Oh, by the Way, Beckham Plays Soccer, Too

Evidently, at this early stage of the Beckham era of American soccer, it is asking too much for reality, never mind sanity, to get a look in.

Crowds of groupies greet Beckham and family at Los Angeles airport, the mayor of Los Angeles makes a fool of himself at the official reception, and the pages of W Magazine sizzle with steamy photos of Beckham and his wife, Victoria. Threaded through all these stories, as if the genetic DNA of the Beckham phenomenon, are the numbers with their stretched out chains of zeros, the numbers that tell us how much David is worth, how much he's earning, how much his house cost, and how many Beckham shirts the Los Angeles Galaxy expect to sell.

But, damn it, the guy is here to play soccer — despite all the side attractions and all the marketing extravaganzas, he's going to have to step out on the field and kick a ball or two. How about that side of things? It would be nice to report that a less fevered atmosphere reigns on the soccer front, but ESPN's soccer announcers quickly put that notion to rest last week.

Okay, ESPN, as one of the MLS broadcast channels, clearly has an interest in promoting Beckham. But television has never been good at subtlety, so we've already passed into the brainless hype mode. In a telecast supposedly featuring a game between the Houston Dynamo and the Chicago Fire, a good deal of time was devoted to banal chitchat about Beckham. Things bottomed out with a discussion of the astonishing news that Beckham really, really puts the team first, and that he wants to get to know the Galaxy players.

Wow! And there was I — and evidently most Americans, judging from the awed listen-to-this tone of the announcers — believing that Beckham would come in and declare,"Screw the team, just give me the effing ball and I'll do it all myself."

And this drivel was coming from knowledgeable soccer guys. Some balancing of Beckham's recent achievements on the field is in order. They don't add up to very much. Yes, in his fourth year at Real Madrid, the club did manage, at last, to win the Spanish League, but this was a win that owed much more to the collapse of rival Barcelona than to any contribution from Beckham. Yes, he has been recalled to the currently struggling England team, and he had a good game against Estonia. That's right, Estonia. Let's not get too excited, here.

Nor is Beckham's image helped by condescending statements suchas this one from his manager, Simon Fuller, an instant expert on the American soccer scene: "There seems to be a real foundation now for soccer ..."

We've been listening for decades to Brits making supercilious remarks such as that one. No doubt we shall now have to put up with a lot more of the same thing, as a swarm of British journalists arrive to report on what they see as Beckham's betrayal of his soccer pedigree, his flight into American showbiz.

But Beckham himself cannot be held responsible for any of this misguided publicity. He is not the boastful type. Despite the years he has spent at the center of the soccer world's attention, despite the vast wealth that is now his, Beckham presents a down-toearth image.

It was there for all to see last week when he addressed some 5,000 fans at the Home Depot stadium. He looked not quite at home, a little too boyish, not totally comfortable at the microphone. But the smile was genuine, the words, too, as they came hesitantly, almost shyly.

Beckham's words (I'm referring now to his strictly soccer comments) are worth listening to — at the moment they are something of an oasis of truth in a desert of slick hype and journalistic fawning.

Beckham knows that it is extremely difficult, in the sport of soccer, for one player to have an overwhelming influence. He admits to being worried that "people probably do think they're going to see me turn out, and we'll win our first game 10–0."

He has a point, because his presence on the Galaxy will undoubtedly attract a large number of spectators who are new to the sport. That is exactly what the guys at MLS want, of course, but it is also likely that a wave of neophytes will bring totally unrealistic expectations.

On the day that Beckham signed with MLS, back in January, I wrote in this column, "The Galaxy is a poor team." Coach Frank Yallop has made a number of personnel changes during the past six months, but the Galaxy's record is still abysmal, with only three wins in 12 games, the second-worst in the league.

Can Beckham turn that around? Possibly he can — partly by his own efforts and partly by raising the level of his teammates. That is certainly not impossible. Really, all that is needed is for the Galaxy to claim a playoff berth in October.

But within that scenario lie the realities of modern soccer. For Beckham to have that sort of effect, he will have to see a lot of the ball. Yallop has already said that he will play Beckham in the central midfield role as a sort of quarterback for the team.

Fine — except that the response of opposing teams to a dominant player is predictable: They will tightly man-mark him. Just two days ago, in the Copa America final, we saw Brazil do exactly that to Argentina's midfield maestro Roman Riquelme, effectively squeezing him out of the game and cruising to a 3–0 victory.

So far, the other MLS coaches have not been heard from on this point. Actually they don't have to be. I can speak for them: They will start by vigorously denying any intention of man-marking Beckham. But should it become clear that Beckham is picking opponents apart, then he will find a designated marker snapping at his heels in every game.

That, I'm afraid is the reality of the modern game. Some responsibility for ensuring that we see the best of Beckham will then shift to the referees, who will have the delicatetaskof"protecting"Beckham without giving him special treatment.

But the biggest responsibility will be Beckham's. First, to keep the celebrity glamour side of his life from adversely affecting his soccer playing. Second, on the field, to keep his cool under pressure while playing a creative midfield role in which he must add a wider range of skills to his justly famous right-wing crosses.