Chelsea-LA Galaxy featuring Ben Haim

Faran · Post by **Faran** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 3:02 am

I just turned on the set to see ESPN showing the game, so I can't comment on Ben Haim's performance yet; it's halftime and the score is 0-0

But practically everytime the Galaxy gains possession they show that LOSER on the bench rising up in excitement as if he already gives so much of a crap about the team that the slightest movement forward in a friendly game takes him off his seat. When else would the cameras spend as much time on a guy on the bench as they do on the game occurring on the pitch.

I also like how he's already calling it, "soccer"

oh crap, now they are showing Lalas, the guy who claimed MLS is as good as the EPL. I bet he's revelling that they are still not scored on.

It's funny how Americans think they are football VIPs now that they have a semi-retired Beckham living in Los Angeles.

Faran · Post by **Faran** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 3:25 am

OMG THEY KEEP SHOWING BECKHAM, TALKING ABOUT HIM, SHOWING PICTURES OF HIS BOOTS AND ATTIRE...sheesh

an MLS side has such a valuable friendly against one of the World's best teams and they keep talking about a celebrity who isn't even playing...and they think with such an approach they become a global power and win the World Cup in 2010.

MLS will improve as the fan-base increases and more athletes consider "soccer" as a profession...but it's growth WILL CAP!

The great talents from all around the World including the USA want to go to ENGLAND, SPAIN, ITALY, AND ELSEWHERE IN EUROPE.

Don't get me wrong-I don't disrespect the USA or American Soccer. I am an American! But they are approaching this whole thing the wrong way.

EDIT: they started showing photographs of Beckham with the various hairstyle's he's sported throughout the years, AS THE GAME WAS IN PROGRESS

Then as he started warming up, and the ball was in play, the camera wasn't taken off him for a SECOND!

This is wrong. Frank Lampard, John Terry, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, and other great players are playing in this match. New arrivals to Chelsea Malouda and Ben Haim are playing. The rest of LA Galaxy are a fine bunch for themselves and doing a great job! I can't say I'm impressed.

Call me bitter but I'm trying to be objective and analytical about this-it's not the right way to approach the sport of football! I don't think the Brazilians would be too impressed

EDIT AGAIN: the ball went out of play and Beckham passed it back into the pitch, and now they keep showing replays of "Beckham's first touch". Now that he's in, when a foul is committed they show Beckham just running in the replay, the ball not even in the frame. Okay, now they have a separate frame in the bottom corner just tracking Beckham. I'm not complaining or being bitter/jealous/w.e. It's just FUNNY!

H. Pedersen · Post by **H. Pedersen** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 4:12 am

Just watched that too, and I absolutely agree with you. Focusing on the "Cult of Beckham" is the wrong way to go about expanding the game here. It implies he's the only thing worth watching. What happens when he retires or gets injured? A few teams are already turning a profit and the players are getting better (too much for MLS' own good really since they're getting picked up by European leagues). Now they're making it into Dream Team or Footballers' Wives.

It's odd that they basically ignored the match, games with big European clubs generally do quite well here. I like how Sidwell crunched Beckham 10 minutes after he got on, nice guy there.

Batman · Post by **Batman** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 9:46 am

You said 'OMG', that means you are not to be listened to.

mullayo · Post by **mullayo** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 10:24 am

It sounds like they're filming it for Japanese TV with the inane silliness - The Asian sell-on value would be huge, it would have to be to pay for him.

Agree it's the wrong way to sell a sport and pretty insulting to Chelsea and a set of real stars. You've only got them in the country for one-week make the most of them. Get leverage out of stars like Drogba, Essien, Terry and Cech not has-beens like Beckham.

Dave Sutton's barnet · Post by **Dave Sutton's barnet** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 11:28 am

I find it amusing that in this thread, which seems to be built on the premise that people should concentrate less on Beckham, everyone's boffed on about Beckham and nobody's mentioned the score...

