Beckham coming home?

The rumour mill is running and some UK newspapers have begun to say that Beckham will be basing his family back in London, but the he will not be playing for a premiership team.
As might be expected, top of the heap for speculation is the aborted move to PSG, it may be back on and Beckham will be able to 'commute' to Paris (approx. 280 miles) by Eurostar, although I am sure a helicopter ride may be more in keeping with the Beckham lifestyle.
Any further rumours and developments will be reported here, so keep checking back...

The MLS experiment is over

Beckham reportedly is looking to take on one more challenge before hanging up his golden boots. Speculation is rife as to where he will look to finish his illustrious career. There is much talk about a move to Australia, and some talk about a return to the English Premiership.
The Australia rumour has been around for a while and seems to be possible, although you wonder exactly what sort of challenge would interest Beckham down under.
The Premiership rumour has come about since Harry Redknapp has taken the QPR role, and looks to strengthen his squad. He is a Beckham fan and would gladly have taken him at Tottenham last year - a move to QPR would be a 'challenge' as they are currently bottom of the league without a win - whether that is the sort of challenge Beckham is looking for is yet to be discovered...
Alternatively, Beckham could finish his career in Europe, maybe France with Paris St Germain who courted him recently. A few Englishmen have been playing in on the wrong side of the English Channel this year with Joe Cole and Joey Barton brushing up their schoolboy French and eating frogs legs and snails.

It's difficult to try and guess where David Beckham will end up, but I guess QPR might be attractive since it is not too far from his London home and family roots, and if the offer comes with a chance to get involved in coaching, maybe that would make all the difference. I think the Aussie job is probably odds-on, but QPR is an interesting outsider at this stage.

LA Galaxy 0 NY RedBulls 1

This home game for LA started well with a lot of pressure being put on the Red Bulls, but they somehow withstood the pressure and sneaked a goal against the run of play on 18 minutes. Keane had lobbed the 'keeper only to have his shot cleared off the line, Beckham had three or four set-pieces to deliver but all to no avail. Beckham is in his now familiar central midfield role and is seen storming forward on occasion eager to impress Great Britain Olympic Football coach Stuart Pearce who has come to see whether Beckham still has what it takes.
This looks like a game that has more goals in it as the teams leave the field at half-time with New York having a 1-0 lead.
The second half begins like the first with plenty of pressure from LA, but as the clock runs down, New York seems to find their feet and try to dictate a little more. The majority of chances fall to LA though, but a lack of success sees a change for Magee and Buddle as Noonan and Chad Barret take the field. Beckham switches to his 'old' position of right wing and pumps cross after cross into the box all to no avail. Easily the man of the match was Red Bulls 'keeper Ryan Meara who made his presence felt by taking complete control of his area for most of the game, and pulling of a fine save from an on-target effort from Juninho. In the final minute of extra time, the ball falls to Beckham on the edge of the area, he hits across it but without enough swerve to get inside the far post - his frustration is evident, but has he done enough to impress Stuart Pearce?
I have a feeling that he may have had to prove that he is still a competent player with a good level of fitness, still has great vision and passing ability - can hold up the ball when needed and still shows great desire. I'm not sure that Pearce didn't already know this, but if he wanted to know if Beckham still has the desire, I think he will have seen enough.
Beckham will probably not be pulling the England shirt on again even under new management, but there is a fair chance we could see him at the Olympics.

Indonesia 0 LA Galaxy 1

The Galaxy continued their MLS form as they start their Asia Pacific Tour 2011. With the whole squad minus a couple (Ricketts having been traded and Birchall left at home to deal with domestic affairs), it was nonetheless a lot a unfamiliar faces that graced the Indonesian turf to grind out a win for The Galaxy in typical gritty style. One would like to think that a full star-studded squad would have made more of an impression, but a win is a win, and The Galaxy have 'blooded' some players who normally don't get the chance to play under the top-class spotlight.

It was Robbie Keane who scored after 14 minutes, the ball falling to him out of a penalty-box scramble - his finish was sharp and precise as he placed it just inside the right-hand post. More chances followed but went unconverted, and the home side was lucky to only concede the one goal in the first half.

