BECKHAM TO GO ON LOAN TO AC MILAN.

David Beckham will be joining the AC Milan stars as the US season draws to a close.

I was expecting an announcement that he would be Training with them in the off-season but this is quite a surprise.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/7683877.stm

David Beckham has agreed to move to AC Milan on loan in January, the Italian club has told BBC Sport.

The England midfielder, 33, plays for Los Angeles Galaxy, whose Major League Soccer season ends this weekend.

Speaking on Wednesday morning, Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani said: "Beckham has chosen Milan. He'll stay here in Milan on loan for a few months.

"Our squad is ultra-competitive and it will remain this way but Beckham is something different and intriguing."

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star is eager to stay in England coach Fabio Capello's plans during the MLS close season.

Beckham needs two more appearances to become England's most-capped outfield player, taking him past Bobby Moore, who played 108 times for his country.

Italian Capello has made it clear he will only select players who are active and in form.

The 2009 Major League Soccer season is due to start in April, so Beckham's loan move would only be short-term.

LA Galaxy, who had previously insisted that Beckham would not be able to move to another club on loan during their close season, will play exhibition matches in Australia and New Zealand in December.

Beckham will then join a stellar squad at Milan, which includes Brazilians Ronaldinho, Kaka and Alexandre Pato, as well as Italian internationals Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso.

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Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti has made it clear he would welcome Beckham's arrival.

"For me, it will be a pleasure. Beckham is a serious athlete, a great professional," he stated.

"If he'll be available for us, we'll be very happy."

Beckham would be eligible to play for Milan both domestically and in the Uefa Cup.

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There have been rumours in England.

Despite all the flak he gets from the written press and proper football men in the UK as a derided show pony and 1-2 trick merchant (ie free kicks and penalties), at heart beckham is best when he feels he has something to prove and thats why i see this as a great move by Milan.

Case in point: After the 98 world cup Beckham was the most hated man in england. He responded with what an incredible season for united in their treble season. in 98-99 Beckham really was the greatest long passer of a ball i had ever seen up to that point. He also used to score a fair few goals in open play back than.

Beckham also has been incredible as footballs pin up boy. he is still no 1 merchandising wise in Asia and the world.

The general English football public in London still love him, although up North he isnt anywhere near as popular anymore.

In a football sense although he has always seemed to be a real pro once on the pitch, he was laregly responsible for the wasted england years of 2002-2007 with his wifes influence and the couples prioritising cheap celebrity over dedication to football, and his casual assumption he'd always be a captain or in the side for life, he turned in too many poor appearences for england.

he only went to america to line his bank balance and satisfy his lust for celebrity and to keep his role as the biggest generator of merchandising money which was seriously under threat in europe cos he was in real madrid reserves most of the time adn also failing as a player.

Granted he came back after 4 barren years to win the la liga for madrid in his final season.

But right now beckham has a lot to prove. The short term nature of the proposed deal will suit him. he will put his all into the half season at milan and also the location of milan will suit his insecure and ageing wifes need for glamour and attention. Its one more outpost for brand beckham.

Purely in a footballing sense Im really excited about seeing milan with beckham on the right. The slower more technical pace of serie a will suite beckham and this milan team is starting to look like it will be back at the top of europe after last seasons blip. dont forget they routinely and consistently (3 times) beat this new team of fergusons (granted without tevez or berbatov) a couple of years back.

PS: wouldnt suprise me if bayern munich also jump in. But munich isnt likely to be as glamourous or lucrative a location for brand beckham

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/7683877.stm


This confirms Beckhams vanity and self serving nature. The proposed deal is only for 2 months. So that he can train with Milan get some attention over there, and than go back to his lucrative but in a football sense worthless tenure in the USA.

Plus Capello told him he wont be considered for england unless he is playing football during January an February which is when the world cup qualifiers are taking place, and Beckham is just desperate to get the last few international caps that will make him the most capped England player ever.

Hating on Beckham is weak. The guy has done great things for his country; more than any other active NT player can claim. Last year when England faced elimination, he was one of the only bright spots on the team.

I'm glad he's going to Milan. God knows they need him. Fucking old man team.

Hating on Beckham is weak. The guy has done great things for his country; more than any other active NT player can claim. Last year when England faced elimination, he was one of the only bright spots on the team.

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Spoken like a true "soccer" fan from the states.

He's done fuck all for his country of substance except ruin 3 fucking tournaments with his vain self indulgence and poor displays when it really matters

in the world cup 1998 he got himself sent off for a petulant kick and a 10 man england went out of the world cup.

in euro 2004 he was blatantly unfit and missed a key penalty against France.

in world cup 2006 he was responsible for the whole WAG circus and he contributed nothing on the pitch. He than cried the most self indulgent tears ever seen on the pitch when substituted against Portugal.

