1 man went to bed, went to bed with Ashley, 1 man and his mobile phone, went to bed with Ashley

I was fortunate enough to get tickets for the last home game in the Grove's debut season, and the atmosphere was tremendous yesterday. Unfortunately a certain cowardly left-back failed to appear - not on the pitch, on the bench, and not even in the stadium. It was disappointing because fans had probably been preparing all season for this moment, and all the songs that had been prepared had scant opportunity to be sung, but i've decided to theme this post accordingly.

2 men went to bed, went to bed with Ashley, 2 men, 1 man and his mobile phone, went to bed with Ashley

Arsenal once again showed all their failings of the season, and Chelsea showed their strengths. Arsenal went under the cosh from the kick-off, but recovered well to have a strong spell of posession, and then one the stroke of half-time when Julio Baptista broke free of the last man and was brought down in the penalty box, Gilberto duly tucked away the penalty. As a bonus, Boulahrouz was also sent off for being the last man. Arsenal had the initiatve now, and for the first 10 minutes of the second-half they had bags of chances.

3 men went to bed, went to bed with Ashley, 3 men, 2 men, 1 man and his mobile phone, went to bed with Ashley

And that was symbolic of the season really; Adebayor, Hleb, and notably (and unsurprisingly) Baptista all squandered chances, and Arsenal conceded an equaliser from a cross - sloppy marking as usual, Michael Essien heading in at the near post. Chelsea had shown great resilience in coming back into the game, and as the fullbacks pushed up for Arsenal, they somehow managed to dominate possession with their 10 men.

4 men went to bed, went to bed with Ashley, 4 men, 3 men, 2 men, 1 man and his mobile phone, went to bed with Ashley

Some good singing on the day - "F*ck Off Mourinho", "Shit Club, No History", "Liverpool", and "Ashley Cole, is a f*cking arseh*le" amongst others. I did enjoy the "Sacked in the summer, you're getting sacked in the summer" whenever Jose Mourinho began his histrionics.

5 men went to bed, went to bed with Ashley, 5 men, 4 men, 3 men, 2 men, 1 man and his mobile phone, went to bed with Ashley

Chelsea almost stole it later on in their period of dominance, when neat footwork from Joe Cole saw him place the ball high into the top left corner past Lehmann, when facing almost away from goal. But it was rightly disallowed for an offside in the buildup. Arsenal poured forward in the last 10 minutes, squandered several chances, and then with almost the last kick of the game Eboue was played in on the right, and he wound up and unleashed a high, hard shot that thumped off the crossbar. Chelsea played well, and deserved their draw, but a winner would have been nice, because Arsenal had been the brighter, more attacking force throughout.

6 men went to bed, went to bed with Ashley, 6 men, 5 men, 4 men, 3 men, 2 men, 1 man and his mobile phone, went to bed with Ashley

I can't for the life of me understand why Khalid Boulahrouz even bothered to foul, or try and win the ball off Julio Baptista. Anybody who watches football knows that when the Beast is clear through on goal, he either softly caresses the ball into the keeper's midriff or sends it somewhere near the corner flag. Silly man, deserved his red card for being stupid.

7 men went to bed, went to bed with Ashley, 7 men, 6 men, 5 men, 4 men, 3 men, 2 men, 1 man and his mobile phone, went to bed with Ashley

As I said, the game was symbolic of Arsenal's failings - inability to finish chances, to cope with pressure, and to concentrate and defend properly. The other side of the coin was displayed by Fulham's other team who with 10 men fought their way back into the game, and almost won it. Incredibly irritating, incredibly resilient.

8 men went to bed, went to bed with Ashley, 8 men, 7 men, 6 men, 5 men, 4 men, 3 men, 2 men, 1 man and his mobile phone, went to bed with Ashley

Even my dad, who was watching his first ever football match in person, said quite confidently that the Arsenal looked pointless up front, and needed a winger, preferrably a left winger. This is the same thing that fans have been saying all season, and if my dad who knows very little about football found it obvious enough to give such confident punditry, then it definitely is obvious. This of course means that in the summer we will sell two wingers and sign a central midfielder. What do I know anyways?