Keane was substituted at 60 minutes, and Beckham had a few set-pieces to try a trade-mark goal, but failed to find the mark. Beckham stayed on the park for almost 85 minutes and left to a standing ovation. Indonesia came into the game more in the second half and crafted a few chances without managing to get anything past reserve keeper Brian Perk. The Galaxy see the game out retaining the one goal lead.

Beckham News

I have been saying all along that Beckham would probably hold to the MLS to the franchise deal that was included in his five-year contract, however this is something for retirement and does not answer the question of where Beckham will play out his career.

It looks likely that he may retire after 2012 if he manages to make it to the GB squad, but whether this is a pipe-dream remains to be seen.

I am quite certain that Capello will not pick Beckham for the England squad - whether Pearce will pick him for the GB squad is surely not exactly nailed-on? although if you check with the bookies - they have him as odds-on for a place in the squad.

The question remains where will Beckham sign next, and as someone who has been observing his tactics for the last few years it will be somewhere that promotes his chances of a GB squad placing, and surely the best place for that will be Spurs? Paris St Germaine gets him into Europe, but now we know what the agenda is:

1. Olympics
2. Retirement
3. MLS Franchise

...a place at Tottenham with Harry Redknapp (confirmed Beckham fan) would surely

be preferable to playing in France? I suppose when you look at it from Pearce's point of view, having Beckham to call on gives you a lot of positives including an undisputed world-class set-

piece expert (not including penalties of course). He potentially plays holding mid-field and can still curl devastating ball into the box from mid-field as well as from the right wing. With Gerrard looking rather injury-prone at the moment, and Lampard not being a dead-cert any more, there may be central gaps that Pearce will want to fill.

In other Olympic news, already Welsh contenders have annoyed the

Welsh FA by being pictured in the GB kit. The non-English home nations don't want their players to be involved as they are worried about losing their identity. To be honest the Welsh, Scottish & NI FA's don't really have an identity to be worried about - their leagues are hardly high-profile, and they should be gracious enough to give their blessing to players who want to play at a level that would normally be denied them

.

Milan 4 Siena 0

Milan won their mid-week cup match 2-1 against Novara without Beckham and look forward the Coppo Italia quarter finals against Livorno on 31st January.
Milan made a quick start in today's game when Burriello found himself facing the keeper after a bad defensive error. He went round the keeper and was brought down, leaving the keeper red-carded and Ronaldinho with the chance to put Milan in the lead. This time there was no mistake, and Milan went 1-0 on the 10 minute mark.
Milan pushed home their one-man advantage and started to dominate the game. However, Maccarone managed to bundle his way through the Milan defence, but squandered the chance by shooting over the cross-bar on 25 minutes. Siena were punished for not taking their chance just two minutes later when Borriello got onto the end of a long cross over his shoulder and volleyed left-footed over the keeper and into the net from close range.
Milan continued to dominate the game and the possession only allowing Siena the occasional foray into their territory. The first half finished 2-0 to Milan who were looking very comfortable at home.

Milan continue to dominate the second half which threatens to stagnate, but Ronaldinho is animated and dancing towards the Siena goal at every opportunity. On 56 minutes, he is one-on-one with the keeper and is only prevented from scoring by the slightest touch from the replacement goal-keepers gloves. Ronaldinho pounces on chance after chance, looking more of a player than he ever looked last year. He finally gets his second goal when Beckham plants the ball on his head from a corner on 71 minutes, and the keeper is left floundering as the ball hits the net, 3-0 Milan and the game is up for Siena.
Siena don't completely give up and just a few minutes later have their best break yet down the left culminating in a very well-saved point-blank header. Siena were also denied a penalty when Maccarone went down in the area on 86 mins, but the replay showed little, if any contact and a dive that would certainly have earned a booking in a Premiership game...
In the final minute, a moment of glory and brilliance from Ronaldinho once again as he held the ball on the edge of the area, then shot across the box and straight into the far right hand corner past a flailing keeper for his third of the match - a well-deserved hat-trick for the most animated and hungry-looking Ronaldinho performance that I have seen playing in a Milan shirt.

