I think that they(LA Galaxy) should let become start because they need some help. With donovan and beckham on the feild they are sure to win. Beckham is the best player in the world. He deserves to start.

Donovan is just as much an overated failure as Beckham it's just Beckham's a much better known failure. Anything Lalas has said it out of the corner of his mouth. Of course he's saying that the master bench warmer Beckham will have to earn his spot. Here's some food for thought. They (Los Angeles & the MLS) didn't Bring Beckham over to actually play. His first priority is to sell tickets, shirts, ect ... As well as star in Disney movies ...( Which is already in the works) As well as run around with his very short buddy Tom Cruise. Believe me soccer is the last thing on Beckham's mind & come to think of it having Beckham playing in America is the last thing on the minds of Los Angeles & the MLS. This is nothing more than the age old Great American hype machine in full gear. Stir up some hype! Make some money! & then get out!

This entire Beckham thing is nothing more than the old North American Soccer League formula being revisited. This time however it's with a weaker cast of players & even more greed driven MLS corperate level parasites & it will end with the same result that happened with the first league I mentioned. Mark my word!

Lalas is just like Beckham. He was an overated player with his made for Hollywood Grundge image & he's a wannabe actor/rock star. This tough stance comment he's made about Beckham is to throw off the people ...(Real Fans) that see right through the silly facade. Lalas & Los Angeles will bend over backwards & kiss up to Beckham. When Beckham says ..JUMP! Lalas & co. Will say ..HOW HIGH SIR! Beckham on the other hand has a very fragile ego as the result of being punted from Manchester United. Being dumped from England's national squad & also from riding the bench at Real Madrid so he will be more than happy to let clowns like Lalas bow to him while he counts his money.

you all shut up with your negative words.
i do not like beckham i know he is wash up .

but mls was doing fine until they did this stupid deal,they should not have forced soccer to the usa new soccer public too much money all at once now every body from europe wants the same, i love soccer i am holding my breathe to god i hope it works out for usa soccer.

Yeah right, Alexi... the only reason Lalas has to say this is to appease the team's other players. Could there be some resentment brewing in the clubhouse?

Your right Yoyo. There is bad blood brewing not only with the players in Los Angeles but also with players amoung the other teams. Can't say I blame them.

Get Real, Becks is going to start every game. At 1 million a week, no way he walks the sidelines, he's already the best player on the team.

Tesoro you must be missing a half million brain cells. No way will the bench warmer from Madrid (Beckham) be the best player on that team. Of course this league, if you can actually call it a league will be skill wise, easier on him but on the other hand it's a rough & tumble league & word has it that there are lots of players, even on his Los Angeles team that are going to go out of their way to prove as we already know that he's really not that good & overated. As for starting every game, well, I dont think that will happen with Beckham making movies for the tragic kingdom (disney) & hanging out with the small one (tom cruise)You have to remember he's not here to play soccer. He's here to make a quick buck off of the MLS & try to be a movie star. Thats reality.

beckham is going to be right at home in LA,in hollywood that is.on the field he's nothing special,the MLS needs more big names but,that can play.

Wolfie your right but the problem is the MLS as a whole per team cant afford to pay quality world class players the same amount of money they get playing in Europe. This is the NASL all over again Wolfie. Back then they had an entire league of way way over priced washed up players from Europe & South America playing here & they had much larger crowds attending games & they still went belly up because all those high dollar players broke the NASL bank & most of them were far better then Beckham could ever hope to be. Names like Pele, Best, Cruyff, Alburto, Moore. Theres nobody here that could tell me Beckham is better than any of those players. Beckham's a pitiful joke!

Project Beckham will fail!

I ditto that Reggie. Anybody that buys into all this circus & gets caught up in all this Beckham, Cruise, Lalas, Los Angeles, MLS hype is a simple minded fool that lacks common sense! This post by Dobaiyo? whatever, is spot on! I remember the old NASL & the crowds across the country were much larger than anything seen at an MLS game. MUCH LARGER! The flood gates opened with Pele coming here who is still one hundred millions times more popular than Beckahm & one hundred million times a better player too! Once he came here they all (Over the hill Europeans & South Americans) wanted in & the end result is the league imploded & Im talking about a league that was much much better run than the MLS kick about league. I'm pretty sure history will repeat itself but I'm not worried is I wouldn't go to a MLS game if the tickets were given to me & they threw in some strippers & a limo. I'd much rather watch a real soccer game from Europe on my dish !

