RJB Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/6899670.stm Beckham set for return to England LA Galaxy's David Beckham is likely to be back playing in England next year as part of a money-spinning series of matches organised by his new club.</u> Galaxy have already lined up a lucrative friendly</u> in Australia. And Tim Leiweke, chief executive and president of the Anschutz Entertainment Group - who own LA Galaxy, said further games in England are planned. He said: "It's more than likely we're going to take a trip over to 'Jolly Old' England and do a game or two." Reports suggest the exhibition games could be worth around six million dollars (£3m) a game and Leiweke admitted that is not a long way off the mark. He said: "I think the greatest opportunity for the Galaxy is touring and doing international matches. If you can do six games a year, that can add a significant amount of value to the team and its revenue Tim Leiweke "I don't think it is six million dollars a game but I think it could be a pretty good percentage of that. "And if you can do six games a year, that can add a significant amount of value to the team and its revenue." LA Galaxy will play Sydney FC at the 83,500-seat Telstra Stadium on 27 November and Leiweke is keen to exploit the possibility of further matches in Asia as well as England. "We have the Australian dates locked," he added. "We have a couple of dates in the US that we're going to do and we're mindful of giving David some rest so we're trying to be a little focused on making sure we don't overload the schedule this year. "We're still focused on training in Asia and doing games there next year at the beginning of the season." Meanwhile, Beckham has told his new Los Angeles Galaxy team-mates to use Real Madrid as the inspiration for turning around their season. Galaxy have won just three games in the league so far this season and were knocked out of the US Open Cup by a semi-professional side two divisions beneath the MLS. Frank Yallop's men are second from bottom in the MLS Western standings, although they do have games in hand on most of the teams around them. Beckham said: "It doesn't concern me at all. "Halfway through the season, people were saying in Spain that we were never going to win La Liga and we ended up winning La Liga. "Things at the moment here with the Galaxy are tough and we're not doing that well in the league. "But you have to take in to consideration that we have had players out injured and on international duty and now they're back." End Article. Am I the only one who finds that this discussion is really negative towards MLS playing friendlies, when Man Utd, Chelsea, and Celtic - among others - are doing the same thing? However these teams aren't playing lucrative friendlies, they are on pre-season. I clearly see the difference... ... NOT!(sorry, I just watched Borat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Oh look. The circus is coming! The circus is coming! Am reminded of a room-mates ex-band. Ran into the lads one day at the pub and they mentioned they were off the rest of the weekend to play the "Frog Follies". Me and room-mate sort of looked at each other and he, a normally quiet and reserved sort (bass player) asked said ex-band members if they had "no-shame?". Almost pissed myself laughing. Not sure if they talked to us for the rest of the night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 This is to go see a team that was eliminated by a USL Div 2 in Open Cup this weekend. Disgraceful. They are going to have to start thinking like the NBA teams that get a good draft pick, time to build a decent team around the star, or else the star is going to be wasted. LA should indeed be thinking about getting higher quality players and more serious coach because just a few Beckham crosses does not justify the scam they are pulling on fans the world over. I mean, compare that with Real Madrid touring with him, you got to see Zidane and Roberto Carlos and Raul, you got to see some quality players along with him. But this? It is a team that is playing like a lower level 2nd tier side, it is like promoting Polideportivo El Ejido or Paderborn or Swansea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 It makes the MLS seem very mickey-mouse. All this talk about setting-up friendlies all over the world. Don’t they have a domestic season to participate in? OH yeah, towards the end of the article they finally did remind us that the Galaxy play in a league and are not just a soccer version of the Harlem Globetrotters. Cute too how Beckham pretends to care about the MLS regular season. Not really believable, unfortunately, since he was vacationing the past month while his club was struggling in the league. Actually, the Galaxy are not too far back in the table. Even at their current pace, they’ll compete for a playoff spot. Of course, since the Galaxy still have 18 matches left while most other teams have about 12, it’s going to appear, 3 months from now, as if Beckham led the Galaxy to a late season charge up the standings. Yup, get ready for non-sense talk like that, when in reality all that will have happened is the Galaxy collecting a few points from all those games in hand they had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonovision Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 And is it a coincidence that LA Galaxy have their matches back-loaded at the end of their season which happens to jive with Beckham's arrival? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 quote:Originally posted by jonovision And is it a coincidence that LA Galaxy have their matches back-loaded at the end of their season which happens to jive with Beckham's arrival? Pure coincidence no doubt. So too are the 4 consecutive away matches that the Galaxy have scheduled when they finally play a league match again (sometimes next month... LOL) . [)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 quote:Originally posted by amacpher It makes the MLS seem very mickey-mouse. Has it been mentioned here that the Galaxy now have a new logo and uniform just because Beckham arrived? I mean, they changed their logo and uniform in the middle of the season, and this was planned at the beginning of the season. A big part of why I don't like MLS is because I find it highly artificial, but this is a new low that even I didn't expect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesW Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 If what they are doing can bring in enough money to make the league better, and I mean a lot better, then I am all for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 I don't think slagging MLS is doing the game any good in North AMerica - and this from people who are supposed to be avid supporters of the beautiful game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maccaliam Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Richard I don't think slagging MLS is doing the game any good in North AMerica - and this from people who are supposed to be avid supporters of the beautiful game! Slagging off the business men who are fleecing people out of obscene amounts of money does not mean that we do not love the "beautiful game." If you are an advocate of higher education, does that mean that you cannot criticize any teacher or school if they are behaving in a manner that you do not agree with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted July 17, 2007 Author Share Posted July 17, 2007 What are the Galaxy doing that is any different from what Britain's big clubs are doing? Man Utd is in Asia, and Chelsea and Celtic are in America, so where is the fault of the LA Galaxy? There is little doubt that MLS needs to improve it's quality of play, however the best way to do that is to increase exposure which then helps to increase monies involved which can then be invested back in the league(hopefully). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 quote:Originally posted by RJB What are the Galaxy doing that is any different from what Britain's big clubs are doing? Man Utd is in Asia, and Chelsea and Celtic are in America, so where is the fault of the LA Galaxy? Yes, the big clubs in Europe have overly long-preseasons just so they can squeeze some more money out of their supporters. But the Galaxy and MLS take it to a whole new level. At least Man United schedule their friendlies around their 'real' matches. With the Galaxy its the other way around. Their league schedule is adjusted to accomodate friendlies and other silly things, making their 'real' matches an after- thought. The Galaxy have 7 games-in-hand on other MLS teams, FFS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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