CAPSLOCK · Post by **CAPSLOCK** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 12:12 pm

Faran wrote:I just turned on the set to see ESPN showing the game, so I can't comment on Ben Haim's performance yet; it's halftime and the score is 0-0

But practically everytime the Galaxy gains possession they show that LOSER on the bench rising up in excitement as if he already gives so much of a crap about the team that the slightest movement forward in a friendly game takes him off his seat. When else would the cameras spend as much time on a guy on the bench as they do on the game occurring on the pitch.

I also like how he's already calling it, "soccer"

oh crap, now they are showing Lalas, the guy who claimed MLS is as good as the EPL. I bet he's revelling that they are still not scored on.

It's funny how Americans think they are football VIPs now that they have a semi-retired Beckham living in Los Angeles.

Fool

So Beckham is a loser?

Bruce Rioja · Post by **Bruce Rioja** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 1:34 pm

I watched Chelsea play against some far eastern outfit on Wednesday evening, and I kid you not, the boy Ben Haim was given a right old run-around, and Jose didn't look in the least bit impressed!

H. Pedersen · Post by **H. Pedersen** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 4:40 pm

Dave Sutton's barnet wrote:I find it amusing that in this thread, which seems to be built on the premise that people should concentrate less on Beckham, everyone's boffed on about Beckham and nobody's mentioned the score...

I'd tell you but they replaced the scoreboard with a Beckham heart rate monitor.

Faran · Post by **Faran** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 6:33 pm

I'd tell you but they replaced the scoreboard with a Beckham heart rate monitor.

ROFL!!

it ended 1-0 with a long left-footed shot by Terry earning Chelsea the win.

Fool

So Beckham is a loser?

In my humble opinion, which Mr. Beckham would best disregard should he be exposed to it, yes.

I watched Chelsea play against some far eastern outfit on Wednesday evening, and I kid you not, the boy Ben Haim was given a right old run-around, and Jose didn't look in the least bit impressed!

It would be a shame if he ends up not fitting in very well. He left Bolton so there will obviously be banter but in all fairness he never came all the way from Israel to be a hero to Bolton, England. Anywhere he goes there will be fans he'll be entertaining, so he has every right to make a career move he thinks will benefit him and Israeli fans. He's a good guy, so I hope he didn't make a mistake here.

He just started so let's see how he does throughout the course of the coming year.

For the record, I personally do believe he would have been better off not going to Chelsea but he's going to be trying his best to prove me wrong.

Daxter · Post by **Daxter** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 6:36 pm

May I ask why or how Beckham is a loser?

I suppose we'd all like to be 'losers' if it meant we were as wealthy/successful as Beckham.

Batman · Post by **Batman** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 6:39 pm

Sounds like a shite 90s rap group/

Chelsea LA Galaxy featuring Ben Haim

Faran · Post by **Faran** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 7:02 pm

LOL Batman very true

Daxter wrote:May I ask why or how Beckham is a loser?

I suppose we'd all like to be 'losers' if it meant we were as wealthy/successful as Beckham.

Someone isn't a hero to me because they are successfull in life, I am not unsatisfied with my own talents, successes, or industriousness and I don't really need to look to people like Beckham to find my personal heros.

I don't think that being wealthy and successfull makes you a loser! I don't think it makes you a winner either. What makes you a winner, to me, is how much you give back to the World. If all those people who are starving, sick, or maimed in this World had equal opportunities Beckham might never have made it in football.

So when I see someone living an extravagant lifestyle, wearing (as the BBC wittily said, anything that is endangered), buying cars, mansions, endless amounts of designer clothes, not to mention make a career move like Beckham's which was obviously meant to get him onto the celebrity scene in Los Angeles where the (actually very boring) private lives of celebrities are subjects of great attention by the idiotic masses...I think the guy is a loser.

I also didn't like how he said he was doing this "for the children" (in reference to American children who aren't exposed to "soccer", as Beckham is now calling the sport, as much as European children). You have to be really insidious and really dumb to say that you are making a 250 million dollar career move for the "children". Then again, we are talking about those poor, underpriveledged American children.

Daxter · Post by **Daxter** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 7:10 pm

Faran wrote:LOL Batman very true

Daxter wrote:May I ask why or how Beckham is a loser?

I suppose we'd all like to be 'losers' if it meant we were as wealthy/successful as Beckham.