9 men went to bed, went to bed with Ashley, 9 men, 8 men, 7 men, 6 men, 5 men, 4 men, 3 men, 2 men, 1 man and his mobile phone, went to bed with Ashley

Watching the lap of honour after the game, there were some interesting things to be noted. For one, it was called a "lap of appreciation", which I guess is fair enough when you are not competing for any honours at all. Mathieu Flamini seemed alive and well, which was nice considering that many of us suspected that Arsene Wenger had drowned him in the hydrotherapy pool. I also noticed (albeit from a great distance) that Jeremie Aliadiere seemed to be wearing spectaces. Strikers with bad eyesight are about as valuable as goalkeepers with no hand (no disrespect meant to the fine participants of either the Blind or Disabled World Cups).

Anyways, the season's done. Tied for 3rd place on points, but in 4th on goal difference, I feel the team has moved up a level from last season. With the kids blossoming in the background, all that's needed is 1 or 2 good experienced players (left winger included), and things could be very, very interesting next year. Seriously. Last season Arsenal only got 4th spot on the last day of the season, and stuttered throughout. Of the 6 league games played with Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool, they lost 4, drew 1 and won 1. Pathetic. I was worried at the end of last season.

This year, of the 6 league games played with those 3, we've won 3, drawn 2 and lost 1 (to Liverpool). Both draws were against Chelsea, and both involved them coming from behind to equalise for 1-1 (and one of those was in injury time). Add to that 3-1 and 6-3 away wins over Liverpool in the FA and Carling Cups and 2 wins and 2 draws over Tottenham in 4 games, and Arsenal have dealt comfortably with the big teams. It's the small teams that have posed the problem - losses to West Ham (x2), Man City, Sheff Utd and Fulham have been unacceptable, and you add those up and it's 15 points more to the total. This is not unrealistic because in each of those matches, Arsenal dominated (sometimes 20 shots to 1), but just allowed the points to slip away. Add to those results the pairs of draws against struggling Newcastle (1-1 and 0-0) and Middlesborough (1-1 and 1-1) and that would be another 8 points. It all adds up - that's roughly 20 points, with those added to our total, we'd be contenders. All we need is to gain experience and be clinical.

10 men went to bed, went to bed with Ashley, 10 men, 9 men, 8 men, 7 men, 6 men, 5 men, 4 men, 3 men, 2 men, 1 man and his mobile phone, went to bed with Ashley

Manchester United and Chelsea both advanced to the semi-finals of the Champions League today. Whilst Arsenal haven't managed to score against either West Ham or Newcastle, United thumped 7 goals past Roma at Old Trafford to win the tie 8-3 on aggregate. Chelsea dominated slightly superior opposition away in Spain, coming back from a goal down to win 2-1 in stoppage time, and 3-2 on aggregate. Gutting stuff really.

Not only that, but assuming they overcome their semi-final opposition, there is the distinct prospect of a Manchester United vs Chelsea Champions League final, and FA Cup final. YUCK!

To add to that, if things stay as close as they are, then Wednesday May 9th might very well see the Premiership title decided in 1 game, when Manchester United play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. It's almost like 3 cup finals in a row, and the only thing that could make it worse would be if Spurs reach the UEFA Cup final.

Meanwhile Arsenal, with 2 wins in their last 11 games in all competitions are still trying to figure out how to score a goal and not let the season completely fall to pieces. I don't think a single person is in Wenger's corner anymore, and certainly no one is going to put up with another "The boys have shown tremendeous spirit, and you can see that the quality is there, and they are learning and next season we will see the benefit of that and the team will be much stronger". It's a dangerous game to play, to keep building up the merits of the next season, because too long without success and the entire project will have failed, because the youngsters will want to leave.

Millions of fans around the world aren't paying hard-earned money to see a team be slowly educated, they are doing so to see a challenge take place. The education of youngsters is supposed to be something that's happening in the background. Maybe it's just the frustration of today, and maybe i'm ignoring the big picture, but Arsene has left himself with far too much to do, and unless there is serious rebuilding in the summer, a lot of people will have no faith at all come next season. All deficiences have been clearly exposed this season - the inexperience, the lack of goalscorers, and the lack of effective players - and Arsene Wenger, with his fondness for youngsters, perception that goalscorers aren't important, and penchant for buying technicians, dribblers and passers, is to blame for all of them.

