cannavaro, who has had some nice moments but generally has looked startlingly slow as opponents have continuously blown by him for easy goals. Cannavaro was more comfortable in defensive-minded Italy, and Real needs a stopper in the back that allows the hugely talented Sergio Ramos to go forward.

What will Real do on the transfer market?
Most of the news involves Kaka, with a smattering of stories about Henry. Obviously, either one would look great in the white shirt, but someone would need to explain to me why AC Milan/Arsenal would sell either one. Regardless, Madrid needs help at forward, on the wings and at center back. Plus, they have to fill the geriatric shoes of Roberto Carlos. And there could be, of course, massive changes at Barca, where everyone seems to be available except for little Leo Messi. Hard not to imagine there won’t be one major (dare I say “galactic”) signing.

Am I looking forward to my vacation for Ray Hudson?
In a word: yes. Like a kid looking forward to Christmas.

Weekend Matches: June 16-17

If you happen to hear any quiet, gentle sobbing in the distance this weekend as you go about your business, just ignore it. It is me weeping because the Spanish football season is coming to an end. We will know who the Champions of Spain are by about 5:00 PM EST on Sunday. Meanwhile, all three games I am featuring on Saturday will actually be played at Foxboro Stadium, which means I will be in attendance in my usual corner seat. If you see a fat guy watching the game, that’s either me or one of the other ten thousand fat guys taking in a Gold Cup match.

Go USA. Go Real Madrid.


Saturday

1:00pm Canada vs Guatemala GolTv

4:00pm USA vs Panama FSC, GolTv

6:30pm New England Revolution vs Columbus Crew FSC


Sunday

11:00am Bilbao vs Levante GolTv

3:00pm Real Madrid vs Mallorca GolTv

3:00pm Mexico vs Costa Rica FSC

Everything’s coming up Football!

As a football fan, it is easy to have a lousy weekend. Your favorite club can drop its third game in a row; your team’s striker can be on a cold streak so pronounced he should move to Antarctica; or perhaps your team’s coach acts like an escapee from a mental institution. Hey, it happens.

However, every once in a while, everything comes up roses for the football fan. This weekend was one of those weekends for me. I follow a bunch of teams, allowing for lots and lots of bad things to happen, but everything came out aces. Here’s what transpired:

Real Madrid v. Real Sociedad (2pm, Saturday)

I started the day with my Spanish team, Real, perhaps because I am a glutton for punishment. Rumor was Real coach Fabio Cappello was a goner if the Whites dropped another game in a row. Amazingly, Cappello backtracked last week and announced he would not only play, but start David Beckham after banishing him in January when he signed his big contract with the Galaxy. Real went down 1-nil, but Beckham brought them back even in storybook fashion on a nice free kick. Good for Becks. Rudd van Nistleroy headed in the winner after the break, and the team closed out the game as if it were a collection of actual professional soccer players. Good start to the weekend.

Sheffield United v. Tottenham Hotspur (late night Saturday)

After a very fine Saturday evening spent with family and friends, I returned home to watch my favorite English club, Sheffield United, take on the Spurs and the jowls of their coach, Martin Jol, who looks, at this point, like he swallowed a whole pumpkin. Sheffield predictably goes down 1-nil on a sloppy throw-in after five minutes, and I settle in for an uncomfortable 85 minute stomach-ache while I contemplate relegation. However, and slightly more unpredictably, the Blades score two going away, the first off a Rob Hulse header and the second from a Phil Jagielka penalty kick. The later also has the benefit of justifying my decision to keep Jagielka on my fantasy team. Anyway, the Spurs play the second half like a team that is already contemplating where they are going to go golfing during the summer break. My boys aren’t free and clear yet, but they’re not in the relegation zone either. Also, I’m two for two this weekend.

