What was first reported right here on Sideline Views yesterday indeed became official today.
David Beckham will not travel to Colorado with the Galaxy for Sunday's match against the Rapids. The Galaxy just sent across a press release stating as much.
Here's the relevant information straight from the press release:
Head Coach Frank Yallop made the decision Friday afternoon after evaluating Beckham’s condition following last night’s Galaxy match with Chivas USA, in which the midfielder played the full 90 minutes. Beckham left the field limping last night after a hard-fought game and was seen grimacing in pain throughout the contest, which was Beckham’s third in six days.
"While it’s regrettable that he will not get the opportunity to play in Colorado this season, we have to focus on healing David’s injury,” said Galaxy President and General Manager Alexi Lalas. “He will rest this weekend in LA while preparing for our SuperLiga final match on Wednesday.”
“I’m really disappointed to not be able to play my first match in Colorado, when I was there for the All-Star Game it looked like a fantastic stadium,” said Beckham. “I’d love to be on the pitch with my team this Sunday, but our training staff has advised me that it would be detrimental to not only my health for this game but for the rest of the season as well. Thanks to all the fans that have supported me these last few weeks; I look forward to making it out to Colorado for our next scheduled match there.”
What strikes me is the Galaxy admitting that Beckham was in so much pain he was "grimacing in pain throughout the contest" yet still having let him play the entire match. I don't think he should have played at all, that he shouldn't even have been in uniform for the game, but instead he played the entire game and it completely backfired on him and the Galaxy. Not only did the Galaxy get their hats handed to them on a platter, they've done so essentially at the expense of Sunday's match. Colorado is well-rested and has already beaten the Galaxy in DSG once this season.
I wonder if this will have any implications as it did in Dallas, if the Galaxy will play some sort of friendly at DSG before next season or something. I'm guessing probably not because the Dallas game was a SuperLiga game and this is a regular-season match. However, to have bought a ticket to this game required the purchase of tickets to other games as far as I understand.
It seems for this upcoming week anyway that the Galaxy have put the regular season in the background for the SuperLiga final. The Galaxy's putting all their dollar bills in one wallet, though, as the SuperLiga final is their best chance of touching any hardware this year.
5 comments:
Lalas and Yallop should both be canned at the end of the season. They have really made some major miscalls due to having the stars in their eyes with the Beckham thing. Not to mention the frenetic trading and piss poor record the Galaxy have to show for this year, despite the talent on the squad. They're both likable for the most part, but this is a no brainer.
I'm not sure that beating Pachuca is really a best-chance scenario.
It is easy to see that the Beckham situation has been handled in an immature fashion by the coaching staff, likely due to pressure from the general manager. It was incredible that Beckham started, it was unbelievable that he stayed on the pitch the whole game. To say that he wanted to be out there- well admire the size of his balls but he is headed for an extended layoff and permanent damage if he keeps this up. Don't be surprised if Pachuca sends some hard fouls toward that fragile ankle in the first 10 minutes. They will not let Beckham beat them, they have too much experience in cup situations.
Will Yallop now admit that even a monkey would have made the right choice of pulling Beckham in the 60th minute of Wednesday's match. It is too bad Lalas was allowed to decimate the team's lineup to a point where there is no one capable of subbing on for Beckham and improving the team when Beckham is playing terribly and injuring himself. LA haas sunk to a new low.
My concern is that if Yallop made a decision to rest Beckham based on his medical condition it must really be dire! Hope this isn't another hidden serious set-back, although its hard to imagine how one could have been avoided under the circumstances.
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