LA Galaxy win again!
Update - David Beckham took his sons Brooklyn and Romeo to a school party on the weekend and took a ride on the loop-o-plane fairground ride by the looks of things! Victoria's parents and also James Caan can be seen in the photos which are in the gallery. Later in the day the family had dinner together at Maestro's.
LA Galaxy defeated Houston Dynamo 2-1 today extending their winning streak to 4 from 4! The match report is online here. They remain 6 points behind Chicago who are currently in the 8th play-off spot but the LA Galaxy do have a game in hand. If the LA Galaxy win their next two games they will need only a win or draw to finish ahead of Chicago, depending on Chicago's results next week, when they play them in the last game of the regular season. In the event the two sides finish the regular season tied on points the decider is based on their head to head results and the LA Galaxy beat Chicago 2-0 earlier in the season. You can view the play-off standings here.
In other news, Becks dined out with Gordon Ramsay at Spago last night. There is a clip of Becks and Ramsay leaving the restaurant on youtube.
In 1996 David Beckham won the Sky sport young player award and was featured in Sky magazine - scans from that shoot are in the gallery.
posted by rpm at 8:46 PM
32 Comments:
Congrats to the Galaxy!! I live in Houston so I'm a little disappointed. That's great. You're doing a good thing for charity!!
10:33 PM
I'm glad they won! I hope they can make the play-offs!
I'll miss your updates Anna but it's a good cause so good luck with it :-)
11:28 PM
four from four?! well f**k me gentley Moses I'd not have bet a hapenny on that happening! Good on them and as I said before if they do make it to the play-offs they will deserve it 100% as they'll have performed a bit of a Lazarus!
1:12 AM
I can't believe the way the guy talks to David when he is leaving Spago in the vid. What an idiot how can he possibly expect to be answered!! Moron!
4:24 AM
lololol syd you really make me laugh! Thanks :)
lulu I totally agree, but believe it or not I've heard a lot worse yelled especially at poor Victoria by the paparazzi! Obviously a job that appeals to people with zero social skills :(
5:08 AM
Thanks for the updates Anna. Can't believe Becks got to hang out with James Cann.
5:10 AM
Thanks for confirming it's James Caan Scilla - I thought it was but I wasn't sure as I haven't seen him in anything recent only in old movies like the godfather :) lol watch out for 'the Becks about to star in movie with James Caan' rumours :)
5:19 AM
cute pics hes such a good daddy! =)
5:34 AM
Ciao to everibody!. Happy for the Galaxy. Happy that David and its son have moments of relax (hoping that the paparazzi to leave they calm). Anna good job for the charity, you to are fantastic. Loredana, Samuele, Gabriel
6:37 AM
Go Galaxy Go!!!
Patience is your friend, my friend! :-D
Good they didn´t fired Yallop...and now they have a real chance to go to the play-offs.
As Julie said...I´ll also miss your updates Anna.
But it´s nice to hear it´s for a very nice reason.
10:12 AM
Thanx 4 pics!! =)
5:01 PM
Thanks Loredana, Julie, Siniestro and Duyen for the nice words :)
5:52 PM
Hey Siniestrototal can you tell me why is it good Yallop was not fired?? The team has won 4-4 but do you credit Yallop with that? What tactics of Yallops do you think made the difference? There have been a few factors that have made the difference BUT Yallop isn't one of them.
Syd not too many people would have expected them to win 4 games in 23 and then 4 games in 4 so you aren't the only one feeling mega surprised
Go the G's!!!!
6:18 PM
haha Syd, Lazarus indeed!! Good on them so does this mean the schedule and the injuries weren't to blame? It seems now that the roster is so worn down that the team picks itself they have gelled as no one can mess with the line-up every game? Or is there some other reason for the sudden change in fortune? Some of you know more about the team than I as I have only followed them for a few months, so why do you think they are now winning? Anyone?
