He Went Where?!

One of the several reasons I was drawn to Arsenal when I first became a fan was a certain French player known as Thierry Henry. Actually, his skill was probably the only reason I started tracking Arsenal and then I fell in love with other aspects of the club.

Anyways, a few years ago the legendary Henry moved to Barcelona, a semi-favorite team of mine, and although he was good, Barcelona has a lot of stars and Henry didn't shine like at Arsenal.

This summer I was in basic training for the army. A soccer fan stuck without soccer news in a World Cup transfer window. I knew I was bound to miss some transfers, but I thought I had been pretty much caught up back in September (had a few surprises there, but none too drastic).

Yesterday I found out I had not been completely caught up. While I was learning to be a soldier, Thierry Henry transferred to Red Bull New York. The MLS. The US. There must not have been a lot of fanfare about it because it took me six months to find out.

I guess Henry's move shows that US soccer has a long way to go. Yes, we can get excited over David Beckham, but Henry's career is just as illustrious. And he's actually won a World Cup Trophy.

I don't know if I can accurately describe the shock that came over me with the news of Henry's transfer. I now finally realized why I hadn't been hearing about him at Barcelona. He wasn't there. He's in the US. You can probably figure out what I'm gonna try to do with some of my summer with Henry playing in the MLS......

Glazers

It's hard to believe that two weeks ago 18 inches of snow was dropped on my yard. I was so sore of shoveling and just thought it was a huge pain in the butt. But then it started warming up a bit. I wore shorts all this week. And now the snow is almost gone. It's been SO warm that 18 inches of snow is almost one. It kind of reminds me of my senior year. All that snow is like the beginning of the year; a pain in the butt. But now, the snow is almost melted and I'm almost ready to graduate. How Exciting!

As an Arsenal fan, it's my duty to not really like Manchester United. Actually, I started liking Arsenal because I didn't like Manchester United.
The Glazer family practically owns United. But fans are starting to not like that. I've seen a number that they've put United 1 billion in debt. So fans are starting to fight back. They want to take over ownership of their team even though United is arguabally one of the the best teams in the world. They have started a movenemt to kick the Glazers out using the original green and gold of United from a long time ago. What's greater is, even though he denies supporting it, former United player David Beckham walked off the pitch of the Champion's League United v. Milan game with a green and gold scarf.
Something's got to change if the United fans don't like it. And even though I don't like them, I hpe they get the change they want. If the Glazers take over much more, I'm scared for the future.

The Beckham Experiment

I’m not much of a fan of David Beckham. I consider him on my list of least favorite players along with Christiano Ronaldo. But reading the book The Beckham Experiment changed my point of view some. Becks may not be totally to blame for the problems surrounding him.




Grant Wahl followed the Beckham story around since before Becks actually got to the LA Galaxy. He interviewed many key players in the saga, including Beckham himself and Beckham’s not as famous teammate Landon Donovan.



The book chronicles David Beckham’s attempt to crack the US soccer market wide open. It explains the good, the bad, and the ugly about everything that happened.



Based on the first half of the book, I gained a bit of sympathy for Beckham. There were other forces besides him getting him to the US, and those interests did not always look out for what would be the best for Beckham.



The problems in the second half of the book, I would like to place the blame more on Beckham. The forces present in the first part of the book weren’t as prominent, and it seemed like Beckham gave up on soccer in the US.



Yes, Donovan, US’s most famous player, slams Beckham at times for his lack of leadership or work ethic. But he also is complimentary to him at times. He is not totally anti-Beckham. He’s just a lot closer to seeing the problems and not idol worshipping a famous man.



I still don’t like Beckham as much as a lot of people. But Grant Wahl’s book has given me an insight on the going-ons of David Beckham in the US. The story is still not complete and it’s ending is anticipated.


Definitely a book that I was looking forward to reading. I thought it would be a bash Beckham book, but it turned out to be a book with amazing insight to a sticky situation.