Beckham's future in the MLS

Rumours are abound that David Beckham is considering committing himself to the MLS longer term maybe once the World Cuup is over. There is talk of a five-year contract, and also of the option for Beckham to have a stake in an MLS club, which is intended to happen once his playing days are over - patently this is not the case right now...
What spurred me on to write about this is the way that Beckham was pacing the side-lines pointing at an imaginary watch on his wrist on Sunday, that coupled with the way in which he stepped in to calm down Chivas coach Preki points to a man acting as much like a manager as a player.
Right now I am quite sure that Beckham's focus is on winning the MLS, getting some time in at AC Milan and getting himself ready for the World Cup. After that, it is quite possible that he sees his future in the US, although from a playing point of view, I would prefer to see him run down his career in Milan.

Beckham makes England squad

Unsurprisingly Beckham makes Capello's England squad for the two games coming up. This will surely add to Beckhams impressive tally of England caps. Cappelo's squad looks like this:

Goalkeepers
Ben Foster, Robert Green, Paul Robinson.
Defenders
Wayne Bridge , Wes Brown, Ashley Cole, Glen Johnson, Joleon Lescott, John Terry, Matthew Upson.
Midfielders
Gareth Barry, David Beckham , Michael Carrick, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Ashley Young.
Forwards
Carlton Cole, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney.

Names to watch should include Carlton Cole and Jermaine Defoe up front, Aaron Lennon down the right wing and Glen Johnson pushing out down the right wing from defence. All have impresssed recently for their clubs and offer some interesting alternatives to the familiar names.

Beckham's break

David Beckham having finished the Serie A season with Milan, and having taken part in two (winning) internationals with England - has a break for a few weeks before returning the The Galaxy next month. The Los Angeles team are sorely missing some 'edge' having had a less than impressive start to the season. The Galaxy are lying 6th in the league with a tally of 15 points from 13 games and a goal difference of -1. If Beckham is to make an impact on this team, he will need to do it quickly...With about a dozen games left of the season when David returns, there is little chance The Galaxy being able to threaten the league-leaders from their lowly position, or even get into a play-off position. There will of course be two major highlights of the season remaining - the games against Milan and Barcelona.
We have said it before, but the US leagues are just not ready for players like Beckham until they are really past their best and need to step down from soccer at the highest level. This whole idea would have worked after the next World Cup so much more effectively when otherwise retirement will certainly beckon.

On England's World Cup campaign, only one more win is required out of the remaining three qualifiers.England are in an almost-unassailable position at the top of their qualifying group, one more win would secure qualification without depending on any other results - to complete the group with a 100% record must now surely be the aim of the team and the coach, and right now, that looks like a very achievable goal.
The next scheduled England game is a friendly against Holland in Amsterdam on 12th August, followed by a warm-up game against Slovenia at Wembley on 5th September. The next qualifier is against Croatia at Wembley on 9th September followed by the away game against Ukraine on 10th October, and finally the qualifier against Belarus on 14th October at Wembley.
If Beckham gets picked for these international games, then he will play even less time in the MLS and The Galaxy are destined for a poor result this season.
The understanding that came out of the negotiations earlier this year, has been that Beckham will return to Milan in January 2010, but with Ancelotti at Chelsea, it is not clear whether any 'understanding' with Beckham was dependant on Ancelotti remaining as the Milan manager. On the Milan website, Beckham has said "....we’ll see what happens, but I hope to return soon."