Siena v. Cagliari (9am, Sunday)

I’ve been a big fan of Siena since I visited the gorgeous town with my wife this fall. I even purchased a Sienna club shirt which I wear on occasion. Anyway, good game here: Siena has had SERIOUS trouble scoring goals this season but scores two in this one to draw with Cagliari and keep them mid-table. Corvia’s first goal was particularly sweet. When watching the game, I was only able to see a few thousand spectators in the crowd; I assumed Cagliari’s stadium was one that was subject to the spectator ban. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. The fans just didn’t give a shit. This has got to be worrying for Series A. I, however, will gladly take a draw, and thus consider myself three for three.

Fiorentina v. Udinese (midday Sunday)

Fiorentina is my favorite team in Italy, so I was bummed I didn’t get to see them this week. I checked the score on the ‘net around noon, and saw that we won. Sweet. I was four for four. Having no other games to watch for a while, I accompanied my lovely wife to Federal Hill in Providence, Rhode Island for a little lunch. Federal Hill, for those who don’t know, is sort of the “little Italy” of Providence. Anyway, we walk into an Italian grocery store, and what’s on the TV above the meat counter, but the Fiorentina game! Apparently they get the RAI channel in Rhode Island, while I don’t. Regardless, I watched transfixed while the wife buys food. This really is my weekend.

AC Milan v. Livorno (Sunday evening)

I’m not necessarily a big fan of AC Milan, but I watch all their games because my favorite player, Yoann Gourcuff, wears the red and black. Unfortunately, he didn’t play Sunday, so I can’t really consider myself five for five. However, Ronaldo was substituted in at about the sixty minute mark, and so I gladly took in that. Ronaldo looks surprisingly thin to me. I mean, Barcelona thin. I think he could end up doing some damage this year, as long as he keeps this weight down. On the other hand, I have heard that Northern Italy has some pretty good cuisine….

All-in-all, however, it was a great weekend. May football fans everywhere occasionally experience one just like it.

Transfer News

Just a couple of quick thoughts about the transfer market today…

• It seems that it’s becoming a certainty that Ronaldo will be transferred to AC Milan in the next day or so. Good for big Ronnie, who as I’ve said before deserves to be on a big stage, and good for Milan for not overpaying. The numbers being reported right now are still sketchy, but it looks as if Milan will pay about 8 million dollars for the transfer, a number that is staggeringly smaller than the 28 million they offered for the player this past fall. One could argue that the new price is a testament to Milan’s negotiating savvy, but it must also be acknowledged that Madrid has acted like armatures the entire time. It seems, in retrospect, that Capello never wanted Ronaldo as a player, which is fine. But to turn down a 30 million dollar offer, only to put the player on the bench and see his value decline dramatically, is absurd and reeks of inexperience. Madrid President Calderon’s insistence on getting midfielder Kaká in the original deal was not only stupid (since it was never going to happen) but also very hurtful to his own club in the long run. In a just world he would probably fire himself form his job; somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen.

• Another piece of transfer news that I found surprising was Ashley Young’s ₤8 million sale from Watford to Aston Villa, a number that could rise up to £10 million with incentives. Young, who was a backup at Watford, and who is definitely a “prospect,” hopes to have a steady starting job under Martin O’Neil. The outrageous sum Villa paid, in my mind, is related to the effect that Andriy Shevchenko has had on English football. Shevchenko, who last year at this time was still considered one of the best strikers in the world, has been a qualified failure at Chelsea, in spite of his two goals in a cup match the other night. This seems to have crystallized the fear in many English manager that foreigners simply cannot adapt to the ‘English’ game, or at least not adapt fast enough for the manager not to get fired. Thus they are over-paying for home-grown English talent, even when that talent is of the very mediocre variety. I suspect that this will not help the English game in the long run, and will eventually reward those still willing to take a gamble on a player born outside the merry realm.

Blast from the Past

Yesterday there was a great slate of games on television. Nearly every match I watched was exciting and fast paced and held my rapt attention until the final whistle. Don’t worry, Real Madrid. I’m not talking about you.

One of the most interesting games I watched yesterday, however, was one that was played more than five years ago: last night Fox Soccer Channel aired the famous 2001 match between England and Greece that led to England finally qualifying for the World Cup Finals in Asia. It was an exciting game best remembered for David Beckham’s perfectly placed free-kick, but for me there were two other things that really stood out for me.