Right now he is in his rightful place a very useful pinch hitter.

As for Milan so what if theyre an ageing team. They are still incredible and a true connoseur appreciates them. They certainly dont need Beckham on the pitch. Beckham is coming in for the same role as he has for England as a short term pinch hitter to give them different options. He will do well there for 2 months. But i wouldnt be so sure if he was on a two year contract. His whole WAG/Beckham brand circus would take over.

Becks is worth more than you're giving him. His cross to Crouch for the one touch goal against Croatia was incredible. If he started that game they could have avoided the tragedy of the Wayne Bridge and Carson defence, simply on his offensive prowess.

Milan is an aging team, and it's sad seeing those old men always injured. It's so bad that the young guys on the team have started thinking they're old men too, and getting injured all the time as well. Is Milan one of the most prestigious clubs in the world? Yeah. So's Real Madrid, but I'd hate to see a player I like go to either team. Becks can go wherever he wants though because I don't care about him like that. He's a great player, has a huge ego, and is easy to hate on, just like Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and a lot of other top flight players out there. But he's still really good at what he does.

rugal2000 said:

Spoken like a true "soccer" fan from the states.

He's done fuck all for his country of substance except ruin 3 fucking tournaments with his vain self indulgence and poor displays when it really matters

in the world cup 1998 he got himself sent off for a petulant kick and a 10 man england went out of the world cup.

in euro 2004 he was blatantly unfit and missed a key penalty against France.

in world cup 2006 he was responsible for the whole WAG circus and he contributed nothing on the pitch. He than cried the most self indulgent tears ever seen on the pitch when substituted against Portugal.

Right now he is in his rightful place a very useful pinch hitter.

As for Milan so what if theyre an ageing team. They are still incredible and a true connoseur appreciates them. They certainly dont need Beckham on the pitch. Beckham is coming in for the same role as he has for England as a short term pinch hitter to give them different options. He will do well there for 2 months. But i wouldnt be so sure if he was on a two year contract. His whole WAG/Beckham brand circus would take over.

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Milan is an aging team, and it's sad seeing those old men always injured. It's so bad that the young guys on the team have started thinking they're old men too, and getting injured all the time as well. Is Milan one of the most prestigious clubs in the world? Yeah. So's Real Madrid, but I'd hate to see a player I like go to either team. Becks can go wherever he wants though because I don't care about him like that. He's a great player, has a huge ego, and is easy to hate on, just like Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and a lot of other top flight players out there. But he's still really good at what he does.

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I really dont understand people constantly calling Milan old as if just the fact they are a certain age makes them ready for retirement irrespective of how they are still amongst the best at what they do


Seems its so true what alan shearer said that once you reach the age of 30 your not allowed to simply have a bad game or get injured.It will always get attributed to your age.

And the relavence here is that Milan had one bad season last year in the league and europe.

That notwithstanding the 3-4 years before that they have been one of the most powerful skillful teams i have ever seen. They single handedly destroyed man utd at will 3-4 times in europe in that time. And the "miracle" of istanbul not withstanding they would have been double european champions in that time.

And that team that won the champions league and came second, still had other old guys like Cafu and costacurta. Hell maldini won the world cup in his late 30's he stays on cos he can.

You cant judge a milan player like say a player say in the premier league. Top level players from italy and brazil are different and seem to play so well into their mid and late 30's . These guys play in a less physical and slower more skilled and traditionally technical league, are usually devout christians and real proffesionals (not epl playboys).U think of guys like paolo di canio, ginafranco zola, romario who all played at a high level late in their 30's. and u mark my words deco, pirlo, totti and gattuso will be the same.

Its like Bernard Hopkins and randy couture still being on top in fighting.
Sure its time they were replaced but the younger guys havent been able to beat them yet.

Milan has this thing about drawing in players that are old. The fans aren't happy about it. That's why they get so excited about guys like Pato who are young and might represent the future. But the team right now has an over the hill Ronaldinho, who yeah, looks way better now than last year at Camp Nou, Old Seedorf, old Nesta, old Maldini, fat Ronaldo, and they're getting old beckham. This isn't like the other clubs. Would Inter do this? No. They would look for the younger talents out there, and probably get them. So I see AC Milan as an old man team. It's not enough Kaka, and too much caca.

rugal2000 said:

I really dont understand people constantly calling Milan old as if just the fact they are a certain age makes them ready for retirement irrespective of how they are still amongst the best at what they do


Seems its so true what alan shearer said that once you reach the age of 30 your not allowed to simply have a bad game or get injured.It will always get attributed to your age.