England 2 Ukraine 1

Wembley on April Fools' day and England have a chance of securing a place at the World Cup without dropping a point. Milan team mates Beckham and Shevchenko both start the game on the bench.
England are struggling for a front-pairing after Wednesday's match, Rooney and Crouch being the preferred duo. On seven minutes Gerrard and Rooney combined for an audacious overhead kick from Rooney that didn't miss by far and showed both his intent and invention. Only two minutes later Gareth Barry earned himself a rare England yellow card for a cynical although not a dangerous tackle. Aaron Lennon's first foray into enemy territory resulted in a dangerous cross which didn't quite manage to find an England head but drew gasps of appreciation from the crowd. On 14 minutes, Rooney was brought down on the edge of the box, with no Beckham to take the kick, Gerrard narrowly placed his shot round the outside of the far goalpost.
The start of the game was cautious but there was enough creative play to indicate that this should be a game which would eventually yield some goals.
It was Crouch just under the half hour who scored from a corner headed to him by John Terry, swiveling in the air, he demonstrated his agility striking the ball against the keeper into the net and celebrated with the now infamous robotic celebration.
Ten minutes from the end of the half, Lennon once more received the ball wide and placed another great ball onto Rooney's foot only to see the volleyed effort sail over the bar - a strike which if it had been on target would have been one of the best England goals I have ever seen. In the last minute of the first half, Lennon, Rooney and Gerrard combined for Gerrard to have a crack from the edge of the box, the chance was smothered by the 'keeper' as England maintain the pressure. England take a one-nil lead into the second half, but there are surely more goals left in this game?
The second half started with the same line-ups for both sides, and with Lennon's promising start, there was no need for Beckham at this stage. Shevchenko was warming up early off the pitch as Rooney was getting hot under the collar on the pitch. having failed to win a free kick after being heavily tackled by no less than four Ukraine players, he was immediately penalised for exacting his own retribution. He let his feet do the talking and danced through the midfield, placing a shot just wide of the Ukrainian goalpost. More pressure followed from England as Sheva prepared to take the field in an attempt to change Ukranian fortunes replacing Voronin. Almost immediately, Beckham came on to replace Lennon on 57 minutes, it was unclear whether the standing ovation was for Lennon's contribution or the anticipated contribution from Beckham. In fairness, Lennon had not done too much wrong and probably deserved a longer spell on the pitch. Just four minutes later the determination of Rooney won another free-kick on the edge of the box and Beckham stepped up. The resulting shot dipped a little too late and brushed the top of the net on it's way over the top.
A needless free-kick on 70 minutes was given away by John Terry who pushed Shevchenko and led to a goalmouth scramble and an equaliser from Sheva himself. England paid the penalty for not pushing home their advantage at an earlier stage and although Ukraine rarely threatened, the danger is always there if you don't finish the opposition off. Shortly after the Ukraine goal, Wright-Phillips came on for England goal-scorer Peter Crouch. Another Beckham free-kick on 83 minutes failed to penetrate as sloppiness and fatigue came into play for both teams. Beckham won himself a free-kick in the last 5 minutes - he placed the ball in the usual danger area and Gerrard's header found John terry lingering with intent to neatly place the ball in the net with his left foot. Almost immediately Beckham received a needless booking for kicking the ball away, but the relief of the second goal was felt all around the ground.
The result matched the performance, England deserved the win, and in the end Capello made better decisions than the Ukranian manager - five qualifiers, five wins nobody can fail to be impressed with those statistics and England are looking like a world power in football once again.

AC Milan tribute to Beckham

To keep you amused until the next Beckham-related story comes along...

AC Milan 1 AC Fiorentina 0

Once more, Pato was on target for Milan this time within the first ten minutes for the only goal of the match. As promised, Beckham started the game and this time with Ronaldinho on the bench, stood a better chance of getting a chance to take the odd free-kick.
Beckham seemed to be the nominated corner-taker from both left and right side and consistently delivered good corners, though the in-swinging cross from the right-hand side that we know and love was notable for it's absence.
The game was even-handed if not in Milan's favour for the first hour but after that things started to get heated in the Milan penalty area and the keeper was called upon to keep them in the game - it was about this time that Flamini was warmed up and we wondered if Beckham would be removed, but it was Seedorf that gave way and Beckham moved into more of a central role.
Fiorentina continued to push for the elusive equaliser, but Milan managed to resist their advances.
Ronaldinho finally took to the field on 77 minutes to replace in-form goal-scorer Pato and Senderos came on for Becham on 80 minutes. All in all it was another competent performance from Beckham who still looks at home in this set up and hopefully will be able to bring a little more to the table when he finds his feet properly and finds the right-handed cross...
It seemed poignant that Kaka made a point of going round all his team-mates after the game, and kept both the match ball and his Milan shirt - for the last time perhaps??

