Ok, allow me to set the Serie A aside for just a minute (not much happened these last two days anyways except for some transfer rumours, and Domenech going full steam ahead with his “conspiracy theory” charges), and let me take you across the Atlantic for some “minor league” action.

Ok perhaps I should watch what I say, given that a lot of readers here are from Canada and the US , but quite honestly we will agree that Major League Soccer has got a long way to go before reaching the level of any major competition in Europe. Games can range from the tremendously boring, to the sometimes insane goalfest that would send shivers to any self-respecting defender of Serie A. However, don’t get me wrong: despite the criticism it deserves, I often find myself intrigued by the MLS,  my interest is peeked with Fox Soccer Channel‘s MLS highlights, and sometimes I will even watch the odd live game when nothing else is on.  Why?

Well for starters there are some interesting players in there, and not just European football rejects. Over the past two years, I’ve sort of fallen in love with the playing style of Dwayne De Rosario for example, a Canadian player who has always delighted fans with spectacular goals (volley, free kick, midfield). Then there’s big names such as Landon Donovan (who’s even had a short spell in Europe in the Bundesliga) and Freddy Adu (just picked up by Portuguese club Benfica).

But since this year, MLS had its doors opened wide by a recent change in the transfer & wage regulations: the designated player rule. Since then, high caliber players such as Claudio Reyna, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Juan Pablo Ángel have joined the MLS (on a lucrative contract offer), thereby increasing its talent pool. Obviously, the biggest name to fall under the designated player rule is the player that started it all, David Beckham.

Well, up until last night, the peformance of Mr. Beckham for his new team the Los Angeles Galaxy had left somewhat to be desired. High expectations had been placed on the golden boy from England, but Becks had been forced to remain on the sidelines for a seemingly never-ending period of time (due to an old ankle injury persecuting him since his last game with Real Madrid). Fans were starting to lose patience, and it almost seemed as if Beckham’s big move to the MLS had already become in fact a big flop. But yesterday, in the SuperLiga match vs. DC United, Beckham finally delivered and contributed with 1 goal and 1 assist for his team’s final victory 2-0, one which the Galaxy will welcome with open arms given their current match form (the win came to such a surprise to Galaxy fans that some even jokingly suggested that DC had thrown the game).

In any case, the bottom line: I am happy for Beck’s first positive result in his new team. Despite all that has been said (and all that has been written) about the most over-hyped transfer of the year, I’ve grown to like David Beckham, especially after his great display of maturity when after Capello and Mijatovic shut the doors to the Real Madrid team, he kept quiet, continued training, proved both of them wrong and returned with flying colours to help Real win their 30th Liga title. I wish him all the best, and hope that his contribution to the MLS will perhaps bring more European players here in North America, so that the league can improve.

After all, after Toronto FC last year, I’m still kinda hoping that Montreal will join too in the near future.

Posted in Player Profiles, World News |

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 8:48 pm and is filed under Player Profiles, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.