Beckham and his attitude

August 17, 2009

David Beckham is many things to Major League Soccer – ambassador, future club owner, biggest star, figurehead and highest-paid player. He is also increasingly becoming an embarrassment.
Beckham appears to think his superstar status should give him preferential treatment, given his reaction to his first MLS red card on Saturday, when the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder was banished from the field after a foolish studs-up challenge on the Seattle Sounders’ Peter Vagenas.
Instead of accepting responsibility for his actions, Beckham once again resorted to his tired old line of blaming the game officials, in this case referee Ricardo Salazar.

While no one can argue that MLS officiating is generally poor, Beckham’s reckless tackle would have earned him his marching orders in England, Italy or any other league. His demented lunge, with his foot raised nowhere near the ball, could have caused Vagenas severe damage and had no place on a professional soccer field.
Beckham’s anger is commonplace these days. Even though he has performed well for an improving Galaxy team since returning to the United States last month, he clearly doesn’t want to be in America and is hankering for a switch back to the Italian Serie A with AC Milan.
That ire has manifested itself in arguments with supporters, and that did little more than provide comedic value at the expense of the England star.

However, actions like those witnessed on Saturday must not be tolerated.
Even if Beckham has no respect for MLS, he needs to respect the sport that has brought him fame and fortune.





Note by Martin Rogers of Yahoo