marktci Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Canadian soccer fans should be thankful for small mercies. Stephen Brunt, consistently one of the best sportswriters in the country, also gets it when it comes to soccer. He attended the World Cup and consistently sent quality columns back to his paper (in addition to his hilarious appearances on Prime Time Sports) and regularly writes about football in Europe. Today, he has another excellent column, making his case for David Beckham's arrival in MLS. Instead of complaining about the numerous Canadian sportswriters who have no clue about soccer, I think we should take a minute to thank Mr. Brunt who, aside from being one of the most talented writers around today, clearly "gets it" when it comes to soccer. Here's the link to the column. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 A few in Quebec: Guillaume Dumas (Le Soleil) and Jean-François Bégin (La Presse). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masster Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 I have to agree with you on this. I find Stephen Brunt one of the most insightful and interesting reads in Canadian journalism. I don't just say this because he enjoys soccer, but because he is knowledgeable on an array of sports including boxing, baseball as well as hockey, something that can not be said for most of this country's media members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masster Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 I have to agree with you on this. I find Stephen Brunt one of the most insightful and interesting reads in Canadian journalism. I don't just say this because he enjoys soccer, but because he is knowledgeable on an array of sports including boxing, baseball as well as hockey, something that can not be said for most of this country's media members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BalkanBoy Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 Would be nice, but will not happen. At best he will sign a contract in Europe with a first division team in a lower league, such as Greece, Turkey, Serbia, Russia Etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesW Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 quote:Originally posted by BalkanBoy At best he will sign a contract in Europe with a first division team in a lower league, such as Greece, Turkey, Serbia, Russia Etc. Why would he do that? Where would the money be in going to a place like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Jamit Why would he do that? Where would the money be in going to a place like that? Yeah, I agree. Serbia? WTF? Maybe Russia is an outside possibility because some of the clubs in Moscow have wealthy ownership now. And there's no chance that Beckham will follow some other (mostly Brasilian) superstars to the UAE for obvious reasons. So MLS does seem to be the perfect fit for both Beckham and MLS. If he goes to MLS in the next 18-months he'll still be the best player in the league's history, receive lots of money and give whatever club he plays for international attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desigol Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 Can the MLS afford Beckham? Posh would spend all day in the top stores in New York. Think about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Boy Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 At this point in his career I don't think money really is that major of a factor as he's worth a zillion dollars already. I think it'll be a lifestyle choice and the glitz of the American way just might be up the Beckham's alley. Plus he'd make way more money in promo deals than he would in soccer anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest speedmonk42 Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 I could see the J-League laying down some coin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 quote:Originally posted by speedmonk42 I could see the J-League laying down some coin. Where will Posh want to live? Belgrade, Yokohama or the Big Apple? Sometimes I wonder whether some of the posters here have ever been further than 10 feet away from a monitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest speedmonk42 Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 Where will Posh want to live? Belgrade, Yokohama or the Big Apple? Sometimes I wonder whether some of the posters here have ever been further than 10 feet away from a monitor. ------------ The JL has been a repository for elderly but still mobile talent in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 quote:Originally posted by amacpher Yeah, I agree. Serbia? WTF? Maybe Russia is an outside possibility because some of the clubs in Moscow have wealthy ownership now. There are a couple of Russian teams who could afford him but I doubt any would be interested. The Russian teams do actually spend their money fairly wisely buying mostly young promising players from South America and Africa. There is little tradition of buying aging superstars. The only team that has tried to use its money and bought indescriminately is Dinamo Moscow whose rich owner bought a number of prominent players from the Portugese league. Most of these players played terrible in Russia and Dinamo is now in acute relegation danger. I think Becks was overrated even in his prime (sure the freekicks were great but he had a lot of weaknesses particularly defensively) and is now a declining player who will probably be a disruptive factor on many teams. I don't think based on his current skills he would actually be a starter on CSKA who would be the other team besides Dinamo and possibly Spartak that could afford him. Carvalho is a much better midfielder than Becks for example. Plus, there would be a huge difference in how much a Moscow team could make marketing Beckham jerseys compared to a team in New York or LA which is what will probably be the driving force behind where Becks locates. I think the MLS is a good fit because in addition to the possible marketing revenues, the playing level is not so high that his declining skills will be exposed as happened so clearly since the first day he transferred to Real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoyleG Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 quote:Originally posted by speedmonk42 Where will Posh want to live? Belgrade, Yokohama or the Big Apple? Sometimes I wonder whether some of the posters here have ever been further than 10 feet away from a monitor. ------------ The JL has been a repository for elderly but still mobile talent in the past. The only cities that could seem to want and afford Beckham in MLS are LA and NY. The problem is that they haven't been able to convince other owners in making a provision that would allow them to sign Beckham. One of the main opponents is none other than Lamar Hunt, who knew what happened when this was attempted the last time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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