I think the fluff that always post on this site Mr. Ra Ra Beckham himself >>>Heath Young should go tryout to become a Cheerleader for David Beckham & Los Angeles since he's like some little kid thats all excited when he wakes up to turn on the tv to watch cartoons & his favorite action heros.

Who's David Beckham anyway?

Anderson, He's a nobody, thats who.

My God! 250 million for of all things a bench warmer!

Yeah I know it's pretty absurd. It's like a major slap in the face to all the American players in the league.

Ok, it's been a couple weeks since the deal went down and it'll be months before Beckham plays.
Let's get over it already!

I'm not reading anymore of these stories until Beckham actually plays again somewhere.

Yoyo he is playing somewhere. In a Disney movie of all things. I guess playing soccer is going to take a back seat to his acting career & his marriage to Tom Cruise.

The people here that made comments about how the MLS is following the same formula as the old NASL are correct. Problem is the majority of the posters here were not even born when the NASL was in full steam so they either dont believe, or cant relate to what your saying. Either way like everything in Los Angeles & Hollywood no matter how much hype is drummed up about Beckham it will all blow over & fade away just as fast as it started. He being here in America wont change much for soccer. If Pele who was a much better & popular player failed at making soccer catch on in America then an overated poor excuse for a player like Beckham will fail even worse. I'm English & I'll tell you people he's never been that popular in England & most English people were glad to see him get shown the door from our national team. If it was not for the womens' national team program & the strong youth program in America soccer would have died there ages ago. The women are much better players than the men. The mens' national team is a bad joke & thats being kind on my part to say so.

Angus thats right, The American womens' national team is better than the American mens' national team. Come to think of it. Those girls are better than David Beckham as well

The only reason the United States mens national team ever gets a berth in the world cup is because they have the most weak region in the world to qualify from. I mean, the only team they face that has a little skill is Mexico. All the other teams they play they can just push around & most of those teams are so poor to begin with they have trouble geting the players soccer shoes & uniforms that match. If the United States had to qualify in Europe they would never get into any world cups. Over there it doesn't matter what country you play for large or small. You have to play everybody in order to qualify.

I think if the United States Womens' & Mens' teams played against each other the women would win!

Linda I think your right.

Nothing against the Womens national team they are a great team but they would get killed if they played the Mens national team. The mens team is faster, more talented, stronger, and has better overall ball control. The one thing that the womens team does do better then the mens is that they have excellent teamwork.

Hey RcFutbolFreak!

Whats wrong with you? What world are you living in? Not mine! Thats for sure! Maybe if the mens team added some of the female players onto their squad they could crawl out of the first round of future world cups!

If it was not for the United States womens' national program & soccer on the youth level in America. Nobody in the rest of the world would know soccer is even played in America. Face it, the mens' team has to be one of the weakest mens' national teams in the world. They always have been, & always will be.

Im pretty sure linda that the weakest teams dont make the WC first round just a thought.

Reggie who did the U.S team tie in the first round Italy. Who won the world cup? Italy im not saying U.S was good enough to win the WC (md not!) but u do have to give them credit for tying the best team in the world. (in international play)

RcFutbolFreak ,

Hey man ya left out the two teams that beat them. Both rather small & poor countries compared to the United States I might add! I really don't have to give anybody credit, or bow down to the United States as I am my own master. i will however give credit to the United States womens' national team as unlike the mens' team the ladies have some backbone! You cannot buy respect! You have to earn it! ..Give them credit, for what? Being blown out of the first round? Almost as funny as you!

The weakest teams get blown out of the first round & sent home packing! ...As you would say ... Just a thought!

The only reason the United States even gets in the world cup is because the region they qualify out of is the weakest in the world. If they had to qualify out of Europe they would never see the light of day as far as the world cup is concerned. They will continue to get kicked to the curb on the international level & unlike everything else in life will never be able to buy the world cup with their dirty blood money.