Beckham nominated for goal of the year

Beckham's 70 yard goal in Galaxy's May win over Kansas City this year was nominated for MLS goal of the year. It has made it to the short-list of ten from the original 35 selected.
It didn't even make goal of the week at the time, so it is odd to find it in the top 10 now - you can't get away from the fact that although there was no keeper to beat, it's the sort of goal people will want to watch over and over again.

The candidates remaining are:
Gallardo
W. Johnson
Rogers
Angel
Beckham
McManus
Cepero
Arnaud
Blanco
Cameron
Although Donovan and McDonald made it into the 35, they didn't make the cut to the final 10. The next cut takes it down to the final five, but it would be strange for Beckham to go any further with a goal that didn't make goal of the week...

Beckham boots on eBay

Reports are emerging that items from the Beckham's home in Hertfordshire have appeared on global auction site eBay. Two house-keepers have been questioned by police about the alleged theft, items were brought to the attention of Victoria Beckhams' parents. It then transpired that matching items were missing from Rowneybury House. Items include some of Victoria's clothes and a pair of David's boots. Three people have been arrested in relation to this matter, the third being the son of the two house-keepers.
The Beckham's reside in Beverley Hills but have maintained the mansion in Sawbridgeworth, Herts as a base. Hopefully this upset won't affect Beckham's mindset for the upcoming England game.

Galaxy 5 DC United 2

Conceding after only two minutes, Galaxy finally record their first win in thirteen games in an exciting game that saw chance after chance mostly aimed at the DC goal.
Things were looking comfortable at the half-way point when a goal from Gordon and two from Donovan in a first half that got the Home Depot crowd to fever pitch.
DC struck the same blow in the second half by pulling one back after just two minutes, but Galaxy had their measure and a goal from Pete Vagenas followed by a goal for Donovans' hat-trick buried a team that never seemed to really get into a stride.
A foul on Beckham saw a red card shown to DC's Marc Burch in the 63rd minute whilst the game was still at 4-2.
Man of the match was Donovan by a mile not only for his goals, but the assist to Vagenas and his general skill at unlocking the DC defence was unmatched by any player on the pitch. Beckham offered his usual contribution of getting the ball into the box and particularly adept long balls from deep defence to the front men. I would prefer the see him operating further up the field, hugging the right side and taking the game to the opposition a bit more, but let's see how the team perform now they have a significant win under their belts...

Beckham v Bentley debate continues

Fabio Capello seems to wants to perpetuate the myth that David Bentley is a complete like-for-like replacement for David Beckham - my contention is that he a somewhat paler imitation.
The two David's certainly have similarities, but they have their own strengths and weaknesses and seemingly Bentley's premiership manager disagrees with Capello on where to play him. Before the start of the new season Bentley moved from Blackburn to Tottenham, and on Saturday Ramos played Bentley centrally and had Aaron Lennon playing on the right.
Capello has Beckham, Bentley and Lennon available to him, but seems stuck with the tag-team of Beckham-Bentley. I can imagine that most opposition teams would probably breathe a sigh of relief to have Beckham replaced by the weaker (IMHO) Bentley. I would rather scare the pants off them by replacing Bechkam with Lennon's swift movement and close ball skill to ring the changes half-way through a match where the tactics weren't producing the desired result. Otherwise why replace Beckham who has shown regularly that he can still play ninety minutes?
I am sure Capello thinks he effectively has a fitter Beckham on the bench in Bentley to bring on for the second half - this does neither Beckham or Bentley justice in my opninion.

