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Week six still sees MLS as a mighty muddy place as no team in either conference seems to really be racing out of the gates. New England seems to be the team in the best position to do such a thing over the next couple weeks, however, there is just as much a chance that they will slip up and KC, NY or Chicago could be up on top. In the West, it is even murkier. Without a TFC to snag points from, just about everyone is a win away from a playoff position.

Talking about the two conferences, the East still has the better record at 7-4-4 even though the West pulled off a 2-1-1 record this week.

Needless to say, with all the mud, there is not a lot of movement in the ratings.

1. New England Revolution (Last week - 1) - This team looks to be coming together as their passing is getting amazing and they are finding ways to flood the box. Matt Reis and his defense are holding strong, although the backline still shifts out of position a bit too often.

2. Kansas City Wizards (3) - The fact that KC lost this week and still moved up says something about the league as a whole. Anyway, the Wizards really should have got the win as their offense was sending in strong shot after strong shot, however FCD's goalkeeper Dario Sala keep KC from getting any points. The good news for KC is not every team will have such a strong goal minder.

3. New York Red Bull (2) - Sunday afternoon was a disgrace to the club. It was one of the worst showings by any team this season, yet they only lost by a goal. NY is looking better then last year, but their recent trade is in a bad direction. Also, if they need Claudio Reyna to keep their midfield steady, they are going to be in for many headaches this season.

4. Houston Dynamo (5) - The Dynamo had a week off so Dwayne De Rosario could show off his newish haircut.

5. FC Dallas (6) - They got the win in KC thanks to the wonderful work of Sala, but their offense is still lacking in force. They need to find a better plan for distributing the ball and holding it as Sala is good but asking him to make at least 10 difficult saves a match is not a way to win games.

6. Chicago Fire (4) - For the second week in a row this club was absent. They had no attack and each defender was trying to play more out of position then the others. It really was a disgusting display of soccer. Much like the Red Bulls, Chicago is okay over the full season, but their current direction is not a good one.

7. Colorado Rapids (7) - Both their Thursday game against Real and their Sunday game against New York saw the team leave huge open pockets but the good news for the Rapids is neither side was capable of exploiting it. Still, to play two poor games and get four points says something.

8. Los Angeles Galaxy (8) - They finally get their offense going across the board (ie not just Donovan), but their defense can't collapse fast enough. Their set pieces are looking a bit better but this is a club without a strategy.

9. DC United (9) - DC United had the week off to celebrate Jamie Moreno finally getting called back up for national team duty with Bolivia.

10. Columbus Crew (10) - Oh the Crew, how can you stay angry with them? Their defend all the time plan seems to be working for them as they at picking up ties at a remarkable pace, but at some point they are going to crack. It might be good but it might not be.

11. Chivas USA (11) - Different week, same issue as the goats seem to need at least 10 chances at goal before they will actually make something of it. If you can't get a win against a Crew team that is almost mocking you by giving you so much time what hope do you have against teams that actually attack?

12. Real Salt Lake (12) - Okay, good news first, they have not lost a match in two games. Bad news, they still are confused on the pitch. As much fun as it was to watch Adu run through the Rapids wide-open spaces, his lack of smart decision-making at the end of those runs was difficult to watch. Also, RSL's defense was just about as all over the place as the Fire's.

13. Toronto FC (13) - They not only got a goal, they got a win. It was a great afternoon for the team from Canada, but is this just a one time deal? If they can play like that every home match and eek out a few ties on the road, they will be in a great spot. However, their whole season seems to point to that being a difficult result to imagine.

By Simon Evans

MIAMI, Florida (Reuters) - U.S. soccer players are hoping that the impending big-money arrival of David Beckham in Major League Soccer will make them all a little bit richer.

Beckham signed for MLS side LA Galaxy in January in a deal which will earn him a reported $250 million over five years in overall earnings.

The top earning American player in MLS is Claudio Reyna who is on a $1 million deal with New York.