But deep down I think we all still suspect, despite his best efforts to confuse us, that Arsene still knows. Make it happen next season Boss. Please.

Well, closest to home, Arsenal lost 1-0 to PSV in Eindhoven and have it all to do now. They dominated the first half, probably should have scored at least one, if not two, and then started to get sloppy in the second half and Edison Mendez fired a longe range shot in. It was very shabby all in all, the defence just let him have a go and Lehmann didn't react at all. The shot wasn't the greatest, but it did the job. The Arse tried to forward, and PSV looked very threatening on the counter-attack. That worries me for the second leg, because PSV are very clever and adept, and they will probably adopt the same strategy of trying to hit Arsenal on the break, and being very stubborn to break down. One away goal and, in my mind, the tie is over. Arsenal look a bit tired, bereft of attacking threat, and most importanly Thierry Henry is in his worst patch of form since joining the club. He doesn't look confident, he can't outrun people, can't beat them, is showing a very sloppy touch, and generally doesn't look like threatening or brilliant. It doesn't help that he seems petulant, disaffected and a bit disinterested. Maybe he needs a rest, maybe he needs to be tripped off the armband, maybe he needs a good telling off, but realistically none of those are going to happen because with Robin Van Persie out, and Julio Baptista showing all the touch and composure of a boxer, he has to play. But quite honestly this season, we have played some of our best stuff without him, and he really hampers the team on days like this. Last season, and at several points over his Arsenal career, he has carried the team, but right now the team has to carry him, and the weight seems to be too much to bear. Hopefully he can reach into that moody mind of his and bring out that fire that seems to be lacking.

At Parkhead, Celtic played out a 0-0 draw at home to AC Milan, and I think that's a great result for them. Milan are having a terrible season domestically, and are under pressure to do well in the Champions League. Wee Gordon Strachan has got his team playing decently, and with committment, physicality and Shunsuke Nakamura, Celtic have every chance of making it through. The Scots play very "British" football - they will fight for everything, never give up, and with Nakamura there is always the danger of them scoring from a free-kick, or having the Japan international create chances for Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink or Jiri Jarosik. If they score first, they will fight unbelievably to try and hold on, and if Milan score first you can be sure they'll sweat blood trying to equalise. Either way that away goal will be important, and I see Milan having to score at least 2 to go through.

In Madrid, two ailing European giants squared up against each other. Real Madrid beat Bayern Munich 3-2, but those two away goals are crucial for the Germans. Both teams are former European champions, and stalwarts in the Champions League, but they are struggling badly in their respective leagues. Real have always been known for patches of comedy and inconsistency, but Bayern have always had a reputation for consistency and toughness. This year both are hovering around the top of their leagues, but unable to seriously challenge for anything. The Real circus has proved very difficult to stop, and Bayern have attempted to rectify things by bringing back the legendary Ottmar Hitzeld, their former coach and man who has won two Champions League titles. Raul scored 2 and Ruud van Horsefacerooij the other as Real went up 3-1 in the first half, Lucio had briefly answered for the Bavarians. But if Bayern were sloppy in the first, then Real were in the second, and they conceded a very late goal, Mark van Bommel scoring to make it 3-2. That's a significant away goal advantage, and I think Bayern can pinch the goal they need. Real are on the way down - Capello has been unpopular and not too effective, and has allegedly tried to hand in his resignation, but Hitzfeld has only just arrived in Munich and is still working his magic. By the time March 7 rolls around I expect Bayern will be in much better shape.

And lastly to Lille, and the most controversial game of the round so far. Man United won 1-0 right at the death with a quickly-taken free-kick that Lille were very unhappy about. The Lille players walked off the pitch in protest, and there was chaos everywhere. The fans were enraged and throwing things on the field, and it was not just Giggs' goal that made them unhappy, but the fact that Peter Odemwingie had had what seemed like a perfectly good header disallowed for a foul earlier in the match. It was a game that Lille had been brightest in, driving forward and attacking United's goal, but eventually United had more experience and solidity. You can't really blame them for taking a quick free-kick because the referee allowed them too, but at the same time the referee did not do a particularly good job. I still think it's not over for Lille, and the second leg will be interesting because Lille are a very, very feisty side. Having conceded an away goal, they will have nothing to lose, so the second leg in Manchester looks like it will be a very, very exciting game.

