USA/UNITED KINGDOM: SOCCER/FOOTBALL - David Beckham's new teammates at LA Galaxy eagerly await his arrival in the US this summer

Record ID: 762558

  • Title: USA/UNITED KINGDOM: SOCCER/FOOTBALL - David Beckham's new teammates at LA Galaxy eagerly await his arrival in the US this summer
  • Date: 1st June 2007
  • Summary: CARSON, NEAR LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MAY 18, 2007) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE)(English) HUBERT BIRKENMEIER SAYING: "I hope not. I hope that they stick more with the American players, because we have a lot of talent in this country and I think that that would be the right direction."
  • Embargoed: 16th June 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAG9035BYPD9GFDRP9IU85J0K
  • Story Text: From Old Trafford to the Bernabeu to the Home Depot Center, one of football's most colourful stars is about to write another chapter in his career when he moves to the United States. No one is sure what will happen when David Beckham moves to his new team, the LA Galaxy, sometime in July, but his new teamates and coach are excited to add his experience to a team struggling in the league's cellar.
    Beckham's new coach at the Galaxy, Canadian Frank Yallup, sees him as an important piece missing from the puzzle. "I think his experience and his work rate, and all his great play, we are missing at this point," Yallup told Reuters. "I thought we've attacked pretty well, [but] I think we've not been a complete team yet."
    Two months into the season, the Galaxy have only won a single game and sit joint bottom of the league with only five points.
    Galaxy goalkeeper, Joe Cannon, adds that despite the slow start the buzz still surrounds Beckham's arrival, "You know I think more guys are realising we're excited for Beckham to come as a player. I think, we've lacked a little bite in the midfield this year and we're still trying to find our way. I think a player of his caliber will help us out immensely."
    Most critics agree with the assessment of Galaxy defender, Chris Albright. He said : "The style of the MLS is a bit different, certainly, than Spain. I think it's not more athletic, but maybe more based on athleticism. It maybe more closely mirrors the English league you know that David played in at the beginning of his career. So I don't think it will be a touch transition for him at all."
    For the sake of his new club and the league, fans hope this is the case, for more is riding on Beckham's shoulders than just the fortunes of a team. Beckham's blockbuster signing re-shaped the structure of the league. The so-called Beckham rule allows teams to sign players outside the American-cap system which limits team spending to keep the league balanced. With the floodgates open, many soccer fans in the US fear a return of the crazy spending of the North American Soccer League, which ultimately doomed the America's first foray into professional soccer in the 1970s and 1980s.
    But times have changed.
    "When I was with the Cosmos we had players from 13-different countries. [Now] it's a different ballgame. You have more kids playing soccer at this time, at this age, than in the early '70s. So it's a big difference," says Hubert Birkenmeier, the former goalkeeper of the NY Cosmos, which featured Pele and Franz Beckenbauer. "I hope that they stick more with the American players, because we have a lot of talent in this country and I think that that would be the right direction."
    Whatever happens, when Beckham does arrive in the US this summer, most the eyes of the world will be focused on American soccer, which was the point of his transfer in the first place. Most sources agree Beckham will be on the pitch when Chelsea arrive in LA for friendly on July 21.
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