LA Galaxy manager and all-around US soccer big mouth Alexi Lalas is as it again. He's got a habit of making bold statements, but this one sort of takes the cake. Tasked with defending the impending arrival of David Beckham from charges that Becks is coming to LA and Major League Soccer to simply cash a big pay check on his way out to pasture, Lexi has, well, gone off the deep end:
'The fact that a segment of the world worships an inferior product in the Premiership is their business,' Lalas said in an interview with The Guardian published Tuesday.Look, I'll be among the first to defend MLS against the haters. The quality of play has improved immensely since the league's inception, but it's not at the level of the Premiership or any other top European league. Keep in mind, however, that (a) it's only 10 years old and (b) MLS, like other American leagues, values parity over dynasty-building, so whereas the strong of the Premiership get stronger every year, the deck gets shuffled in MLS every season. That, perhaps, is one reason why MLS clubs have such a hard time in international competitions.
'In England, our league is considered second class, but I honestly believe if you took a helicopter and grabbed a bunch of MLS players and took them to the perceived best league in the world they wouldn't miss a beat and the fans wouldn't notice any drop in quality.'
What's even odder about Lalas's bold proclamation is that it comes at the same time that he is pumping up Beckham's value:'
There will be an interest in Beckham over here that exceeds anything everything else,' Lalas said. 'The US will never have dealt with an athlete who has had this kind of international impact.So which is it? You do neither the league nor yourself any favors by swinging wildly from one hyperbole to another. Just chill, will ya'?
'Tiger Woods has that international appeal but with due respect to Woods and Michael Jordan, David Beckham is at an entirely different level.'
For the record, my scorn is aimed at this 'Lexi, not this one.
1 comment:
He is just trying to draw heel heat from the Brits.
If he can get someone from the EPL to fire back with some smarm, he'll have got the kind of credibility that $50 mil cannot buy.
I'd also like to see how his comments are received by Mexican-Americans in SoCal, his primary fanbase. They might react differently than a couple of crackers from the 304 who have spent most of their time watching Leeds (haha) or Chelsea (ZZZZzzzz).
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