Free kick Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/the_bonus/06/29/beckham.book/index.html A very good read but a long article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
An Observer Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 good read. Donovan seems like a baby in the article in my opinion. Quick to point the finger at someone else, instead of taking responsibility himself. Probably why in spite of his excellent skills, never made it in the big time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Becks should've paid for that dinner though. How awful! "The Galaxy provided only a $45 per diem on the road. " Oh my!! [:0] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFCRegina Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 I completely disagree with you about Donovan. Call him a baby and complain all you want. Donovan didn't make it in the big time because he chose not to. Last time I checked, he's still the best American player for the National team, Tim Howard excepted. I believe he either scored or assisted on every single goal except one of the goals in the Spain game during the Confed Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free kick Posted June 30, 2009 Author Share Posted June 30, 2009 quote:Originally posted by TFCRegina I completely disagree with you about Donovan. Call him a baby and complain all you want. Donovan didn't make it in the big time because he chose not to. Last time I checked, he's still the best American player for the National team, Tim Howard excepted. I believe he either scored or assisted on every single goal except one of the goals in the Spain game during the Confed Cup. I agree most of us would not be too happy with a team mate (or his entourage) who: request the captains arm band as a condition for signing a contract, manoeuves behind the scenes to oust the coach and instill his own choice of coach, works to ouster the existing GM and works his own agent into the mix at the decision making level of the team. A team is supposed to be team. Sure, some make more money, get more fame, more favorable treatment and are more talented than others. But important managerial decision making MUST be at arms length. Otherwise you undermined the team and end up with a mess. Donovan didn't undermined team concept based on what is in the article. With people like Beckham, this all looks like the doing of his entourage. Namely protecting and profitting from the brand. The entourage and the side show atmosphere spoiled what could have been a win win for all. And the lesson we learned is that if you have someone making that much money in this league, there are risks to team chemistry. Did you notice that he is more so taking shots at the entourage and the situation rather than at David Beckham personally. in the end, I still think that for the league the plusses of bringing David Beckham still out weigh the negatives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 With Toronto MB being at the MNT camp, maybe he can ask Harmse about the article and his perception of the Beckham Flying Circus when Golden Balls first arrived in year one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 IIRC when Beckham came to town for the all-star game last year, he threw a birthday party in Toronto for Kevin Harmse, his old buddy/enforcer from his first year in LA. I get the sense from that that Harmse might not hold the same view of Beckham not picking up the cheque exploits that are mentioned in that article (which is very interesting nevertheless). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youllneverwalkalone Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 ^I have a very different opinion of Becks but, in his defence, I will say this is simply a case of the chickens coming home to roost. MLS doesn't want a captain who will rally his club. They want an international superstar who will raise the league's profile. He wasn't employed to win matches. Maybe that's the problem. He's doing his job: it just happpens to be selling shirts and not winning matches. At the end of the day you get what you measure, so you'd better want what you measure. Landycakes should have gotten the hell out if he wanted to win titles. And what's he doing questioning the ambition of anyone, much less a guy who won the Premier League how many times? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca IIRC when Beckham came to town for the all-star game last year, he threw a birthday party in Toronto for Kevin Harmse, his old buddy/enforcer from his first year in LA. I get the sense from that that Harmse might not hold the same view of Beckham not picking up the cheque exploits that are mentioned in that article (which is very interesting nevertheless). Great stuff, thanks G-L. All the more reason to find out what he thinks about Donovan's comments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masster Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 This is very interesting. Its the perfect time to release the book from the publishers and authors standpoint with Beckham's return to MLS just around the corner. However, although I agree with many of Donovan's comments, I don't think either he or the Galaxy can be too excited about this. How are Beckham and Donovan going to coexist now? This will be very interesting indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ag futbol Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I don't see either of these guys as being too evil. Everybody knows that Donovan likes playing in MLS because he's the biggest fish in the pond. Beckham being here messes with his M.O. I tend to believe the comments about the marketing aspect of DB being out of controll and his lack of leadership. But then again, i'd put as much blame on Galaxy management for failing to lay down the law as the player himself. Lalas was always a bad GM, pre-Beckham as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 quote:Originally