And the relavence here is that Milan had one bad season last year in the league and europe.

That notwithstanding the 3-4 years before that they have been one of the most powerful skillful teams i have ever seen. They single handedly destroyed man utd at will 3-4 times in europe in that time. And the "miracle" of istanbul not withstanding they would have been double european champions in that time.

And that team that won the champions league and came second, still had other old guys like Cafu and costacurta. Hell maldini won the world cup in his late 30's he stays on cos he can.

You cant judge a milan player like say a player say in the premier league. Top level players from italy and brazil are different and seem to play so well into their mid and late 30's . These guys play in a less physical and slower more skilled and traditionally technical league, are usually devout christians and real proffesionals (not epl playboys).U think of guys like paolo di canio, ginafranco zola, romario who all played at a high level late in their 30's. and u mark my words deco, pirlo, totti and gattuso will be the same.

Its like Bernard Hopkins and randy couture still being on top in fighting.
Sure its time they were replaced but the younger guys havent been able to beat them yet.

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I never got what makes good player join an US team, except for the money of course... No offense, but only a few of them can really play football...

And fuck that techno footie crap where 30+ players are considered old.

Takumaji said:

I never got what makes good player join an US team, except for the money of course... No offense, but only a few of them can really play football...

And fuck that techno footie crap where 30+ players are considered old.

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Having an old player or two isn't bad, but Milan is simply an old team, and they have no youth program worth talking about. Teams like Milan are going to poach youth products from Brescia or Trieste. It's not like Juventus where they have a good youth program.

Quoted by wasabi "Milan has this thing about drawing in players that are old. The fans aren't happy about it. That's why they get so excited about guys like Pato who are young and might represent the future. But the team right now has an over the hill Ronaldinho, who yeah, looks way better now than last year at Camp Nou, Old Seedorf, old Nesta, old Maldini, fat Ronaldo, and they're getting old beckham. This isn't like the other clubs. Would Inter do this? No. They would look for the younger talents out there, and probably get them. So I see AC Milan as an old man team. It's not enough Kaka, and too much caca.

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Over 12,000 people turned out at the san siro to greet ronaldinho. Id say that was a fair amount of excitement over an "over the hill ronaldinho" as you put it.
As for the bit about "old seedorf,old nesta, old maldini, fat ronaldo". Well for one thing Ronaldo isnt at the club anymore he was released 4 months ago and
Seedorf is still top class and 32 , and Maldini yes he is old, but he won a world cup at 38 ,only 2 years ago and a champions league only a year ago.
Also in most those cases milan didnt "sign old players", maldini, nesta and seedorf have been there for years and ronaldinho has been signed at 28 not 38.
The biggest joke tho is the bit about "This isn't like the other clubs. Would Inter do this? No. They would look for the younger talents out there, and probably get them."

Inter MIlan have a more aged squad and first team than AC Milan!!!!!!
Toldo 36, Materazzi 35, ,Javier Zanneti 35, Luis Figo 35 , Cordoba 32 Stankvich 30, Julio Cruz 34, Patrick Vieri who is more likely 36 than 32, Olivier dacourt 34, Hernon crespo 33 and other players like ibrahimovich, mancini and maicon are all in their late 20's the same age where you call Ronaldinho "Over the hill"!
Many of these signings have been when the players are already "old" eg Luis Figo and Viera.

LMAO Ronaldinho was over the hill when he left Barca because he gained so much weight from all that partying. Toldo is first team still, or just on PES? Who cares, because goalkeepers are often better with age. Inter does have a lot of older players, but Ibra and Chivu were their last two great acquisitions (forget Mancini, he was shit for Roma). Milan's great acquisitions? Old men.

Milan has a lot of very very loyal fans though. I don't like Inter or Milan tbh. Look at the banner on the forum and you'd figure that out.

rugal2000 said:

Over 12,000 people turned out at the san siro to greet ronaldinho. Id say that was a fair amount of excitement over an "over the hill ronaldinho" as you put it.
As for the bit about "old seedorf,old nesta, old maldini, fat ronaldo". Well for one thing Ronaldo isnt at the club anymore he was released 4 months ago and
Seedorf is still top class and 32 , and Maldini yes he is old, but he won a world cup at 38 ,only 2 years ago and a champions league only a year ago.
Also in most those cases milan didnt "sign old players", maldini, nesta and seedorf have been there for years and ronaldinho has been signed at 28 not 38.
The biggest joke tho is the bit about "This isn't like the other clubs. Would Inter do this? No. They would look for the younger talents out there, and probably get them."

