By Jason Davis - WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 30, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Should David Beckham move to another league this winter, all involved in Major League Soccer would probably expect your last memory of his time in MLS to be him walking off the field with the MLS Cup trophy. That shining moment would serve as the natural exclamation mark on Beckham’s MLS resume.
Technically, however, Beckham isn’t quite done in an LA Galaxy uniform. Right now, Beckham and his teammates are in Indonesia on the first leg of their Asian Pacific tour. LA will play friendlies against the Indonesia National Team, the Philippines National Team, and the Melbourne Victory of Australian='s A-League over the course of the trip, presumably to large crowds and certainly for large sums. Beckham’s value was never just about his abilities to help the Galaxy win a championship. It was also about tours exactly like this one, where Beckham’s headlining name makes LA a draw in overseas markets.
Even though the Galaxy tour surprises no one, it’s odd that Beckham could suit up for his MLS club for the last time on the other side of the world, completely out of the American spotlight. It doesn’t seem all that long ago that ESPN and the League were trumpeting his arrival stateside, cameras trained on his every move.
Beckham’s American debut wasn’t quite all it was cracked up to be, and his impact on the League and his team over the course of the next few years only sporadically lived up to expectations. It wasn’t until 2011 that Beckham put in enough of a season at a high enough level for observers to praise his contributions.
LA with Beckham isn’t going down as a tour de force, mostly because the middle of the saga under-delivered so spectacularly. LA wasn't the only team losing to 8th-seeds, but they were certainly the highest profile club not to be lifting the Cup. Back in 2007, the curtain raised to massive expectations including a new era of dominance for the Beckham-infused Galaxy.
The idea then was the Beckham would elevate the game in the United States by the sheer force of his soccer celebrity. That's not up for debate. Beckham’s presence gave his team and the League a larger profile, a profile that provided LA the clout to command large appearance fees in far flung lands. That doesn’t directly relate to the original intent of his signing, but it does prove Beckham’s influence on his club was substantial. Even if the Galaxy aren’t quite the same friendly commodity if and when Beckham leaves, they’ll benefit from the massive exposure.
There’s symmetry in the fact that Beckham’s first and possibly last contributions to the Galaxy are more of the bottom line variety than a competitive one. LA- Chelsea in '07 and now Southeast Asia in 2011.
Playing in Jakarta, Manila, and Melbourne won’t win LA any trophies. It doesn’t raise the club’s standing in the US, where the League in which they play is still in a fight for relevancy. Though that was always part of Beckham's job description, it was always going to be a process. Beckham was the starting point for the designated player transition, and it was up to the other clubs to continue to push that forward. As experiments go, that's been hit and miss from market-to-market. It's why the Galaxy are still the MLS club on postseason tour.
Here in the States, one wonders what the interest would be from even the MLS converted had Fox Soccer not picked up these early morning games. It’s sad, in a way, that what might be David Beckham’s last act as an LA Galaxy player will be one in which American fans of the club will have no part.
No ESPN, no split screen with isolation shots of Beckham warming up, no hype or public relations benefit in North America. Just Beckham the draw, running out against players no on here knows or cares to know, driving revenue in new markets in the way only a player whose star power overtook his playing prowess can.
For Indonesia and the Philippines, playing Beckham and the Galaxy is something of a big deal. “Once in a lifetime” stuff according to a few stories emanating from those nations, proving that the reputation of touring clubs is utterly relative. In parts of the world where players the likes of Beckham (and even Donovan and Keane) are rarely seen, the Galaxy coming to town is headline news. In most of the world, Beckham or not, the Galaxy wouldn’t be much more than a curiosity.
That’s good for fans and players in Indonesia and the Philippines, for the Galaxy as a club, and for Beckham’s reputation as an ambassador for whichever organization he’s representing. For everyone else, it’s hardly even a curiosity. Beckham playing out the string, his Galaxy days at a possible end, without so much as a headline here.
Jason Davis is the founder of MatchFitUSA.com. Contact him: matchfitusa@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/davisjsn.
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