posted by ag futbol Everybody knows that Donovan likes playing in MLS because he's the biggest fish in the pond.... Although that's what often gets written on messageboards like Bigsoccer I think you'll find if you do some googling that the real reason is that he is married to an actress called Bianca Kajlich who doesn't want to leave the LA area for career reasons. A cynic might draw a parallel with why Beckham wound up with the Galaxy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAS Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 A very interesting read. There is so much here that I really have to go point form. - The Beckham experiment in MLS is not a failure. It is a huge unqualified success of epic proportions - off the pitch. I remember in 2007 that, they calculated about $100M worth of free publicity on signing alone. Over 300K Beckham jerseys sold (I'll guess ~$30M) in just the first year. The Galaxy got higher attendence, alot of friendlies (ex: two against Whitecaps and the Australia tours) that they would have received appearance fees for, and even $10M USD from Milan just to keep him on loan awhile longer. Beckham has raised the league's profile and brought in a massive pile of cash. - The on-pitch failures can't all be blamed on him. He was injured to start and he has England games, but he has played great for them. Others, like Donovan, also miss games and everyone knows how bad the Galaxy's defence is. - The most shocking thing in the article is Ruud Gullit's coaching. If even half of that is true, then nobody should ever hire him. - Beckham needs to read his people the Riot Act. He is a good guy, but he is not in control of his own life. He married a smart/ambitious woman, and he has a huge management team. They only care about money. As a player, Beckham may care about team chemistry, but his agents can't have 10% of team chemistry deposited into their bank accounts every week. He should have prevented much of this, but he is used to having others make decisions for him and I don't think he is the type to speak up and act like the boss that he should be in his relationships with these people. - We will probably never know how much of Beckham's management teams' actions really reflected what he wanted, and how much was done behind his back but supposedly in his best interest. - Yallop underperformed, Lalas is always stupid and incompetent, but it is Leiweke who has alot to answer for. He is the enabler. - Why would anyone assume that someone who wore the captain's armband for England would be the best choice to captain the Galaxy? There is a big difference between being the captain of a national team, and of a club team. There is a massive difference in being the captain of a squad that includes, Gerrard, Lampard, Terry, Ferdinand, Rooney, ect for a few weeks each year, and being the captain of a MLS squad every day for months. His Galaxy teammates were expecting/needing things from him that his England teammates usually don't. - Much of the trouble seems to have been cultural, and Beckham didn't get the help to adjust. The restaurant story is the perfect example - and not just because of the strict liquor laws and not being recognized. I really doubt that he is cheap. He is used to the team paying for meals and was likely very nervous about how to handle the bill. Klein may have been right that Beckham did not want to be taken advantage of, but it may also be that he didn't want to "insult" his new teammates by being "the big man with the big wallet" and flaunting his cash. He is not used to this level of economic disparity among teammates. His solution, to pay his share only, seemed quite logical as he wasn't freeloading or flaunting. Until someone told him otherwise, that would make sense. - Who should have paid the bill at that first dinner? Donovan should have. He has the money, he knows the rules, and he is used to being the captain and setting the example. He should have known that Beckham was in unfamiliar territory and taken the first bill to set the example and make it clear that while the big earners should help out the little guys, it would not be a "Becks pays for everything" deal. Beckham likely would have caught on after that. Otherwise, a private mention from Donovan that all the big earners pick-up one or two bills a season would have done it. - I always knew there would be problems with Donovan. I have some sympathy for him, but if he was such a great teammate who only wanted what was best for the club, then he should have done more to help Beckham adapt to MLS. If his first real effort to help was towards the end of 2008 when opinions had solidified than that is far too late. Donovan is very talented and rich by MLS standards. He also understands MLS, the Galaxy squad and North American culture. Apart from perhaps Yallop and Lalas, he was the best person to pull Beckham aside and speak to him from a position of both knowledge and authority. - Donovan's flirtations with Bayern Munich kind of takes the sting out of some of his criticisms, but I imagine the interview(s) took place last November. - Beckham will play great this summer to prove a point, but I am not sure how much trust will exist between teammates. For all his wealth, he has had many challenges in his life because of his fame. He is always stalked by paparazzi, he has had death threats against him and kidnapping plots against his family that required him to hire ex-SAS bodyguards, his maid and butler stole family items from his house to sell on E-bay, and many former friends, employees and others have sold their stories about him to the tabloids. That last one in particular will make it unlikely that he ever confides in any of his Galaxy teammates again. This book will sell well enough to inspire a sequel and Beckham will now believe that everything he says or does around his teammates will be made public. - I won't buy the book, but watching the Galaxy this year will be very entertaining! