I saw this on another board.

Would he be that stupid to leave England?

I heard similar talk from Tommy Smyth of ESPN last week. I think it is quite possible we could see Beckham here, but not for at least another 7 or 8 years. He would probably come here to end his career.

Where do these idiotic rumors come from? There's NO WAY he would come here. The MLS has a salary cap, for starters. For another, he's virtually unknown in this country, so that means no endorsement money (which is where a large chunk of his wealth comes from). Plus, on a football level, why would he come to a league that would be the equivalent of going to a Division 1 side in England? If he leaves Manchester United--highly unlikely even after all the bad blood between him and Sir Alex Ferguson this season--it would be for one of the big continental clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich etc., not the f**king MetroStars.

During my break, I went to the store downstairs and I saw a British magazine called Hello. It's a glossy, People like mag. There's an article about how Posh Spice would fit in if Becks moved to Real Madrid. Very well, it seems--most of the Real players are dating models/actresses/whatevers. But I simply don't think that David Beckham is good enough to start regularly for Real Madrid. He'd have to dislodge Luis Figo, for starters and that's simply not going to happen. He's great in the English game, which values the ability to run for days and all, but in the Spanish game, with its emphasis on technical skills, he'd be found lacking. He should just stay at Manchester United, patch up his differences with Ferguson and help to get United past the quarters of the Champions League. I can't wait to the Reds here in Los Angeles in July.

Jaysus. And Tommy Smyth is a total idiot; I have to turn the sound off during the Champions League matches because he's sooooo annoying. He's a source of constant mockery on the British football board I go to. "Twat" as they would say....

[ May 14, 2003, 11:34 AM: Message edited by: Jim Allen ]

And just how long are we imagining Beckham playing with the same great abilities? Maybe I was wrong in saying 8 or 9 years but at some point I would expect him to come over here to play. I mean let's be serious here...Lothar Matthaus was an unknown player in the US pretty much but he still came over here and played under the salary cap. Plus how much money does one man need: Man U pays him a ton and adidas pays him alot too...

I don't think Beck's is a saint, but does he really need the money.

Making soccer, and himself, famous in the USA might be a challenge that appeals to him. It might also make it easier to justify politically speaking.

Killing himself competing on the continent when he could conquer US media instead might be a cool thing for him - tough to do single-handed, but if anyone could it would be him.

OK, maybe I have a selective view because, sadly, I don't live in England and am not privy to every single bit of info that comes out about football, but from my experience, the MLS--it shows you how little regard the sport has here when this thread title can't even get it right--is seen as career death; playing in the English lower divisions still has more prestige.

I'm sorry that I misread your point MM; maybe when his career is effectively over in Europe Beckham might come here for varied reasons but I took it as speculation about his current situation. A move here now, clearly, is a non-starter for him at this point. Sorry for any confusion.