7:54 PM
I don't know whether Yallop deserves some credit or not - personally I don't trust or respect him - I'm not about to forget what he said after the Toronto game or what he did in the Chivas game. As a Becks fan I don't think Yallop has what it takes to be the right coach and I don't think he will be happy in the role - he certainly has been nothing but miserable since Becks arrived. His press conferences were always one big excuse fest with Yallop putting his misery openly on display. I think the team deserves a lot of credit for having fought on when everyone including their coach seemed to have given up and I credit Becks for having been an important motivator. As for why they are now winning - well Donovan said that when everyone gave up it took the pressure off them so they seem to have begun winning since the pressure came off? I don't know if that is the answer but it is one quote I recall.
8:45 PM
What did Yallop say after Toronto? I don't remember... I'm getting old I can't remember much of anything any more.
11:48 PM
Thanks for the lovely photos of him out with the boys it's been a while since we had some nice ones of David looking happy :-)
As for Yallop, I feel a bit like you Anna...he may be okay...but I don't have the same faith in him after what has gone on.
12:32 AM
Syd here's the quote I'm referring too
It’s not been easy because of the spotlight thrust on us,” Yallop, the former Ipswich Town defender, said. “You try to imagine the hysteria surrounding his [Becks] arrival but when he’s here it’s so different. It’s not been easy. It’s been kind of testing, to be honest.Yallop went on to complain his view was obstructed, "The game's going on and people are standing in front of me taking photos of him [Becks]" Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop said afterward. "It's not going to get better. Once he gets on the field, it might get worse."
There have been other quotes in the same vein but those really made me start to have serious doubts about him. You have to remember when he said these things Becks was taking some heat over his injury and not playing, but whenever he was asked about Yallop or the team he was 100% positive and loyal.
Considering that Becks was brought in to bring publicity and attention to the sport it seemed to me that Yallop's moaning about it, showed he wasn't the right guy and also I admit I thought his comments were a bit pathetic. I mean you make the photographers get out of the way or you get up and walk down the sideline you don't go into the press conference and go boo hoo hoo like a whiney baby 'I can't see'. Can you imagine Fergie saying that? No, me neither.
Then the Chivas game came along and we all know what happened there. With him knowing that Becks was dizzy and using his last sub on someone else. He admitted he shouldn't have done it and that it 'just takes that bit of Magic from David to turn things around' but my knowing he knew he was wrong and me knowing the reasons he did it, does not make me think any better of him.
Especially as instead of saying he had a part in the decision for Becks to start and standing up and taking it like a man, he kept saying over and over "He[Becks] wanted to play" he never once admitted that he had asked him if he could start, he never once admitted that before the game he had wanted him to start too, he ducked out on it all, putting it all on Becks.
He's weak and he doesn't have one tenth of David Beckham's class and I don't have any respect or trust in him.
Anyway that's all I have to say, it's a personal opinion. If Becks is happy with him that's the main thing and I hope he is but I'm not about to change my mind about Yallop, personally.
4:32 AM
Thanks Anna, I don't know how I missed that. Agreed very negative attitude to the situation and two things really stand out for me. First... the lad would not have been the one deciding to sit on the bench when injured. I doubt very much that was his call like. Second... he talks about him as if hes not part of the team or one of the players he coaches hes approaching it as if hes something separate and a problem, a coach can't afford to do that.
5:59 AM
I think Yallop is just out of his depth. I don't think hes a bad man and I think he might be an okay coach in the right situation.. but it's really clear he is 100% uncomfortable with everything that David brings with him and given he doesn't like the spotlight.. he should leave.. because David isn't going to stop being famous and once he begins to play again all the cameras and photo takers will be coming right back!!!!
6:43 AM
I hope Yallop will move on for his own sake and I hope Lalas will be fired for everyone's sake!!! I don't dislike Frank and I probably respect him a bit more than rpm but I agree that he is prone to being negative, throwing up his hands and he isn't a leader. All year all I've heard is "here's all the reasons we can't do it and none of them are my fault". I wanted to hear something, hell anything, that suggested a bit of belief that the team could overcome...which is why now the team are doing better I don't credit Frank with the 4 wins. As Frank used too much hot air in convincing everyone they couldn't win four games in a row.
