I watched the LA Galaxy clobber the San Jose Earthquakes last weekend thanks to Edson Buddle’s hat trick. David Beckham’s name was barely mentioned a half dozen times, he was that inconsequential in the win. So far he has been rugged, injury free, playing almost a 1000 minutes, scoring some important goals, and assisting in half a dozen more. He also leads unsurprisingly, the fan balloting for the All Star MLS team. He is an important reason for the LA Galaxy’s top spot in the Western Division.
But his contribution has been overshadowed by Landon Donovan, Alan Gordon, and Edson Buddle, who between them, have scored 20 goals and assisted in a dozen more which comes as a great relief because it means that the MLS is more than just Beckham. It also proves the preening braggadocio of Alexi Lalas and Don Garber when Beckham came into town. With the advent of Becks there would be no daylight between the MLS and the Premiership.
As it stands, Beckham is not even in the running for the Golden Boot. A marked climbdown for the anointed saviour of the MLS.