It was announced after the game that Robin Van Persie had fractured his foot when scoring the goal. So that explains the limping afterward and the fact that he wasn not really much involved. Arsene Wenger said he had hoped not to use him because of his ankle injury, but now he's out for at least 6 weeks with his 5th metatarsal fractured. No one knows exactly how it happened, but it did, and it brings up the immediate question of whether Van Persie's equalising goal was worth not having him for a few months. I'd say yes.

Footballers and metatarsals are funny things. Some of the most high profile injuries have been metatarsal related - David Beckham before the 2002 World Cup when Aldo Duscher of Deportivo crunched into him during the Champions League, and and Wayne Rooney before the 2006 World Cup when he went down in a heap after a tackle by Paulo Ferreira. The whole of England gasped and sighed in 2002, and they did it again in 2006, because their heroes were endangered. Eventually both Beckham and Rooney were declared "fit" for each of those tournaments, but it didn't matter because England were pure crap anyways.

In the spirit of good old jingoism, the BBC prepared this great page on metatarsal injuries in football. It's worth a read.

It's bad news for Arsenal, because Van Persie is the top scorer this season, and he's score some crucial, crucial goals. He's also the only left-footed attacking player, and that balance will be missed. The problem with this type of injury is also that the healing times are crazily inconsistent. 6-8 weeks is supposed to be a sort of predicted recovery period, but means nothing. Here's why:

David Beckham (2002): Second metatarsal - predicted 6 weeks returned 7 weeks later
Gary Neville (2002): Fifth metatarsal - predicted 6-8 weeks returned 21 weeks later
Danny Murphy (2002): Second metatarsal - predicted 6 weeks returned 21 weeks later
Scott Parker (2004): Second metatarsal - predicted 8 weeks returned 34 weeks later
Steven Gerrard (2004): Fifth metatarsal - predicted 6-8 weeks returned 10 weeks later
Wayne Rooney (2004): Fifth metatarsal - predicted 8 weeks returned 14 weeks later
Ashley Cole (2005): Fifth metatarsal - predicted 6-8 weeks returned 12 weeks later
Michael Owen (2006): Fifth metatarsal - predicted 6-8 weeks returned 17 weeks later

So it's quite possible that RvP's season could be over. We will just have to wait and see (and hope).

Arsene Wenger has said in the past how he is very critical of bladed boots (like the Adidas ones), because they can cause injury, and Ashley Cole and Gael Clichy both had identical injuries wearing those boots. Rooney did too, and so did Roy Keane, so there is something in that. Footy Boots has done a great overview of the bladed boots/injuries extravaganza that is worth a read. They say that the ongoing tendency to make boots more and more lightweight and flexible has basically contributed to more injuries because of lack of support of the foot. If you've bought boots consistently over the last 10-15 years, then it's something you'd definitely notice.

Footy Boots: "The metatarsal injury was unheard of years ago, now with modern ligtweight foortball boots its responsible for 30% of long term injuries."

Anyhow, the good news (sort of) for Arsenal fans is that this is the one position for which there is great competition. After Henry and Adebayor, there's Baptista and Aliadiere. Just last week Wenger was saying how he wished he could give Ali more playing time and how he needed chances to show how good he is, and this will have opened the door. Baptista has been hungry and waiting as well, and this will help. Theo Walcott can (and probably will eventually) play as a striker, so there's no lack of options. Van Persie will certainly be missed, but this is a great chance for the other lads to stake a claim. Especially Aliadiere who has been unfortunately beset by injuries and rubbish loan moves throughout his career. He is the king of the reserves and the Carling Cup, but he needs to start having an impact in the league.