7:43 AM
Can I just ask how do you know that Frank wanted David to start against Chivas?
8:19 AM
Pru I wouldn't go so far as to describe Yallop as a bad man either - but I'm also not a fan :)
Ruby - Becks said on David Beckham Soccer USA that he assumed he would play 10 - 20 minutes - maybe half a game at most against Chivas USA and that he went to the stadium from the airport and the Coach turned around to him and asked him about starting (here's the link to the youtube clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grcA4hZLLwQ) the media reported it as if Becks had been adamnant and it had all been his idea but the reality is Becks tells it differently and I believe him. I'm not saying Becks didn't want to play don't get me wrong, as I said at the time, of course he did :) but Yallop was happy for him to play too - they had a conversation and reached a decision together.
Also, it's pretty unusual for Becks to repeat conversations that occur between himself and the Manager in the dressing room (other than years later in biographies) but in this case he did.
9:14 AM
Thanks Anna I hadn't watched that clip. It mosdef sounds like Frank suggested it as you would hardly ask someone if they wanted to do something if you were against it. Doesn't sound like David had too insist at all.
I get soooo mad when I read things making it sound like David is a problem for them, They are lucky to have David!!
9:59 AM
I will always think that the last thing you´ll do when a team is not doing well is to fire the coach. This cannot be the first thing.
And that´s what everyone wanted when LA Galaxy was not doing well this season again.
I´m not defending Yallop. I´m a Becks fan, I will always defend him.
I also agree that Yallop should leave the team at the end of the season, but never in the middle of the season.
Changing coaches in the middle of the season is not good, at least that´s my opinion. I just think hardly a team will started winning by changing coaches a lot.
And you know, with Becks there in LA, if Yallop was fired, the press would start saying Becks was the big reason and all this crap.
That´s why I always wanted him to stay until the end of the season.
After it ends, maybe can be better to change and start since the very first day with a new coach.
I don´t like what Yallop did at that Chivas game, but it certainly won´t happen again.
But you cannot only blame him for it...there is a whole bunch of people behind this LA Galaxy and this Beckham deal.
Anyway, now they have a real chance to go to the play-offs and that´s good.
If Yallop does not like the pressure or the spotlight, (he certainly shouldn´t have become a coach) and he probably will leave the team at the end of the season.
Now Donovan saying LA Galaxy is playing well again because the pressure is off. I don´t get it...if you don´t want pressure, don´t become a footballer. And what he means with this quote?
That Becks is the reason LA Galaxy was not doing well? *confused*
Or maybe he wanted to say that since everyone didn´t think we would make it...we had nothing to worry...so we started playing well?
I think that´s what he wanted to say, actually.
As for the latest 4 wins...
Don´t know if Yallop has something to do with it, but they are winning and he´s still their coach.
No one was fired and they suddenly started to win again. Can´t comments about tactics or how well they are playing because I cannot watch all the LA Galaxy games.
But maybe there is some motivation coming from Frank Yallop...don´t know how he is when a camera is not filming him. If he´s shy, like some of you said based on his quotes or gestures...
I just cannot believe he does not talk with his players and does not try to motivate them.
10:09 AM
Well Siniestro I agree it's disruptive and should be a last resort but sometimes firing the coach does turn out to be the right decision. You can't keep a coach no matter what as that won't always serve a purpose :)
Just to clarify, Donovan said the presuure came off because everyone had written off the Galaxy's chances of making the play-offs - people had given up on them - nothing to do with Becks. Anyway that was just one thing he said, there are sure to be many theories :) There always are.
I personally only judge Yallop on things he said, that came out of his mouth and things he did have control over such as substitutions - I am not criticizing him for anything else. Who is responsible for those things Siniestro if not Yallop?
