We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
It' s Beckham time, lads! Or is it? We all know that his gammy ankle will prevent him from starting against Chelski tonight, but let's hope that Goldenballs will be able to shake it off and at least play fifteen or twenty minutes in the second half.
posted by gatorbob @ 8:36 PM
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
43 Comments:
There's so much starf&%$ing going on in the ESPN coverage, you'd be forgiven for forgetting that there's a footie match on offer here tonight.
Good sign that Becks is dressed to play. Hoping for the best - would love to see the big man pop a free kick in.
First chance to see the new look Chelski too with Flaurent Malouda playing wide left.
The Galaxy debuting their new kit, which looks suspiciously like Real Madrid. And let's not forget that Abel Xavier is debuting for the Galaxy tonight and will certainly go straight into the All-time MLS Best Hair XI.
Chelski pinging the ball well in the opening stages here and definitely looking to go to Didier Drogba every time.
Interesting comments from the commentary team about the tension between Landycakes and Becks - who will take the free kicks, corners, etc. No question for me.
It's fairly obvious that Chelski are one striker too short. Drogba's a workhorse and will score 20+ goals a season but they need another striker who will net another 15 for them. Sheva's already shown that he's not up to the task and will probably follow Becks back to the MLS next season. And I'm not at all sold on Kalou.
Nice chance for Cobi Jones but Peter Cech gobbles up the rebound.
I like the serious look on Becks's face. Now that the camera's are off, he's all about the biz. He's checking the runs, looking for patterns in the play. I can't believe that he isn't going to improve this Galaxy side.
Waldo's right - this is the best Galaxy performance of the season. I reckon that Xavier is part of that; he's been excellent, cleaning everything up in the back and snuffing out chances for Drogba.
Best chance of the game so far and it falls to the Galaxy. Great ball in from the veteran Cobi Jones and Martino really squandered a golden opportunity with the header.
Bit of flair there from an unlikely source - Ben Haim - jinking out wide and sending a good cross in there. Close call.
I'm really impressed by Drew Carey there. He's clearly a fan, knows what he's talking about and called out ESPN on missing the goal at the All-Star Game the other night. Nice one!
Good stuff from Joe Cannon there. I don't know why he doesn't get into the U.S. squad these days with Keller, Friedel and Hahnemann at the end of their careers.
The Galaxy is getting a lot of set pieces here that you know that Becks is dreaming about. Xavier looks to be a decent target from free kicks and corners.
These camera angles are making me sick again. They're swinging the camera around for free kicks so that it's pointed straight at the goal.
Ben Haim seems to be playing as a winger - bizarre!
Alright, we're heading toward half time. We didn't really expect to see Goldenballs in this half but it would be nice to see him trotting down the sideline fairly early on in the second.
Half-time - 0-0 Not quite the showcase yet with Chelski not putting a lot into this one. It's clearly set up for some Beckham heroics in the second half.
Lexi says that he's a betting man and that he'll bet that we're going to see the great man in the second half. Let's hope so. I know that Lexi keeps saying that Becks in here for five years but ESPN have laid on 19 cameras for tonight including a Beckham cam and he really needs to show up.
John Obi Mikel and Joe Cole have come on for Chelski at the half.
Sheva's on as well, for what it's worth.
It's all Chelski here so far in the second half.
GOAL! John Terry rattles one off the post after set piece. The Galaxy have been poor at clearing their lines after corners and Terry was the third person to have a bite at the cherry there.
Right, we're fifty five minutes in and I'd really like to see Becks up off the bench soon.
Chelski have one called back for offside. Close call.
Not a good sign. Cobi Jones is coming off but it's not Becks taking his place. That would have been an ideal time and position to introduce Becks into.
Pavon has just been crunched. Seemingly another chance to introduce Becks. We're nearly 60 minutes in now.
Beckham's getting a huge ovation merely for lacing his boots up on the bench. Incredible anticipation here.
Peter Vagenas has come on for Pavon. Beckham was indicating something there like that he didn't want to go yet. He must come on at some point.
Right, finally he's up off the bench and it does look as if we'll get to see a cameo from Goldenballs.
Oh dear, Becks has now disappeared down the tunnel to get his ankle re-wrapped.
And Landycakes has blown a wide open header over the bar. Good old Waldo has ripped him another one for it too.
Martino comes out and still no Beckham moment. We're at less than twenty minutes left now.
Lamps comes off to be replaced by Steve Sidwell. Glen Johnson for Malouda, who didn't show me much today.
Beckham's back and now he's running the full circuit of the pitch. Now, straight on David.
More basketball references from Dave O'Brien there.
And here comes David Beckham!
It was interesting to see Landycakes make an effort to come over and welcome Becks as he ran on the pitch.
First touch for Becks and he launches a forty yard ball out wide. We'll be looking for more of the same in the weeks and months to come.
Essien has been caught with a nasty elbow there by Yasich. Can't have been deliberate but it still hurts.
Three minutes plus stoppage time now. It would be nice to have a chance for Becks to hit a free kick.
He's playing deep in central midfield - not really where he's going to have much impact.
Got home just at the final whistle. we have been at a Six Flags theme park. I didn't think I would be back so late.
I guess Chelski wone 1-0.
How did Becks do?
Just co-opted the tv in the IOP . . . won't be able to stay on the LOB tonight, sorry . . . will be reading Harry Potter before too long . . .
Becks only got fifteen minutes and he was clearly concerned about tweaking his ankle. He mainly played the kind of Ruud Gullit at Chelski kind of role deep in midfield and spraying long balls around.
There was also one horrible moment when Essien completely clattered him. But he got up and seemed to shake it off. Hope it doesn't set him back. Hopefully within a week or two he'll be able to play the whole ninety minutes, because if he becomes known as the guy who's being paid megabucks and only makes fleeting cameo appearances in between long absences through injury, we're all in trouble.
It wasn't Essien that clattered Goldenballs. It was Sidwell, but to Beck's credit, he got up and shook it off.
He looks like he needs two weeks more minimum before regaining fitness. From the moment he came on, he took up a ball-averse position either behind the play, or so close to a Chelsea midfielder that no-one would think of squaring it to him. Not the debut that the MLS was looking for, but no tragedy either.
Weren't you more surprised that of all people, Abel Xavier AKA Poseidon, God of those watery depths of SoCal, was as good as he was last night? He was a rock and stopped Drogba, Sheva, Kalou, and Cole in their tracks. He was monumental.
I did notice Xavier and I reckon it's all about the gulf in quality. Let's be honest, Titus Bramble and Zat Knight could form the tightest central defense pairing that MLS has ever seen. That's why I reckon that when Becks gets his ankle right, he's going to prosper.
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