Coaches react to Beckham signing
Beckhamania showed no sign of abating Sunday, four days after English midfielder David Beckham signed a five-year contract worth a potential $250 million to play for Major League Soccer’s Galaxy.
In England, where Beckham starred for more than 10 years with Manchester United before spending the last 3 1/2 with Real Madrid, three top-drawer coaches all had something to say over the weekend about his impending move to Los Angeles.
Sir Bobby Robson, England’s World Cup coach at the Mexico ’86 and Italy ’90 tournaments, wrote in a column in the Sunday Mail newspaper that Beckham, 31, was going into “semiretirement” by joining MLS.
Robson argued that England Coach Steve McClaren’s decision to drop Beckham from the national team after the 2006 World Cup had sealed the player’s future.
“The decision killed Beckham’s aspiration and hope and, in my view, led directly to the announcement that he is off to the U.S. for a very lucrative semiretirement,” Robson wrote, adding that Beckham was one of England’s leading players as recently as last summer.
“In principle, he still should be,” Robson said, “but in reality he hasn’t done anything this season to prove it. Even if the legs haven’t gone, the motivation has.
“What has become clear this week is that David no longer has the appetite to challenge at the very highest level.”
Manchester United Coach Sir Alex Ferguson said that because Beckham has spent most of this season on the Real Madrid bench it had “accelerated” the prospect of a move. A return to England, he said, was never likely.
“Deep down, he was always a United fan and I don’t think there was any chance of him going back to another English club,” Ferguson said. “Everyone at our club hopes he does well. We wish him well. It’s a big career change, from playing for Real Madrid to go and play in America.”
Arsenal Coach Arsene Wenger said MLS must follow it up by adding other high-profile stars.
“Football will only take off if Beckham is not the only one,” he said. “You need a few. A real influx of big stars, that’s what will be needed if you want to create a big lift for American football. One player will not be enough.”
The next to sign could be former Dutch international midfielder Edgar Davids, who has been dropped from the starting lineup by England’s Tottenham Hotspur and is in talks with FC Dallas.
Other players who are the subject of MLS rumors at this stage include Brazil’s Ronaldo, the Czech Republic’s Pavel Nedved, Italy’s Alessandro del Piero and, most far-fetched of all, France’s Zinedine Zidane.
Meanwhile, Beckham spent part of Sunday watching from the Santiago Bernabeu stands as Real Madrid edged Real Zaragoza, 1-0. Coach Fabio Capello has said Beckham will not play for the Spanish club again, even though he is under contract until June 30.
When the postgame news conference seemed a one-topic affair, Capello cut it short, saying: “I think we’ve talked enough about Beckham.”
