OPINION: MLS Needs Reality Check

Hopefully, League Has Learned Lesson From Beckham Drama

By Mark Goodman

February 27, 2009

The news stared at me from my mailbox Wednesday afternoon.

Raul - he of Real Madrid fame - might be interested in playing in MLS when his playing days with the storied Spanish club come to an end.

David Beckham

David Beckham: will he or won't he stay in LA? (CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com)

“As an experience, not just for me but also for my family, I could try to play a year probably in the United States. If I did it, it would be for the experience,” he told the Associated Press recently.

There have been rumors swirling for a couple years now that Thierry Henry - once the best player in the world with Arsenal and still playing at a high level for Barcelona - will come to MLS. But only, one presumes, in another couple years, when he’ll be in his mid-30s and with nothing left to offer European football.

And there is the ongoing David Beckham saga. Will he or won’t he stay in Milan? He clearly wants to stay, and has made no secret of his disdain for MLS in the process.

My hope is that MLS has learned a lesson: the attempts to lure high-profile, aging international stars may cause just as much harm as good. Drop the “aging” from that equation and it would be worth it, but no young star with the talent to play in Europe is going to play here.

MLS needs to realize its place in the world game. It is a “selling” league in a nation where its top young stars play domestically for a couple seasons to develop their talent before taking their game to the big stage. The same can be said for Holland and Brazil - albeit with much more talent, obviously.

The difference is, you don’t see those leagues throwing their salary structure completely out of whack to lure a big-time star. And therein lies the problem, as usual: money.

The Beckham thing was disingenuous from the beginning. It was a money grab from both sides: Beckham lured by the wads of millions in endorsement deals, MLS hoping for a boon in ticket and jersey sales. While both sides certainly got what they wanted, it was never going to last.

If it was all about the football for Beckham, he would’ve stayed in Europe when his contract with Madrid expired two years ago. As he’s shown with Milan, he still has something to offer at the sport’s top level. Maybe he’s put the game back at the top of his priority list.

MLS should do the same, and the New England Revolution are providing a fine example of how to do it. Aside from the rumored attempts to recruit former Liverpool great Robbie Fowler to Foxboro, Steve Nicol has gone after young, unknown talent to support his team’s core players, and it’s working.

Players like Sainey Nyassi, Kenny Mansally and Gabriel Badilla are what MLS needs: players that are hungry to play, will want to play in MLS and will want to stick around for at least a few years before moving on, if that’s where their career path takes them.

The international allocations allowed by MLS can be a great thing for the league, if used properly. The LA Galaxy did not use them properly, and beneath all the glitz and cash, it’s given a black eye to the league over the last few years. Let’s hope MLS doesn’t go down that road again.