1). The first was how much better the game flowed than what I am usually watching on television today. At first, I could not fathom why, but eventually I did figure it out. There was no diving! Or, almost none. But for the most part, when someone was knocked down, they simply got up and kept playing. It was almost as if everyone was playing as genuine sportsmen.

Contrast that with the sport today: everyone knows that the 2006 World Cup would be best known for its diving if not for my friend Zinedine’s head-butt. But this diving is starting to seep into league play, and it seems as if it is worst in Spain. Yesterday Real Madrid’s match with Mallorca was a virtual festival to the art of diving; even the announcers on GolTV don’t seem to care anymore. A fistfight almost broke out between the two teams when Real’s Rudd van Nistleroy didn’t kick the ball out of bounds on a breakaway when a Mallorca player went down. Rudd claimed he didn’t see the player fall, but what wasn’t acknowledged was that, of course, the player in question had dived anyway. It makes the football brutal to watch, and makes the game itself much less beautiful.

2). Watching this game from 2001 also hit me when I realized how long this core of guys from England were playing together. Beckham, Gerrard, Neville, Ferdinand, etc., were all there in 2001 just as they were there in 2006 in Germany; presumably some of them will still be missing penalties in Europe 2008 and beyond. Watching them play together when they were so much younger alternatively amazed me and also made me a little sad that this group of guys could never get the job done.

Series A.....ggravating

I’m a big fan of Italian Series A football. I really am. I love the passion of the fans and the knowledge and dedication of everyone you meet in Italy for their favorite clubs. I am personally a huge fan of Fiorentina and I also like Siena very much. Luca Toni, the great Fiorentina striker, is one of my favorite players in the world, and I also always go out of my way to watch Yoann Gourcuff, who is quickly becoming one of favorites.

I also don’t have much patience for the standard complaints about Series A. The people who call it “boring” or “defensive” or “too low scoring” typically are revealing nothing more than the fact that they don’t watch Italian football and don’t know what they are talking about. This season Series A continues to be one of the highest-scoring leagues in the world, and the passing and attacking football couldn’t be any more attractive.

However, Italian football has to get its act together, or soon it will lose even its most dedicated followers. This week the President of Inter and the Vice-president of Milan were called into questioning for cooking the books; remarkably, this comes on the heels of the most damaging football corruption case in the history of the sport, which happened just this summer. It’s as if no one learned anything.

Here in the United States, our sports scandals typically involve steroids or something. There is no doubt that steroids are bad news, but in Italy, over the past year, we’ve seen clear and convincing evidence that certain favored teams were essentially bribing refs to have games decided in their favor. This, of course, shakes the sport to the very core and rightfully leads fans to ask why they should pay for a product if the game is going to be decided in advance. In the US, if such a sports scandal happened, it would surely be the biggest and most talked-about sports problem in the history of the country. In Italy, it seems as if it was nothing more than business as usual.

The punishments handed out in this summer’s scandal were scandals in themselves; it’s the one area where I have trouble defending Italian football. The fact that everyone got off so lightly almost ensures that people will do it again. If the Italian authorities have any sense at all, they will throw the book at Inter and Milan if they are guilty of cooking the books. Otherwise, people like me might just start agreeing with our friends that there is just something wrong with Italian football.





One other quick note today: Real was bounced, a little while ago, from the Kings Cup. Good job, everyone. Perhaps if the team president wasn’t publicly embarrassing the players, followed by the president immediately apologizing to the players, following the team coach giving rude and obscene gestures to the home fans, the team would be a little more stable. At least as a Real fan I can take with me that Robinho and Gago played well. Still, the team was terrible today in dead-ball situations. It’s too bad the team doesn’t have anyone who is good at the dead ball. You know, someone who is world-renowned for scoring from free kicks. Like maybe even someone who was sitting in the stands watching the game? Ah, well.