Beckham wins award

I'm a bit late with this 'news' but thought I'd post it now as there is no game this week, next game will be on Thursday versus Chivas USA....
On July 17th, David Beckham was awarded the 'Best MLS Player' by ESPY (ESPN Network TV) after a fine start to the season. Things have slowed for The Galaxy since the award, but Beckham's contribution is still significant with his 5 goals and 8 assists recorded thus far. This award will sit alongside the many awards that Beckham has collected, along with his OBE and commemorative cap for 100 England appearances. This season will hopefully show that aside from the hype, Beckham has something to offer to the MLS, and this award is a significant step along the way.

A Year of Beckham

It has been one year since David Beckham joined the Los Angeles Galaxy football team in the United States.

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber spoke to the BBC's Matthew Price about David Beckham's impact in the US.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7516010.stm

New York Red Bulls 2 LA Galaxy2

Both these teams came from win-less streaks heading into this game - The Red Bulls had not won for three games, The Galaxy for four. In high temperatures and on synthetic turf, The Galaxy wore the darker blue strip for the first time this season.
The game started nervously with a lot of stray passes and scrappy play, not really helped by a referee who was not really in touch with the game at all, finding a yellow card for Klein after less than two minutes for an accidental trip. The ref continued to make bad decisions including NOT booking a Galaxy team mate for kicking a New York player in the mouth....
The game looked like it could start to turn Galaxy's way when Beckham finally started to receive some service, but neither team really established a foothold in the first fifteen minutes. On 18 mins Angel drew a fine save from Cronin, and you could be forgiven for thinking that The Red Bulls looked most likely to score. Donovan immediately responded with a great run and a pass to Ruiz who failed to win the one-on-one with the keeper. On 24 mins, Donovan broke loose again and was brought down outside the area. Beckham failed to convert and could not find a Galaxy player from the resulting corner.
Out of desperation, Beckham dropped deep to turn provider and distributor which he did very effectively finding Buddle on the left who lifted the ball into the danger area for an easy headed goal from Ruiz on 29 minutes. LA failed to take control and just five minutes later Vandenburg punished them with a long range effort taking the game to one-all.
Donovan deserves a mention for a left-foot volley that went astray, but half time saw the teams tied at one-all.
More bizarre decisions were made by the ref in the second half, I can honestly say that this ref probably made more decisions that I could not explain than ones that I could.
The second half was a series of missed chances mostly by Red Bulls as Galaxy looked like a tiring team. Ruiz missed a good chance on 50 mins as his shot was blocked. On 57, Rojas wasted a golden chance in front of goal. Beckham started popping up on the left hand side and was still appearing in defensive positions at times as he looked for the big pass.
Conway in the Red Bulls goal got himself a yellow for some unknown reason as Galaxy had a couple of corners. NY had another great chance on 68 mins which Cronin managed to get a hand to, and only 2 minutes later on the break, Angel drifted into the box, waltzed passed a defender and coolly lobbed Cronin to take the score to 2-1 to New York.
On 73 minutes Red Bulls squandered another chance in front of goal, and on 77 Ruiz was denied again by Conway. On 78 Gordon came on for Vanney, but The Galaxy struggled to have any impact on the game. In extra time however, Donovan lifted a cross into the box aimed at Buddle's head - Buddle missed it, but the ball nestled in the far corner of the net bringing a leap of joy from LA Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit and leveling the score at 2-2. All was not over though as there was one more throw of the dice in the closing seconds. Beckham lifted the ball over the box, and it fell at Donovans left foot. Donovan caught it beautifully and sent the ball screaming towards the goal only to see it hit the post, rebound and get hit over the bar more or less as the ref blew his whistle.
Frankly it would have been unfair for Galaxy to have won, it was not a pretty game, and the Red Bulls had the better of it. Thankfully the odd refereeing did not spoil the game in any significant way. Another win-less night for both teams, another captain's performance from David Beckham.

Beckham to represent MLS

In his first full season in the MLS, David Beckham has been chosen to represent the MLS All Stars when they take on West Ham on July 14th in Toronto. Beckham came second in the voting to Landon Donovan his Galaxy teammate.
Beckham has contributed five goals in fourteen games, only missing one game through international duty. The full squad has not yet been picked, but it is probable that both Beckham and Donovan will figure in the starting line up.