Beckham's career in the U.S, is expected to begin in August but the money-spinning around his move has already begun.

Celebrity Web sites reported earlier this month that Beckham and his pop star wife Victoria have bought a 13,000 sq foot, nine-bathroom home in Beverly Hills valued at $22 million. Victoria will chronicle the family's move to LA in a six-episode reality show for U.S. television.

That is an unthinkable figure for any other player in a league which, in financial terms, remains dwarfed by the U.S.'s traditional sports of basketball, baseball and American football.

Even without the sponsorship and marketing deals, the former England captain's basic annual salary of $5.5 million is more than 50 times the average for the league according to salary figures released by the MLS Players Union.

Beckham's new team-mate LA Galaxy forward Robbie Findley earns a salary of just $36,000 but the union believes overall player earnings could rise as a result of the 31-year-old's move from Spain's Real Madrid.

"The interesting thing is that he negotiated a deal which was based on what the market would bear for his services which unfortunately does not happen that often in the MLS," union executive director Bob Foose told Reuters.

Unlike in Europe, where clubs strike individual deals with players, nearly all MLS salary arrangements are set by the league itself.

Beckham signed for Galaxy under a new 'designated player' arrangement which allows each club to sign one player on their own terms. The two next best paid players in MLS are both designated players - Mexican Cuauhtemoc Blanco who will play for Chicago Fire, is set to bring in $2.5 million while Colombian striker Juan Pablo Angel will earn $1.5 million with New York Red Bulls according to the union's figures.

PRIVATE MATTER

An MLS official declined to comment on the player earnings and the league issued a statement saying: "We do not comment on the salaries of our players because it is a private matter and not appropriate for us to do so."

Foose hopes that in the future more players will be able to strike individual deals such as Beckham's.

"He has negotiated a deal on his market value - and that is great. There are not many players worth what he is but it is about accessing a real market," he said.

"The reason that we published the numbers was the hope that it creates upward pressure on salaries. We hope Beckham can create that upward pressure. I don't want to overstate the influence of one player but it helps. Average salaries have been increasing in the past year," said Foose.

The union chief said that U.S. players also suffer from a lack of competition - English and European clubs, among the biggest payers in world soccer, are deterred from signing American players due to work permit restrictions.

 

After being beaten by Roma, Inter Milan had to wait a little longer to clinch the Serie A. However Roma’s 2-1 loss at the hands of Atalanta and Inter beating Siena by the same margin means that the Nerazzuri are now this season’s Serie A champions. Inter are now on 84, with Roma on 68, with both the teams have 5 games left in the season.
Without Juventus being there and with Milan and Lazio being docked points at the start of the season for their alleged role in the match fixing scandal, Inter were favourites from the very beginning. Inter were also declared winners of the 2005-2006 edition after the court verdict of the match fixing scandal. Inter had originally finished third last season.

For Roma, the only consolation might be the fact that Francesco Totti is leading the goal charts. Inter were undefeated this season until the loss to Roma, and the Gialarossi can take pride in that fact. They are still the only team to have defeated Internazionale in the league this season.

Another good news for Inter fans- Roberto Mancini has signed a 4 year extension to his contract, which means that he will stay at the San Siro till 2011. There were rumours that he might be replaced due to Inter not peforming upto standards in Europe, but this happening, has for the moment silenced those rumours.

http://arsenalnewsblog.com/2007/04/10/6-minutes-and-4-seconds-of-franck-ribery/ 

 

Move over David Beckham. There is a new king on top of the ridiculously large mountain of money paid to footballers. According to Forbes magazine annual list of top paid football players, Barcelona’s Ronaldinho supplanted Beckham as the player with the most money entering his bank account in 2006.

None of the players on the Forbes list are likely to be declaring bankruptcy soon. Here are the top 10 best paid footballers. Based on just list, who would you say is the most overpaid and who is the most underpaid (yes, that is a tough term to use when you are talking this kind of money, but go ahead and play along).

