Odds and Sods

For those who do live under a rock, David Beckham made his debut tonight for the LA Galaxy, hobbling onto the pitch in the 78th minute of a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in the World Series of Football friendly. The Odds and Sods staff had planned a live blog, but were sidetracked by few glasses of bubbly during the Super Bowl-esque hype. Here are a few errant thoughts from the match, however.

The first is an obvious topic, and one that should be covered briefly before getting on with more important issues. Why is Dave O’Brien the lead announcer for MLS coverage. They could have had JP Dellacamera, who has 30 years of covering soccer under his built and has covered MLS since its inception, or even the oft-maligned Rob Stone (who has covered MLS since 1998). But for some reason the big matches require the big guns, which ESPN, for some reason has decided is O’Brien (started in 2006). He gives off a Todd Jones-like vibe when he waddles into that booth, alerting viewers that they are in for a wild ride, and one that may not enjoy. He has improved a big since the World Cup, but that is not saying much. The only value he provides is the unintentional comedy created whenever they show a shot in the booth and he turns to the side to listen to an analyst (giving a lovely profile shot of his deceptively long slick-backed hair and his chipmunk cheeks).

He still can’t break the baseball style of bringing up useless information to discuss. For example, Tommy Smyth makes the comment that Xavier is having a nice game (which he was). Then Dave butts his bulbous beak in for no apparent reason to discuss his suspension for drugs and inappropriate conduct. This is ok, but at least be consistent. Why when John Terry scores a goal does he not bring up 17 year old sluts, airport hijinx, and Ledley King?

Captain John also displayed his quintessential charm by refusing to swap shirts at the end of the match, even with opposing captain Landon Donovan. One wonders whether Terry felt himself too big for the stage, or if he was trying to imitate Beckham who also neglected to part with his shirt.

No appearance tonight from Robben hmmm….

Another great moment was the awkwardness between Landon Donovan and Beckham. They made a big deal about Landon saying that he wouldn’t necessarily defer to Becks on set pieces, because obviously Landon Donovan is on par with a guy who won 7 league titles and a Champions League with arguably the two biggest clubs in the World. LD than proceeds to try too hard the entire match, extending himself unnecessarily to try to make himself the center of attention. This was summed up by the awkward and incredibly forced smile LD shot Beckham when he ran over to take the corner at the end. It looks like someone doesn’t entirely appreciate a bigger fish intruding on his small pond. Stay tuned for more on this storyline…

Wynalda also let his true feelings about Donovan unintentionally slip out. In the controversial Fulham USA interview where he trashes Jim Rome, Wyanalda ripped Landon Donovan for not challenging himself on the European stage (sparking a bitter response from the balding one himself). He had largely laid off Donovan for much of this season, probably at the behest of those higher up, praising him for his “commitment” to MLS. However, Wynalda let Donovan have it for missing the gimme header that would have tied the match. It seems that his true feelings may have slipped out. If the World-Wide Leader is true to form, he may “disappear” for another week.

This match also should have showed that the LA Galaxy are not that bad. The favorite refrain is “3 wins in 12 matches” which sounds terrible. But 3 wins, 4 draws, 5 losses or 13 pts from 12 matches, ameliorate that figure somewhat. They are second from bottom in the Western Conference, however, they also have only played 2/3 as many matches as the leaders with 6 in hand. The playoffs are not out of the question. They aren’t fit to lace Chelsea’s boots, but they are not an entirely hopeless side.

There was also far two matches against Tigres. Yes, the attendance was only 2,000 (some Italian Cup matches were similar), but how much would attendance drop for a Premiership club if they scheduled a friendly on a Tuesday at 5:30 in the afternoon when most have a lengthy commute by automobile? Probably quite significantly. In addition, the buzz was about Beckham who wasn’t going to play in the match. That was merely a friendly, it wasn’t a dramatic insight into the caliber of club he has joined.

Becks’ hobbled performance wasn’t spectacular, but he did display that he can handle the creative role in the center of midfield that LA Galaxy will ask him to play. Hopefully, his ankle heals and his next performance can provide a better analysis of what kind of player he can be in MLS.