Someone isn't a hero to me because they are successfull in life, I am not unsatisfied with my own talents, successes, or industriousness and I don't really need to look to people like Beckham to find my personal heros.

I don't think that being wealthy and successfull makes you a loser! I don't think it makes you a winner either. What makes you a winner, to me, is how much you give back to the World. If all those people who are starving, sick, or maimed in this World had equal opportunities Beckham might never have made it in football.

So when I see someone living an extravagant lifestyle, wearing (as the BBC wittily said, anything that is endangered), buying cars, mansions, endless amounts of designer clothes, not to mention make a career move like Beckham's which was obviously meant to get him onto the celebrity scene in Los Angeles where the (actually very boring) private lives of celebrities are subjects of great attention by the idiotic masses...I think the guy is a loser.

I also didn't like how he said he was doing this "for the children" (in reference to American children who aren't exposed to "soccer", as Beckham is now calling the sport, as much as European children). You have to be really insidious and really dumb to say that you are making a 250 million dollar career move for the "children". Then again, we are talking about those poor, underpriveledged American children.

I didn't state Beckham is a hero.

What he isn't is a loser.

Yes he has made poor decision in many people's eyes, chosing to effectively retire from the top level in moving to America for the lifestyle and rediculous money. It his however an understandable decision when you really think about the kind of money he will be getting there.

But to call him a loser is absurd.

Batman · Post by **Batman** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 7:14 pm

Jaysus

Dave Sutton's barnet · Post by **Dave Sutton's barnet** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 10:21 pm

Would he be less of a loser if he'd moved to Blackpool and played for nowt? Let him go. I appreciate the coverage may be a bit much to start with but it'll settle. Unless you seek it.

H. Pedersen · Post by **H. Pedersen** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:23 pm

Daxter wrote:Yes he has made poor decision in many people's eyes, chosing to effectively retire from the top level in moving to America for the lifestyle and rediculous money. It his however an understandable decision when you really think about the kind of money he will be getting there.

Not sure that tells the whole story Daxter. In January he was on the wrong side of 30, out of favor at Madrid and had about as much chance of playing for England as I do. Who would have taken him? West Ham? America looked like a great option: huge wages, superstardom, Los Angeles, and the chance to do some lasting good for the sport over here. Of course we know now that he played his way back into McClaren's plans and helped to inspire Madrid to the title. Hindsight 20/20 and all that.

Bruce Rioja · Post by **Bruce Rioja** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:48 pm

H. Pedersen wrote:20/20 and all that.

Oh feck, you're not a Flintoff now as well are you?

libreg · Post by **libreg** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 5:51 am

This whole Beckham thing is pissing me off. Its making Americans look bad (well, worse). So much attention is rising up that its making us look like fools. To be honest, I don't give a rats ass about Beckham. The only thing I like about him coming here is that
1) Football is getting more attention here then before
2) There is a bigger crowd at games with beckham. NY red bulls game vs LA has already sold 40,000, and its a month before we play them. I just want to go to the game to see a European sized crowd, not Beckham.
Alexi Lalas is an (start british slang) absolute wanker (end british slang). Comparing MLS with EPL is one of the stupidest things that can be said by anyone, behind George W Bush is a good president. Not only that, but LA is the second worst team in the MLS. Bastards.

Montreal Wanderer · Post by **Montreal Wanderer** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 1:15 pm

libreg wrote:This whole Beckham thing is pissing me off. Its making Americans look bad (well, worse). So much attention is rising up that its making us look like fools. To be honest, I don't give a rats ass about Beckham. The only thing I like about him coming here is that
1) Football is getting more attention here then before
2) There is a bigger crowd at games with beckham. NY red bulls game vs LA has already sold 40,000, and its a month before we play them. I just want to go to the game to see a European sized crowd, not Beckham.
Alexi Lalas is an (start british slang) absolute wanker (end british slang). Comparing MLS with EPL is one of the stupidest things that can be said by anyone, behind George W Bush is a good president. Not only that, but LA is the second worst team in the MLS. Bastards.

They were selling tickets in Tornto for $1000 and Becks didn't play. That sort of thing will turn people of "soccer" not on.