Top Earning Footballers in 2006

1. Ronaldinho - $29.5 million, £16 million, €23.5 million
2. David Beckham - $29.1 million, £15.8 million, €23.2 million
3. Ronaldo - $23.4 million, £12.7 million, €18.6 million
4. Wayne Rooney - $17.2 million, £9.3 million, €13.7 million
5. Michael Ballack - $16.8 million, £9.1 million, €13.4 million
6. Thierry Henry - $15.8 million, £8.6 million, €12.6 million
7. Zinedine Zidane - $15.6 million, £8.5 million, €12.4 million
8. Fabio Cannavaro - $14.6 million, £7.9 million, €11.6 million
9. John Terry - $14.3 million, £7.7 million, €11.4 million
10. Steven Gerrard - $14.2 million, £7.7 million, €11.3 million

CARSON, Calif. – With their soccer cleats, shin guards and a mix of determination and delusion, they came here from as far as Italy, Norway and Japan in pursuit of the same dream: to play alongside David Beckham as a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Their odds were even longer than the registration lines on Saturday, when 800 players showed up at the team’s headquarters. And to think the hopefuls could have numbered in the thousands.

After the Galaxy signed Beckham a month ago, they announced they would hold open tryouts for a spot on the Major League Soccer team. It was as if the Beatles had taken out a classified ad looking for a drummer before they settled on Ringo Starr.

Beckhamania ensued, and online applications quickly climbed over 1,500 before Galaxy officials capped the number at 800. Team officials accepted only men 18 and older with some formal soccer experience who were willing to pay $130 for a tryout that for most would last one hour.

Coaches scouted the players during 60-minute games, and at the end of the day they huddled to select about 100 players that would be brought back Sunday. From that group, the coaches planned to pick up to three players that would join the Galaxy for a week of training camp starting Monday and, if luck and talent held up, could join the team full time.

 Beckham will have no say in the matter. For one, he’s not even around. His wife, Posh, made a recent trip here to find a suitable mansion, but her husband is still playing for Real Madrid in Spain and won’t arrive in Los Angeles until July. Yet Galaxy officials said they have sold 5,000 season tickets since they announced the signing of Beckham, and the tryouts once again put the Galaxy back in the headlines.

Heading off accusations before anyone could make them, Galaxy general manager Alexis Lalas repeatedly declared, “This is not a publicity stunt.’’ Yet there was BBC Television, preparing for a live report outside the Home Depot Center at 7 a.m., more than an hour before the first games would begin. They were part of a mini-British invasion, with other British networks and newspapers on hand to document the tryouts that included about 50 players from England.

In addition to representatives from at least half a dozen countries, the 800 players on hand included a 33-year-old bartender from Miami, a 27-year-old truck driver from Orange County and a 23-year-old marine mammal observer from Florida. Actually, make that former marine mammal observer.

Artie Ahr, who said it got lonely watching for whales on the decks of vessels off of the Florida coast, recently quit his job to focus on preparing for the Galaxy tryouts.

“This was a shot at my new job,’’ he said after his one-hour game. “This was my job interview.’’

In shifts, the players began filing onto the fields at 8 a.m., and the Galaxy began searching for a diamond in the rough – very, very rough. Watching the tryouts was as amusing, heartwarming and painful as watching "American Idol."

Simon Cowell should have been on hand. But Lalas, a standout on the 1994 U.S. World Cup team, proved to be a capable fill-in. Four hours into the session, he took a phone call from someone who informed him that Beckham had just scored a goal for Real Madrid. It brightened his spirits, if only momentarily.

Lalas lamented the number of beer bellies he’d already seen.

“It’s disrespectful to soccer and disrespectful to the Galaxy,’’ huffed Lalas. “Look, I can accept if you suck. But you can control whether or not you’re in good shape.’’

Paula Abdul was nowhere to defend the beer-bellied.