Once again the Arsenal youngsters showed their mettle, this time against a high-flying Man United team. The league leaders left their first encounter at Ashburton Grove empty handed, and it really was a super game. Various accounts have been given of the match, including a ridiculous match report in the Independent by Sam Wallace which is disgustingly biased and if you hadn't watch the game would give you the impression that Arsenal kicked and poisoned their way to a completely undeserved victory with a bunch of thugs, hooligans and charlatans, and Manchester United were a noble glorious force, cheated at the death, who basically deserved to have won 7-0 and didn't only through some self-induced philanthropic desire to throw the game away to that bunch in an attempt to spice up the title race. Nigel Spackman said post-match that it was a game that Manchester United had dominated from start to finish and that they were very unlucky to have lost. Steve McMahon rightly called him on his absurd views afterwards by saying that he didn't know what game Spackman watched, but it certainly hadn't been this one.

As Kurt Vonnegut would say... Listen:

The story was this - a confident, good United team started brightly, at a high tempo, and tried to dominate. In the first half, they did, and they had a lot of posession against a young, nervy Arsenal who tried to stick to their game but were being pegged back under a constant barrage of pressure. Jens Lehmann had saves to make, and he did (Wallace has erroneously reported that Rooney hit the bar when Lehmann in fact had saved; perhaps he too, like Spackman, was watching a different game). United had several chances right before half-time, but were unable to capitalise, and Arsenal came into the game in the second half. They largely tried to play their way, but mixed it up a bit. They started to show what they were capable of, dealt with United and started to impose themselves. And then on a counter-attack, United created their only real chance of the half and Rooney scored from it. It was a great run off-the-ball from Evra, a good cross and an excellent diving header from Rooney to score. In the media, fingers were being pointed - Fabregas didn't pick up Evra's run, Clichy had Rooney unmarked behind him, Toure got a touch on the cross as it went by but couldn't cut it out. But finger-pointing doesn't help, and we didn't dwell on it - these things happen in football, especially on counter-attacks... if you have players charging back the length of the field all at different speeds, and the ball is in behind you, it's difficult. Crucially, I think Gilberto was missed. As Arsene says, "he smells danger", and usually picks up the supporting and overlapping runs that fullbacks or midfielders make against us. 0-1 to the Mancs.

But again, no matter. The boys regrouped, and went for it. The second half was all Arsenal possession, all Arsenal dominance, and even if it was not effective at times, the direction of the game was changed. Man United played their part as well, after going a goal up, they sat back a little deeper (wary perhaps of Henry's pace), and Senderos and Cesc's probing long passes to Adebayor were starting to push them deeper and deeper. Then the subs came on. Van Persie in attack on for the innefectual Hleb, and Baptista more latterly for Flamini, to offer some more of a goal threat and experience. And Monsieur Wenger... take a bow, because the subs worked a treat.

With 6 minutes left, Cesc and Rosicky fought doggedly for the ball. Scholes and Evra were on the ground after having put in tackles, and 3 or 4 times the ball changed hands, but our two little dynamos never gave up. Never. Finally Cesc came away with the ball, and released Rosicky down the right flank. He crossed to the near post, Henry tried a cheeky backheeled-instep Kanu-versus-Boro flick type thing that didn't come off at all, but Robin Van Persie came screaming in at the far post to lunge and bang in an equaliser into the roof of the net off that precious left foot of his. He wanted it, and he got it. He covered loads of ground, and showed great hunger and anticipation to take the chance, and of course exceptional technqiue to direct the ball high and past Van Der Sar. 1-1.

With the pressure of defeat, and their unbeaten home record off, the team regrouped and went back for more. Then in the 3rd minute of stoppage time, Eboue played a terrific one-two with Rosicky, ghosted in behind the player at left-back (Heinze had come on to supplement Evra who moved upfield, and maybe they got confused), and he delivered a pacy, accurate cross into the box. Henry was lurking behind Vidic, and he jumped perfectly to thump a bullet header past Van der Saar. Magnificient stuff, and typical of Henry this season. He had faffed around the entire game, wasted a much easier headed chance from a great ball by Adebayor, and done not very much apart from having a penalty decision go against him (probably wrongly), and squabbled with Gary Neville the entire game. But cometh the hour, cometh the man. 2-1; game over.