Inter MIlan have a more aged squad and first team than AC Milan!!!!!!
Toldo 36, Materazzi 35, ,Javier Zanneti 35, Luis Figo 35 , Cordoba 32 Stankvich 30, Julio Cruz 34, Patrick Vieri who is more likely 36 than 32, Olivier dacourt 34, Hernon crespo 33 and other players like ibrahimovich, mancini and maicon are all in their late 20's the same age where you call Ronaldinho "Over the hill"!
Many of these signings have been when the players are already "old" eg Luis Figo and Viera.

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I agree with u about mancini I dont know what it is he does that makes him rated so highly.
Roma themselves tho are an enigma to me. Its been very odd the last two years seeing a top 2 Italian team so routinely handled and thrashed by man u.
And liverpool did the same again and again to Inter milan.
Still now the memory of calcipoli seems to be fading away,and inter have a seasoned european campaigner in morinho, the measuring stick will again be beating Milan, Inter and Juventus and not the fiorentina and roma's.

rugal2000 said:

I agree with u about mancini I dont know what it is he does that makes him rated so highly.
Roma themselves tho are an enigma to me. Its been very odd the last two years seeing a top 2 Italian team so routinely handled and thrashed by man u.
And liverpool did the same again and again to Inter milan.
Still now the memory of calcipoli seems to be fading away,and inter have a seasoned european campaigner in morinho, the measuring stick will again be beating Milan, Inter and Juventus and not the fiorentina and roma's.

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Fiorentina is nothing to worry about. A lot of talk but their rise was a fluke. Milan should have been there but everyone was injured. It happens. Look at Arsenal last year. Which btw, this might be arsenal's year. I'm not speaking as a fan, but speaking in light of somethign I found on football-chat.net.

Winners of La Liga and the Premier league
* 2000-2001 Real Madrid & Manchester United
* 2001-2002 Valencia & Arsenal
* 2002-2003 Real Madrid & Manchester United
* 2003-2004 Valencia & Arsenal
* 2004-2005 Barcelona & Chelsea
* 20005-2006 Barcelona & Chelsea
* 2006-2007 Real Madrid & Manchester United
* 2007-2008 Real Madrid & Manchester United

so far, Valencia has been bossing La Liga. Patterns happen.

Posted by Wasabi "Milan should have been there but everyone was injured. It happens. Look at Arsenal last year. Which btw, this might be arsenal's year. I'm not speaking as a fan, but speaking in light of somethign I found on football-chat.net."

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Its funny you say this could be Arsenals season. Cos the papers since yesterday are full of Arsenals premier league season is over after the debacles at Hull, Fulham, Tottenham, and now Stoke.
Harry Redknapp has come out with the same......but than he would wouldnt he?

i dont think you can blame Arsenal or MIlans poor seasons last year on injury.
In Arsenals case, wenger relied on kids and they served him gloriously until the last 6 weeks or so of the season when inexperience and tiredness kicked in. If perhaps he hadnt got rid of experienced guys and refused to hire experienced guys they could have quite easily won the champions league and league double. They threw it away. Playing the finest football in the league with young stars is all fine and good but just make sure you win something and Arsenal havent won the league for 4 years and counting and they havent won anything in europe either.1 champions league final which again ultimately they threw away is all they have to show for it.
Last year Wenger could say Eduardo, Rosicky and Van persie were injured but with the exception of Van persie who was a loss, I dont think Rosicky or eduardo were any better than alexander hleb or bendtner who were playing in their place in the team.At the end Thierry Henrys goals would have won them that league but he was sold to Barcelona.
Jose Mourinho is right, people look at wenger as a genius, they say he just unearths young players of the finest calibre again and again,that its a conveyor belt on a par with ajax of the 80's and 90's, that he sells their biggest stars/ best players (Anelka, Petit, Overmars, Viera, Henry and Hleb) but he does so when they have aalready peaked (anelka's late career ressurection an exception), and that he does so for good money and that Wenger never spends big money thats available to him, that he makes his own stars for no cost, but Mourinho is right when he says Wenger hasnt won anything for years and at a bigger club he would have been turfed out.

I personally dont agree with that, but its a fact if he had been at barca, real, milan, inter or chelsea he would have gone.
people might come out and say oh but arsenal are a small club. Thats crap, they are historically with Tottenham Londons biggest club, they have one of the top 2 stadums in the league, huge revenues from gates, one of the best scouting systems, and funds to buy the experince they need. I think its just wenger doesnt want to admit he was wrong to say he wouldnt sign players over 26, as they "have little resale value on a 4-5 year contract). Wenger is perpetually planning for the future, and in the meanwhile they have squandered the now.