Fortunately, some of the players were fit and fast and somewhat skilled. Many of their stories were better than their skills.

Take Kevin Payne, the 28-year-old school teacher from England. Galaxy team officials heard about Payne long before Saturday, and not because of his soccer skills. After registering for the tryouts, he started his own website: www.getme2thegalaxy.co.uk in hopes of raising money for his trip and getting a few laughs. He got more yuks than bucks.

The homepage includes a copy of the Galaxy’s ad trumpeting Beckham’s arrival with one small adjustment. Payne superimposed a picture of his head over Beckham’s. Visitors learned more about Payne’s plans which included, “the task of getting fit, getting good and getting enough money to get to LA, all in 3 weeks. Am I dumb? You bet!’’

And there he was Saturday, wearing a bright red jersey with the No. 2 – that number squeezed into his slogan “Get Me 2 The Galaxy.’’

A gray-haired man walked past, grinned at Payne and said, “So you made it here?’’

“Yep.’’

“Good for you,’’ the man said.

On a day that begged for a reality TV crew, here was the catch: The man knew exactly who Payne was, but Payne hadn’t the foggiest idea who the man was. Suddenly Payne began to sound nervous.

“I’m worried when I get on the field they’re going to think I’m supposed to be brilliant,’’ Payne said.

He put those expectations to rest quickly.

There was the BBC announcer, an amiable but short and stocky woman who remarked, “Let’s say some of them, I can play better than.’’ Later in the day, the Galaxy’s head coach almost confirmed as much, saying he’d spotted two or three "pretty good players," but the BBC producer did not seem to be among them.

There was the father who watched his 20-year-old son, Joe, controlling the ball at midfield and confessed, “We’re not real Beckham fans because Joe will be after his position.’’ After Joe made the Galaxy, that is.

And then there was Brian Campbell, a 38-year-old goalkeeper who said he did an eight-year tour with the Army that included a frontline stint during the Gulf War. It prepared him well.

Three minutes into his game Saturday, an opposing player blasted a 30-yard shot past Campbell and into the upper right-hand corner of the goal. He looked like a soldier who’d lost his unit. By the time the game finished, he’d lost track of the score, but figured he’d given up at least eight goals.

“I haven’t seen that much shelling since the first day of Basra,’’ he said, referring to his tour during the Gulf War.

But player after player willingly walked onto the battlefield, and understandably. Can you imagine the Los Angeles Lakers holding an open tryout to play alongside Kobe Bryant? Or the Indianapolis Colts holding an open tryout to play alongside Peyton Manning?

The international players seemed stunned but pleased to hear the Galaxy’s plans considering open tryouts in Europe are virtually unheard of. They were even more encouraged when they heard that the Galaxy held a similar tryout in 1999, where they discovered Marvin Quijano, an El Salvadoran who made the team and played in 32 games over four seasons.

Somewhere between dawn and dusk, the 800 players got their shot to catch the coaches’ eyes – or, just as likely, turn their stomachs – during a 60-minute match.

As promised, by 9 p.m., the team posted a list of players selected to return Sunday. For some, the dream of playing alongside Beckham would last at least one more day.

 

From Josh Peter a writer for Yahoo! Sports.

Beckham was among the celebrities photographed in roles of Disney movie characters last month during a "Year of a Million Dreams" promotion for Walt Disney theme parks.

The international soccer star, marketing giant and fashion icon was photographed as the prince from "Sleeping Beauty," astride a white horse and fighting a fire-breathing dragon.

"There were many Disney characters I liked as a kid," Beckham said in a statement released by Disney on Friday. "Now my sons love the Disney characters and it's a big part of their lives, a big part of many children's lives around the world. So to be part of that is an honor and very exciting."

The photo, shot at a lake near Madrid by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, will appear in magazines such as Vanity Fair and Vogue in March.

The 31-year-old midfielder with Real Madrid signed a recent five-year deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS and will join the club this summer. His wife, former Spice Girl Victoria, has been spotted house-hunting in Southern California.