RcFutbolFreak ?

What should we give the Americans credit for? They tied Italy? So what? They didn't even have a game plan against Italy other than to go out & foul foul foul! Thats all the Americans know how to do when it comes to soccer. They cant play the game at all. Italy's only mistake was taking the Americans' bait & letting their emotions get the better of them. It was the only bad game Italy had in the world cup. After that your great American team had it handed to them by two small countries & were sent off on the next bird home. Yeah, I'll give the Americans' creidt. I'll give them credit for being no class spoiled brat bums with no soccer skills to speak of!

Im not trying to say the US is a great team here im just saying give them the respect they deserve. and linda u said the US is the weakest team in the world they did have to beat some teams to get to the WC. Again im not saying they are great im just saying give them some respect.

Sorry reggie i meant they put up a good fight against brasil.

Tristan ur rite on alot of that but Beasley is a great player ...the only great player on the US but give him some credit. Other then him the US team sucks

The United States mens' national team deserves no respect.

Lets see here RcFutbolFreak you say we should give the United States mens team some respect ..why? In their very brief stay in round #1 of the world cup they had three games, lost two, tied one, were given credit for two goals ..(One, Italy scored for them mind you) & then were punted to the curb & pretty much told to ..GO HOME! & you tell people here we should give those wannabes some respect? You have mental problems!

No automatic spot for Becks? If Lalas doesn't put him in, all those fans who bought tickets to see him play will give the team automatic tomatoes.

I agree why the frick did they spend so much money on him if hes not gonna play

compared to womens teams the us womens team is good but against the mens they r just to fast and strong for them.

I have mental problems huh robin. Did they get to the world cup? YES then they deserve some respect.heck yeah they got killed i watched all of the the World cup games (almost) i know they sucked but they made it their at least.

Freak you just dont get it do you?

The American team leaves nothing to respect. All the hype that was drummed up about them prior to the world cup & they still crashed & burned. All the pre-game trash talk they did about Italy & when it came time to play all they did was go out & foul! That was their game plan as they didn't have the talent to match up against the Italians. It was Italy's only bad game in the cup & that was because they let the Americans get inside their heads to rile up their emotions. In American sports trash talk is common place. On the world stage it's a sign of being Ignorant. You don't see the European or South American teams induldge in trash talk because they are professionals & it's looked down upon. Face it! The American team are hacks at best & they have no class & paint the picture perfect of the ugly American!

hmmm... I seem to remember a lot of Europeans trash talking at the World Cup. I don't recall any US trash talking before the Italy-US match. They had no reason to talk trash after getting smoked by Czech. But I definitely remember a lot of trash talk in the Portugal/Netherlands match and the world cup final. And you've already forgotten about the Zidane/Materazzi incident? And the Argentinians trash talk with style as they're scoring on you. Italy kicked off the fouling in the US match with that elbow that bloodied McBride's head. Not to mention the diving on European and South American teams. Yes, they all are true professional and frown on anything unsporting. That's hilarious.

You're the king of trash talk on this board. King of the bait and flame. Many names and very little allegiance to the truth.

Thank u finally somebody else who knws something about futbol.

And your the dope that keeps taking the bait. Just like all Americans' You only hear what you want to hear & thats it. Guess you missed the pre-game Italy/United States interview & all the idiotic comments Eddie Pope made regarding the Italians. It was so bad that even the manager, Arena said Pope really put his foot in his mouth. Your just upset that in soccer America is a third rate team of hacks at best. A joke! The truth is something not found in American culture. You make up the rules as you go & delete the ones you dont like. To hear somebody like me get in your face & tell you like it is must be a very bitter pill to swallow! You now have been educated!

What Angus & Reggie & others here have said about Team USA being overated poor sports is right. Yes of course all the national teams trash talk to one another in the heat of a game. It's only the United States though that is stupid enough to trash talk before games to the media. You didn't see any other teams that played in the world cup doing trash talk interviews before games. Only the stupid no class, no culture Americans did that, & what did it get them! A first round spanking & exit! Thank You!

Materazzi heres some truth for you.

Three games in round #1.

Two loses

1 tie

Two goals (One provided out of kindness from Italy)

End result: Early first round exit.