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ag futbol Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 quote:Originally posted by BringBackTheBlizzard Although that's what often gets written on messageboards like Bigsoccer I think you'll find if you do some googling that the real reason is that he is married to an actress called Bianca Kajlich who doesn't want to leave the LA area for career reasons. A cynic might draw a parallel with why Beckham wound up with the Galaxy. Thanks chief. Of course if you did some "real reasoning" you'd come to the conclusion that there is nothing substantive backing up that thought compared to what I wrote rather than your own conjecture. Maybe both hold true? We have no definitive answer on either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 quote:Originally posted by ag futbol Thanks chief. Of course if you did some "real reasoning" you'd come to the conclusion that there is nothing substantive backing up that thought compared to what I wrote rather than your own conjecture. The "do some googling" bit should have indicated to you that I have actually seen some substantive stuff to back that up but couldn't be bothered digging it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 quote:Originally posted by BringBackTheBlizzard Although that's what often gets written on messageboards like Bigsoccer I think you'll find if you do some googling that the real reason is that he is married to an actress called Bianca Kajlich who doesn't want to leave the LA area for career reasons. A cynic might draw a parallel with why Beckham wound up with the Galaxy. LOL! Is that it then? Is that the reason he can't keep a job in the Bundesliga, never even mind Spain, Italy, or England? Good Lord! LOL! Better to not tell us the real reason and just let us go on assuming he's either spoiled, lazy or unambitious. "I could have been a giant in the footballing world if I just didn't love my wife so much." LOL (a-gin)! Yeah, good one. Thanks for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 A club like Bayern Munich really would have taken him on a loan deal if they didn't think he was Bundesliga quality? Are you sure I am the one that is out to lunch on this? You should maybe bear in mind that he's only 27 and Brian McBride was 32 when he moved from MLS to Fulham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SthMelbRed Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 ^Donovan has failed to make an impact on three seperate occasions in the Bundesliga. He was taken on loan by Klinsmann because he's very Americacentric and needed a cover at striker because he was on the verge of losing Podolski in January. If he had performed well, don't you think Bayern would have made SOME effort to keep him after the initial two-month loan period expired? Yes, he did play pretty well in the game against Spain last week, but he also showed that he's still the same whiny, diving, limp-dick he's always been in that same game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 I can't stand the guy either but setting aside visceral level feelings of loathing towards him over the sweatband kissing and surprisingly ignorant comments about Canadian soccer given his father is from Nova Scotia, it is worth noting that McBride had two loan deals before his Premiership move and it would be much more credible that he isn't Bundesliga quality if the club involved had been Energie Cottbus. The time to draw conclusions will be if he tries to make a move to a top European league when he is out of contract with MLS and fails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SthMelbRed Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 It's very speculative trying to draw that conclusion. Because McBride's 3rd crack at Europe was his most successful, we can expect Donovan's 4th to be more fruitful than the last three? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Think the factor you are missing is that McBride actually did well in his loan deals and could have moved to England much sooner if MLS contractual obligations had not stood in the way. Preston tried to sign him but MLS said no and it was the same manager, Davie Moyes, that had him in on loan at Everton. It's quite possible the only reason a move was not made for Donovan by Bayern is that they had already decided that Klinsmann was out at the end of the season and did not want to be stuck with a player that the new coach might not want. You will find talk online of an 8M euros transfer deal having been lined up for him. Bit like the rumoured De Rosario and Kevin Keegan scenario at Man City in other words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metro Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Cheeta LOL! Is that it then? Is that the reason he can't keep a job in the Bundesliga, never even mind Spain, Italy, or England? Good Lord! LOL! Better to not tell us the real reason and just let us go on assuming he's either spoiled, lazy or unambitious. "I could have been a giant in the footballing world if I just didn't love my wife so much." LOL (a-gin)! Yeah, good one. Thanks for that. Just like BBTB, I've read this as well elsewhere, but is it the #1 reason why Donovan has stayed in MLS? It's why he moved from San Jose to the Galaxy perhaps, but it just doesn't seem plausible that this is what kept him from 1st division football in Europe, BBTB for reasons that Cheeta and others have mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Seems plausible enough to me:- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metro Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 ^^I...see you point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Where is LandyCakes anyway? He didn't play for the Galaxy last weekend. Maybe he finally growed a pair and is moving to Europe imminently?? [8)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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