The Last of the Galactics
(For a European perspective on the Beckham shocker, we bring you this post from No Mas's newest Parisian correspondent, Massaër Ndiaye.)
It’s seems to be the end of the Florentino Perez era over at Santiago Bernabeu. David Beckham, the last of the Galactics along with Ronaldo, will be moving to the United States this summer. And for a reported $250 million jackpot, making him the highest-paid football player ever.
At this very hour on Thursday, the news came down that the Spiceboy had finally made his decision to leave Real Madrid (that was not a surprise) for The Los Angeles Galaxy (that was a huge surprise).
Ever since the season began and Fabio Capello made it clear that the "Galactics" would be replaced by the "Hermetics,” it was clear that the clock was ticking for Becks and Ronaldo. But everyone expected Beckham to make one last go of it either in Italy or in the Premiership before finishing his career in the States. As far as the premiership was concerned, word is that he felt that his relationship with the British tabloids would not allow him to breathe in England, and his wife apparently veto'ed Italy from the get-go. Which left him two choices: go through hell in Madrid or leave the Continent and kiss the English national team goodbye. So he packed up Brand Beckham and took it to La La Land.
David Beckham was never the best player in the world, far from it. He was not even the best player at his position on his own team. He became a pop-culture phenomenon first because of his right foot (the most amazing since Michel Platini), then because of his main squeeze. People hated him because of his looks - the hair, the tattoos - and because of the fact that he wore dresses in magazines and because every woman in Europe wanted to bed him no matter what he did.
No one ever hated him for his game though. He is one of the most unselfish superstars ever to play football. He accepted being the third midfielder in Madrid behind Zidane and Figo without ever complaining. He became the target of a British vendetta after the ‘98 World Cup because he was sent off (and funny how in a similar position, Wayne Rooney is considered a victim). But through it all, he apparently stayed the same humble guy who was just glad to play on the best team in the world. Zidane said that he was the nicest guy he met in football. That says a lot.
Europeans never will give him the credit he deserves because everyone expected him to be Zidane. Sometimes he could carry a team and sometimes he couldn’t, but in the end, he always shouldered the responsibility like a man and you have to respect that.
It seems like the perception across the Atlantic is that they're getting another Pelé, Cruiyff or Beckenbauer who will help the sport develop. This may or may not be the case. They will be getting the most marketable guy in the sport for sure and a solid player to boot, but will he be able to consistently perform at a level that will justify his earnings? Time will tell.
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As I mentioned at the top there, No Mas is proud to welcome a new member to our side, Massaër Ndiaye. Also known to all you No Mas faithful as Madsear, the man comes to us from Paris where he is a law student and general sports fanatic in truly No Masian fashion. He was born in Paris but grew up in Senegal, and he caught our eye when he let slip in a message that back in the 90's (when, by my calculation, he was a much younger chap than I was in the 90's) he would stay up until three in the morning to watch Julio Cesar Chavez fights. This, we thought, was a major league No Mas prospect. And indeed, we have discovered that he got game, serious game. So check him out - we're thrilled to have him on the team.
It’s seems to be the end of the Florentino Perez era over at Santiago Bernabeu. David Beckham, the last of the Galactics along with Ronaldo, will be moving to the United States this summer. And for a reported $250 million jackpot, making him the highest-paid football player ever.At this very hour on Thursday, the news came down that the Spiceboy had finally made his decision to leave Real Madrid (that was not a surprise) for The Los Angeles Galaxy (that was a huge surprise).
Ever since the season began and Fabio Capello made it clear that the "Galactics" would be replaced by the "Hermetics,” it was clear that the clock was ticking for Becks and Ronaldo. But everyone expected Beckham to make one last go of it either in Italy or in the Premiership before finishing his career in the States. As far as the premiership was concerned, word is that he felt that his relationship with the British tabloids would not allow him to breathe in England, and his wife apparently veto'ed Italy from the get-go. Which left him two choices: go through hell in Madrid or leave the Continent and kiss the English national team goodbye. So he packed up Brand Beckham and took it to La La Land.
David Beckham was never the best player in the world, far from it. He was not even the best player at his position on his own team. He became a pop-culture phenomenon first because of his right foot (the most amazing since Michel Platini), then because of his main squeeze. People hated him because of his looks - the hair, the tattoos - and because of the fact that he wore dresses in magazines and because every woman in Europe wanted to bed him no matter what he did.
No one ever hated him for his game though. He is one of the most unselfish superstars ever to play football. He accepted being the third midfielder in Madrid behind Zidane and Figo without ever complaining. He became the target of a British vendetta after the ‘98 World Cup because he was sent off (and funny how in a similar position, Wayne Rooney is considered a victim). But through it all, he apparently stayed the same humble guy who was just glad to play on the best team in the world. Zidane said that he was the nicest guy he met in football. That says a lot.
Europeans never will give him the credit he deserves because everyone expected him to be Zidane. Sometimes he could carry a team and sometimes he couldn’t, but in the end, he always shouldered the responsibility like a man and you have to respect that.
It seems like the perception across the Atlantic is that they're getting another Pelé, Cruiyff or Beckenbauer who will help the sport develop. This may or may not be the case. They will be getting the most marketable guy in the sport for sure and a solid player to boot, but will he be able to consistently perform at a level that will justify his earnings? Time will tell.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As I mentioned at the top there, No Mas is proud to welcome a new member to our side, Massaër Ndiaye. Also known to all you No Mas faithful as Madsear, the man comes to us from Paris where he is a law student and general sports fanatic in truly No Masian fashion. He was born in Paris but grew up in Senegal, and he caught our eye when he let slip in a message that back in the 90's (when, by my calculation, he was a much younger chap than I was in the 90's) he would stay up until three in the morning to watch Julio Cesar Chavez fights. This, we thought, was a major league No Mas prospect. And indeed, we have discovered that he got game, serious game. So check him out - we're thrilled to have him on the team.
2 Comments:
hmm, do you think beckham needs to be selfish to succeed in the US though? american heroes seem to love the spotlight. hopefully beckham's scientology bud tom cruise will teach him a thing or two about media manipulation for the good of the league.
I think that for him to be BIG in the States, he'll definitly need to score more, yes. The truth is americans that aren't soccer fans will have problems appreciating a player that doesn't score every game. And Beckham doesn't score that much but maybe he'll be able to make the Galaxy win more games.
As for media manipulation, team beckham is great at manipulating the media. They succeded in England where the tabloids are ruthless. So we'll see.
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