Other photos for the Disney campaign feature singer-actress Beyonce Knowles as Alice in Wonderland and actress Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella.

Liebovitz wanted people who were "globally iconic" and Beckham was "an instinctive choice," Disney spokesman Duncan Wardle said.

The celebrities helped decide which characters they would portray, and Beckham liked the idea of "a hero role," Wardle said.

"Each of the celebrities had fun dressing up," he said. "Disney allows you to become a child again. ... These guys had permission for the day, and I think they thoroughly enjoyed it."

Associated Press

The 24-year-old Onyewu, who was named this year's U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year, will move from Belgian team Standard Liege if he passes medical tests at Newcastle on Monday.

Onyewu started all three matches for the U.S. team at last year's World Cup in Germany, and has scored one goal in 17 internationals since his debut in October 2004.

Onyewu has scored eight goals in 93 games for Standard Liege since joining in 2004.

The center back had also been linked with Chelsea, Lyon, Fulham Middlesbrough and Real Madrid.

Newcastle is 12th in the Premier League with 30 points. The Magpies have struggled with injuries and have won only one of their last seven matches.

Associated Press

 

 

Newcastle are considering an audacious bid to land Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko on a five-month loan deal. (News of the World)

David Beckham will not be buying American outfit LA Galaxy but is expected to consider offers from Major League Soccer sides in the summer. (Mail on Sunday)

Bolton boss Sam Allardyce is planning a double swoop for Everton's James Beattie and Deportivo La Coruna Aldo Duscher. (Sunday Express, Star on Sunday)

Chelsea midfielder Lassana Diarra is set to end his nightmare at Stamford Bridge with a move to Marseille. (News of the World, Star on Sunday)

Newcastle are prepared to James Milner and Steve Carr in part-exchange for £10m-rated Charlton striker Darren Bent. (Mail on Sunday, Star on Sunday)

Tottenham are planning a January swoop for Manchester City defender Sylvain Distin. (Star on Sunday)

Birmingham defender Matthew Upson has put Liverpool, Tottenham and Portsmouth on alert by revealing he could be sold next month. (News of the World, People)

Sheffield United are leading the chase for Lillestrom striker Michael Mifsud. (News of the World)

Charlton boss Les Reed is bidding to make Gillingham starlet Matthew Jarvis his first signing. (People, Star on Sunday)

Manchester United will recall young striker Giuseppe Rossi next month from his loan spell at Newcastle. (Sunday Telegraph)

Watford boss Adrian Boothroyd wants to sign five players in January to beat the drop. (News of the World)

Arsenal are planning a shock swoop for out-of-favour Chelsea defender Glen Johnson. (People, Star on Sunday)

Chelsea are lining up a £5m move for Valencia defender Miguel in the January transfer window. (News of the World, Star on Sunday)

Portsmouth are interested in signing Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie. (People)

Sheffield United boss Neil Warnock wants to sign Egyptian duo Amr Zaki and Ibrahim Said. (News of the World)

Wigan boss Paul Jewell is chasing Lens £2.5m-rated midfielder Seydou Keita. (People)

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is lining up a bid for Portsmouth right-back Andy Griffin. (News of the World)

Liverpool look set to win the race against Everton and Middlesbrough to sign Derby midfielder Giles Barnes. (various)

Middlesbrough midfielder Gaizka Mendieta is set to join Malaga in the January transfer window. (People)

Paul Telfer will leave Celtic at the end of the season and could quit football because his family have failed to settle in Scotland. (News of the World/Sunday Post)

Celtic will lead the chase for unsettled Hibernian midfielder Scott Brown. (Sunday Post)

Arsenal say they will not sell striker Anthony Stokes in January following his loan spell with Falkirk. (News of the World)

Cardiff City want Celtic midfielder Stephen Pearson to boost their promotion push. (Star on Sunday)

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