MLS and Ronaldo

Two quick things for today. First, the news is now heating up that another star is leaving Real Madrid, only this time it is the enigmatic but truly great striker Ronaldo. As the rumors now stand, Ronaldo will go to AC Milan. Madrid Coach Fabio Capello has announced that Ronaldo will not play for the remainder of the season, and thus Milan has wisely said they will take the striker off their hands, but only at no cost. This, of course, is a bold move, as reports have circulated that Milan actually offered more than $28 million dollars for Ronaldo just last August. (Real rejected the deal because they also wanted Kaka; yes, it was a nutty request.) It would be astounding if Milan now was able to get Ronaldo for free after offering so much money just a short time ago.

There are also persistent (but probably just hopeful) rumors that Ronaldo is going to go to the New York Red Bulls. I don’t really think the Red Bulls would pay a large transfer fee either, and reports are that Ronaldo wants to go to Milan because he still thinks he has something left in the tank. While I would love to see big Ronnie in New York, it just seems like a player of that stature should be playing his football at a big club like Milan.

On the never-ending Beckham front, Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated has a great article on the anatomy of the Beckham deal, demonstrating how it was actually a years-long process. The article can be found here:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/grant_wahl/01/17/beckham.qa/index.html

David Beckham coming to LA

In Madrid today, Real drew nil-nil with Real Betis in a dismal match in the Copa del Rey. Although Gago played better (a hopeful sign) there has been no obvious evidence that the biggest club in the word will be improving anytime soon. Things continue to look grim.

All of this is, of course, hardly news at all, as it has been dwarfed by other news from Madrid: that David Beckham has signed with the LA Galaxy. Since this website is dedicated to the American football fan, it is obvious this seismic turn of events deserves comment.

So what happened? Why did Beckham, the most famous football player in the world, sign with an MLS team? First and most obviously there is the money. Most media outlets are reporting that Beckham will be paid $250 million dollars over the next five year; it seems that is true, but it is not pure salary from the team. That money will include endorsement deals and other such sidelines. Still, that’s a lot of clams.

Beckham also is telling everyone that the decision was about building the sport of football here in the states. He correctly notes that soccer is the most often played sport by children here in the US, but by the time those kids have grown up, it is well behind the traditional American sports in popularity. Beckham will certainly give a boost to the MLS and to the game of soccer here in the states in general.

Aside from this, Beckham will have a number of other positives: he will become the face of both his franchise and league, and will have a guaranteed starting spot, something he did not have at Madrid. He will have many, many more commercial options available to make even more money. Presumably, as most cynics have noted, both he and his wife Victoria will love being in the constant spotlight and hanging around Hollywood low-lifes like Tom Cruise.

So why am I a little surprised by all of this? A few days ago, in an earlier column, I was still convinced there was a good chance Beckham would stay at my favorite club. Why?

Because as much as Beckham is a media whore, he is also a good guy and good footballer in every sense of the word. At one time, basically his last three years of so with Manchester and his first year or two with Real, Beckham was one of the best players in the world. He was also, as he is now, the most famous football player in the world. But through all of that he remained a good guy to have in the clubhouse, a guy who always trained hard and a guy who always cared out on the pitch. There are stories (see December’s FourFourTwo cover story on Madrid, for instance) that a lot of Madrid’s galacticos really didn’t train hard and didn’t care much what happened to the team. These were big names, genuine stars of the game. Beckham was never like that. He always played hard and always cared. He seemed to relish being part of massive clubs like Manchester and Madrid.

In a recent interview Beckham said that one of the things he least liked about Madrid was the lack of a team feeling; after training or a game, all the players would go their separate ways. Deep down, although Beckham always played hard for Madrid, I think he missed what it meant to play in England for a club like Manchester. Part of me seriously thought he would go back there, to another club, to catch again that feeling of being a star of English football. But I was wrong.

Obviously one of the most important factors in all of this was the fact that Beckham was not getting playing time for Madrid. Perhaps he was told flatly that this would not change in the future; I don’t know. One thing seems certain, however: if there was only a slim chance that he would ever play for England again after being dropped from the team this summer, slim just left town.