That does not deserve respect. More important. THATS THE TRUTH!

Yes, the Americans can boast about a lot of things like money, military might, policing the world, basketball, football and baseball. But there is one thing that not even all the military might and money in the world can buy. One thing that is held sacred. This thing is synominous with passion, sportsmanship, respect, teamwork, poetry and last but not least victory. This thing that I talk about is so sacred the USA will never ever get near it. It is a golden trophy called "The World
Cup" You don't have to be rich and you don't have to be poor to win it. You have to be as honest to your teamates as they are as obligated to be with you in reaching the common goal with sacrifice and trust. No, the Usa will never win the World Cup.

And you Reggie/Angus/Idiot took my bait. You're the one getting all worked up with the most mindless emotion there is, hate. It must be a lonely life to sit and post trash talk on message boards 24 hours a day. I'm can't stop laughing at your "education". Get over yourself man!

Materazzi if I am in your line of fire, I would like you to understand something;I have nothing against Americans. I'm just stating my opinion of a team and country that is too far and away from understanding the beautiful game. I can't see it getting any better for you. I apologize if you take my opinion as hateful. It's not what I'm trying to acheive. There are many things American that I do enjoy, watching them play soccer is not one of them. One more thing--case in point, you talk about emotion--the bloody sport is based on emotion. Won't you ever understand?

Ah Yes Materazzi . I pull the puppet strings and you do the dance! It's called the dance of truth and you have two left feet. There is nothing hateful about my views or anybody else who post views about American soccer it's just the truth & in America fools like you are uncomfortable facing the truth. So whats it like knowing your national team is looked upon as being a thrid world country eh?

Giova it's a waste of time for you to try to explain your views to this little man who signs his post as Materazzi. It's very clear he's lashing out as Reggie & Angus & co hit the right buttons. Trying to explain culture issues to Materazzi is like trying to take somebody from the sticks & expect them to thrive in a cultured setting. It's not going to happen. The whole world respects Italy as a soccer power & this is what makes Materazzi so angry as it's not the same for the Americans as it never will be. America will always be a small fish in the big ocean of international soccer. The ladies team however have been, & still are doing great & I hope they keep it up.

Giova & Linda ...

I think it's a waste of your time to try & talk reason to the person that signs on as Materazzi. He or she is as far as I'm concerned a bit of a racist. You know as well as I do that you have nothing to prove to this person. I have been living in America for a number of years now & have many Americans' that I call my friends. The reason they are my friends is because they have traveled & are educated people. On a more somber note I've met people like this Materazzi fellow that seem to think that anybody that comes from another part of the world are labeled ignorant & uneducated which always makes me laugh as the people in America that I know that are doing well in business & their professional lives are all not from America. I've been to Italy many times. Great country with a very rich culture & history. I have also been to Russia many times as my wife is from Russia & again it's a very interesting country with a rich history & culture. As for my country Ireland for a tiny island nation we have come a long way. We lead the world in computers & I know many Americans' now living in Ireland because they can make ten times of what they could make doing the same computer related work here in the States so go figure. Chances are this Materazzi person could not even afford to live in Italy or Russia or even Ireland for that matter as Materazzi chances are does not have the education to work in any of those countries not to mention I think it's a fair bet to say that Materazzi cannot speak any of the languages spoken in those countries. I have met many poor in debt up to their necks Americans' in my time here in the States but I can be very honest & say I have not met any poor uneducated Italian, Russian, or Irish people so go figure! Giova, you have every right to be proud of being Italian so don't respond to this person that signs on as Materazzi. Linda, I take from your last name that you are also not American so again just ignore this person. It's funny as this story we are all posting to is about Lalas & Los Angeles but turned into a racial mud slinging match which is sad. Having national pride is a good thing but being a racist is quite another. Giova, you & I have gone round & round on a number of topics here on the form but we reached common ground & agree that sometimes we wont agree which is alright, nothing wrong with that. I'll toss back a few cold pints with you anytime you like as your one of the few people here beside Tesoro & Heath Young & Linda who's views I respect. As for this Materazzi person. Well, It would not be in your best interest to ever meet me as I don't think you would like the outcome.

Well said Rasputin. Well said.

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