An FA Cup and coming 2nd in the CL isn't good enough. It isn't good enough for our rivals and shouldn't be for us. And we wasn't unlucky last season. That squad was always going to fold at some point. The squad this year is even weaker. Every year we go back. And stop using the word transition for something which has been going on for 4 seasons and was unecessary anyway. Wenger chose to break up the Invinsibles so quickly. It wasn't forced on him. It was his decisions, over-30 policy and the implemintation of this ineffective youth policy (his personal experiment). And frustrations over ticket prices is not another issue, because if the team is successful, or at least, give 100% every week, then no fan would have an issue with paying for tickets. These group of players are not successful, nor are they giving anywhere near enough committment. And don't criticise fans for having a different opinion. Fans have every right to boo and every right to question their clubs heirachy. As for Wenger, I don't believe I've stated that he should be sacked. It's something I wouldn't be too sad to see however, and I'm critical of his post-04 decisions. But all I've said is that something major needs to be done and should have been done last season, but that doesn't mean 'wholesale changes'. I agree with those points regarding squad strenghtening and the need for more experience. But I do doubt that Wenger will give that, because why hasn't he done it in the last couple of years? Why refuse to spend the budget? Particularly this summer when fans were literally crying out for it. The board should be getting involved more than they do. Wenger is too comfortable in his job with no real pressure to deliver. I do also doubt his abilities in Europe, and think Arsenal need real European success. Our CV is very poor and 2nd place in 11 years of underachieving is nothing to shout about."

Nicely slotted away!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URfiw2eySuk

wasabi said:

Milan is an aging team, and it's sad seeing those old men always injured. It's so bad that the young guys on the team have started thinking they're old men too, and getting injured all the time as well. Is Milan one of the most prestigious clubs in the world?

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Fuck AC Milan and fuck Beckham he's worthless now and will never be what he once was, he should give up but now he will go to AC Milan and make a fool out of himself. Who wants to bet on that?

Neo Geo MVS said:

Fuck AC Milan and fuck Beckham he's worthless now and will never be what he once was, he should give up but now he will go to AC Milan and make a fool out of himself. Who wants to bet on that?

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he just scored in their last game. Granted they weren't playing a really strong team.

wasabi said:

he just scored in their last game. Granted they weren't playing a really strong team.

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We'll see how well he does.

We need a player like Beckham over here to help bring soccer to the masses in the U.S.

Hopefully Beckham's effect will be similar to if not greater than Gretzky's impact when he played for the Los Angeles Kings.

Lets Gekiga In said:

We need a player like Beckham over here to help bring soccer to the masses in the U.S.

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Not that I disagree with this sentiment, but it ain't gonna happen in this economy. Fans attending games is one thing, but if MLS has to compete with television stations and stadium rentals against MLB/NFL/NBA, they're gonna have to keep the player-pay lowballed until things get better.

Being a huge football fan myself, I can honestly say that the arrival of Beckham in the United States sent little to no shockwaves through the area where I live, and that being an area where youth association football drives middle-aged men and women crazy (in a good way), that's bad news.

Beckham's strengths are too subtle for the non-fans to appreciate. He's not the type of player to ignite passion to the MLS. He's a celebrity more than anything here.

Beckham distributes the ball well but he doesn't defend well. Watching him play on the Galaxy is a waste because his team sucks. Sure he can get them the ball, but then what? They'll have to do something with it and they can't/don't. There are some decent teams in the MLS, but the Galaxy suck. He looks bored and frustrated with them.

If Beckham has anything left in the tank, he shouldn't waste it here. We have athletes, but the mls players can't string three meaningful passes together and it's ugly.

I'm torn about his goal the other day. was it a brilliant shot or did the keeper mess up? I don't understand how the keeper gets beat on the near post from there?

GET IN!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La2Bl5qkaxw

Zero Satori said:

Not that I disagree with this sentiment, but it ain't gonna happen in this economy. Fans attending games is one thing, but if MLS has to compete with television stations and stadium rentals against MLB/NFL/NBA, they're gonna have to keep the player-pay lowballed until things get better.

Being a huge football fan myself, I can honestly say that the arrival of Beckham in the United States sent little to no shockwaves through the area where I live, and that being an area where youth association football drives middle-aged men and women crazy (in a good way), that's bad news.

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Where do you live?