So what does this mean for American fans? Only good things, I believe. More publicity for the league; more big names from Europe coming over to play here; perhaps even a “big game” feeling when the Galaxy come to town. The MLS will be more visible on TV and in other medias. We’ll even get to see the most famous player in the world face our local sides once a year. It should be fun, although it will also probably be a little strange. I think Beckham belongs at a massive club; let’s see if he can turn the LA Galaxy into just that.

Real Ugly

I hope everyone enjoys the pun. If things continue as they are, it’s not the last time I will use it this season.

Today Real Madrid was absolutely spanked on the road by a feisty Deportivo team. In all of my time watching football I’ve never seen such a one-sided match. Deportivo won 2-0, but if there was any justice the final scoreline would have seen five or six scored by the home team. At times it seemed as if Real Madrid could not meet the challenge of bringing the ball across the halfway line; within ten minutes it was obvious that the very idea of Real winning the game was laughable. The first half in particular was the single worst display of team football I have ever seen from paid professionals.

This is all the more disheartening for Real fans because La Liga is so wide open right now. Barcelona drew today and Sevilla lost last night. Real could be sitting pretty in a tie for second right now but instead remains a distant third. Based on today’s performance it is legitimate to wonder if even a European spot for next season is falling out of reach.

So what’s the solution? I wish I knew, although I feel strongly that Robinho has something to do with it. I do still support Capello, as anyone should based on his track record, but I do wish he could get his squad to gel soon, as there are prizes here for the taking if only the team could get it together.

Anyway, since I am a bit obsessive in watching every televised Real game, I thought I would hand out grades for each player, although the report card won’t be pretty this time around…


Casillas
Was essentially hung out to dry by his defense. Can’t grade a GK after a game like this, so he gets an Incomplete

Cannavaro
Has there ever, in the history of the game, been a worse reigning holder of the Player of the Year award? I’m not talking about the debate about his play last year; I was fine with him winning the award. I mean right now. He is awful; everyone is getting by him. Arizmendi looked great today, but he still made Cannavaro look terrible. Did he go to Madrid to retire? Let’s hope not; the club needs him. F

Helguera
Did he even play today? D-

Salgado
Hustled all day but Deportivo was openly picking on him the entire game; playing out of position or not, the team needs better than this. F

Sergio Ramos
I think he went to a Tappas bar halfway through the first half and Capello never replaced him. Still probably the best of a very ugly lot in the defense today. D

Gago
Yes, he was terrible today. He’s twenty and it’s his first game in Spain. I’m willing to give this a little time. Incomplete

Emerson
Emerson was the most exciting and creative player on the pitch for Real Madrid. And when that happens, you know you’re in a shitload of trouble. C

Beckham for Guti (injury)
Look, I like Beckham, but there’s no way to disguise the fact that he looked awful today. In his defense he sometimes looks like the only Real player who cares about the score or feels embarrassed when they’re getting beat. D+

Reyes
I’m not seeing it. Fine, once in a while he does a pretty stepover and looks good in the white shirt. Does that mean he’s allowed to disappear for 30 minutes at a clip? D

Raul
Absolutely invisible. Please page Robinho for me. And I mean the good, exciting Robinho; not the one who flops three times a game. F

van Nistelrooy
I need to be convinced this guy has not become little more than a very expensive poacher. In his defense, he was left alone in front for the first half; still had no discernable affect on the game. The money Madrid spent should get them more than this. D

Ronaldo
The big fella didn’t do much out there today himself, but at least he attacked. I would start him ahead of van Nistelrooy, but what do I know? C-

Wow, I didn’t think I would be THAT harsh. Keep in mind how terrible this game was; watch it on replay if you didn’t see it live and let me know if I am crazy. Trust me, though; I would love to give some nice, fat “A”s to the boys from Madrid. They just need to show me something.

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One more quick thing: If you get a chance to see a replay of the Sevilla game this week, watch it. It’s a great game regardless, but hang in there; there is a special treat in the 94th minute. I won’t spoil it for you; but let’s just say it reminded me of two girls arguing over who gets to bring the school quarterback to the prom. It’s high comedy you have to see to believe.