So David Beckham started and played 90 minutes for the first time in the MLS. How was it? Honestly--and I certainly didn't think I would have this reaction--easily the best MLS game I've ever seen! I've only been vaguely paying attention to the MLS since it started back in 1996 and my sudden interest is actually entirely coincidental to Beckham's arrival. As I wrote back on January 12: 'Will he make soccer relevant in America? No. But for those of us that already love soccer, he'll improve the quality no doubt.' (I love being able to quote myself, I'm like George Will now or Ricky Henderson!) That is precisely what happened last night in New York. Has soccer arrived? Well, if you're expecting it to be bigger than the NFL, uh, no, that's not going to happen with or without Beckham. But is it more sustainably popular going into the future? I think so and I hope so. They had 66,000 at the game last night when the Red Bulls generally average around 11,000. If 12,000 show up for the next game that Beckham isn't playing, then Beckham has done his job. And that's just the money side.
On the quality side, man, I'm telling you, it was the best American soccer I've ever seen! Normally what happens in MLS is the speed of the game invariably gets beyond the meager abilities of the players and there are long stretches of people just chasing a bouncing ball. This is why Americans can't stand soccer: they don't see great players controlling the ball because our best athletes aren't playing soccer. If they saw confident possession and competent forward progress and got into the excitement of watching superior athletes at work, they would forgive the lack of scoring. Jeez! We assume the problem is the lack of scoring, meanwhile we're in awe of Brandon Webb's scoreless streak!
But last night Beckham's mere presence elevated everybody's game. Everyone stepped up, they controlled the ball, they pushed forward, there were many, many rips at the goal, a lot of great saves (man, for giving up 5 goals, I thought Joe Cannon was pretty awesome last night), and it was an exciting game from beginning (Angel scored 4 minutes in) to the very end (Angel capped the scoring in the 88th minute). Beckham was terrific in the first half, faded in the second, he's still not game fit just yet. But Angel, Altidore, Mathis and Richards for New York were all stellar; Donovan, Martino, Roberts, Pavon and Buddle all made good contributions.
I've been rather lukewarm about Beckham's arrival. The expectations are too large and wildly unrealistic and American commentators are so embarrassingly ignorant of soccer that its all been much ado about nothing. But now we've seen what can happen and now I'm super fucking excited about the quality of play in the MLS and I hope Beckham is able to keep it going! Will he make soccer bigger than football? No, but I never needed it to be.
(A coupla more random thoughts to tack on at the end: Where were Xavier and Albright last night for the Galaxy? When will Benfica poach Altidore to go alongside Freddy Adu?)
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