I am sure Yallop speaks to the players and I am sure he has spoken with them regularly since the season began in April and I am sure that he has tried to motivate them all season but they won four of their first 23 games and then four of their last four and whatever changed it wasn't the coach. They've had the same coach through out. As with everything there will be different opinions and theories :)
It will be great if they make the play-offs but let's be realistic there are 13 teams and 8 make the play-offs if we are hoping for much better than managing to scrape out of the bottom five next year then Becks may need a little help by way of some changes.
I would agree with galaxy23 that Lalas has not contributed much besides bad quotes to the press and perhaps it would be good if he left - and of course the squad needs to be examined and some hard decisions made about players that haven't shown up such as Pavon and in the case of Yallop I hope he goes as much for his own sake because as Pru said the spotlight is going to contunue to be present whenever Becks is playing.
I think Yallop said himself he really didn't know what it would be like until Becks arrived but now that he does know - he is going to have to either learn to accept it and not moan about it (cos I find that pretty unprofessional) or he should find a position where it won't be such a problem.
Last comment on this topic from me:
I am sure there have been times in recent months when Becks finds things testing, when he could moan, or happily use the F word to the media as Yallop has - but he hasn't - he has stayed positive and is a total professional and a class act. He doesn't use someone else as an excuse when he is criticized or when things aren't going his way. That is why I have total respect for Becks and Yallop is yet to earn the same respect. I respect others have a different opinion but this is mine.
11:18 AM
Glad I had a chance to read everyone's comments. Brought back some points I let become hazy, and I was able to add something to a comment I made elsewhere that didn't hold Yallop responsible enough for decisions made, as well as his own statements.
Thanks!
2:56 PM
I don't know what you guys think of this piece by Andrea Canales:
Hopeful Beckham Learns To Be Patient,
http://www.soccer365.com/features/story_91007174341.php
I wrote a comment specifically related to David's eagerness to play before he was fully recovered but it has not been posted, so I decided to post it here:
Let me just say that David was also eager to prove his worth because of the negative campaign that was conducted against him while he was still trying to recover from his ankle injury.
Whether he travelled with the team to Toronto or did not travel to Dallas, for example, there were always people sceptical of his true intentions and value as a player, when he was genuinely injured and could not play.
There was no consideration given to David's health and well-being by the media and soccer fans with their offensive placards. Instead, there arose an enormous amount of pressure on him to play as soon as possible because he was constantly faced with this backlash and adverse reaction, which was extensively covered by the media. This must have affected him and his decision to push himself and to demonstrate his passion and love for the game before he was fully recovered.
I do hope that everyone has learnt to be patient and can take lessons from David's experience. Therefore, be should not be pushed back into action or pressured by anyone until he has been declared fit to play some part - hopefully before the end of the season. As a Becks fan, I am hopeful and patient.
12:03 AM
Hello Anna,
There's a poll on Yahoo France "which team do you think will win the Premier League in 2008" ManU is of course nominated :-)
Here's the link:
http://fr.sports.yahoo.com/football/angleterre/premier-league/
It's at the bottom of the page.
Good luck with your Xmas card appeal. You really do many great things. You're just like your heroe David Beckham ;-) You're both made to get along well together!!
4:23 AM
Ciao to everybody!. Anne we have your same thought, we hope also that the Galaxy after this negative season, takes serious remedies. David deserves a more professional team. Loredana, Samuele, Gabriel
6:25 AM
Sorry kinda late replying here
Siniestrototal you really got to watch more games
rpm I hear you on Pavon tho the goal he scored Sunday bought him quite a lotta forgiveness but yeah hes been invisible in a lot of games.
6:41 PM
Hi Galaxy23 - Pavon's goal was a beauty, fabulous finish! Full credit to him for that - but even so I still think considering how much he counts against the cap - that he is one of the players that should go under the microscope at the end of the season as he hasn't contributed often enough. That said if he can start scoring goals like that regularly then he will more than earn his keep! He scored 2 great goals from Becks assists maybe when Becks returns his form will improve :) fingers crossed - as the Galaxy need players who will turn up more often than not :)
8:23 PM
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