Baptista has not been mentioned much, but he did well when he came on. Was positionally good, and supported the team well in defence and in attack. We all expect him to be scoring goals, but it's easy to forget that he started off as a defensive midfielder, and that he understands the position. Cesc, who was majestic all game really hung around the final third towards the end of the game, and Baptista helped him to do that. Everyone was good; Clichy was superb apart from their goal, Eboue was minimally dramatic, made some good tackles, had Ronaldo in his pocket and crossed for the winner. Senderos was decent, and although had donkey moments (including falling backwards while trying a simple pass to Toure), he was always alert to danger. Rosicky was wasteful and although involved, was ineffective for most of the game, but played a crucial part in both goals. Flamini worked hard as he always does. Hleb tried but failed on the day, and was probably the second worst player on the field after Henry, but Henry scored and he didn't, and that's the way it goes. Adebayor was probably man of the match, full of running excellent control and technique, and he always managed to hold up the ball and lay it off neatly. He created good chances for Henry and Cesc, and although he didn't really have a shot to speak of, he gave them massive trouble. Van Persie as I said earlier produced an excellent finish, but fractured his foot (metatarsal #5!) in doing so and that's a big worry now.

So Arsenal win 2-1 deservedly, and things become a wee bit more interesting. It's unfortunate that sections of the media have had a field day somehow managing to slam Arsenal for coming back and winning the game. In Paris, 10 men Arsenal had lots of possession and more shots, but lost. The media however had no hesitation in proclaiming Barca as worthy winners. I bet if Man United had been the ones to win that way, they would have been applauded for their "British spirit" and "never say die attitutude" and all that malarky. F*ck off.

Spackman and Wallace, you pair of twats, here are the stats (yes, yes it rhymes):

	Arsenal	Mancs
Shots (On Target)	19(11)	10(6)
Fouls	13	11
Corners	8	6
Offsides	1	2
Possession	53%	47%
Yellow Cards	1	3
Saves	4	7

Images shamelessly ripped off from the Beeb.

Let me start off by saying that I will massively miss Lauren, and that he is still the best right-back at the club. Or was. Eboue might be electric and exciting going forward, but he is too busy being an actress and believing in his own hype to focus on defensive improvement. Hoyte is ok, but it will take something special for him to be a worthy first-choice right-back. Sorry for all the hyphens. In any case, Lauren is a legend, maybe not in the legendary sense (?), but the fact that he was the toughest mo-fo on the team, he was unbelievably consistent, quick, strong, skillful and versatile. His first season at the club was in his natural position of central/defensive midfield - he scored goals, passed well, and did a good job. But his second season, the beginning of his career at right-back, also coincided with Arsenal's first leage title in 4 years, the double of 2001/2002. From then on he made the position his own and was the best right-back in the Premiership for several years. A boxer in his spare time, Lauren was the kind of player you loved having in your team - opposition players absolutely shat themselves when he stared them down, and every once in a while you knew he was just going to flatten an attacker (only ever getting a yellow card of course). From 2000-2005, there were large patches of inconsistency in the team every now and then, but it was always Lauren who would stand out for his calm and accurate passing, good link up play, and dogged defending. I think i've used up every stereotype in the book here. Anyhow, after almost 7 years at the club after arriving from Mallorca, Lauren leaves with 2 Premiership titles, 3 FA Cups, 227 appearances and 9 goals. He will never be forgotten, and especially so because he was one of the invincibles. Laureano Bisan-Etame Mayer... we salute you. I'm glad he was able to part with the club on such amicable terms (although i'm sure we will dread facing him when we play Pompey). To read a bit more about Lauren and his interesting history, click here.

And now to the main event. Arsenal vs Manchester United, on Sunday, at Highmirates Stadium. Sad to say, the emergence of Chelsea has somewhat taken a bit of the heat off this rivalry, but this will no doubt be a classic encounter. Both teams are playing excellent football, Chelsea are lost in between them and in their own politics, and funnily enough with Ferguson top, and Wenger as underdog, things are back to the way they were during those years of Arsenal and United dominance. United need the victory to keep up their title challenge and to avenge their home defeat to the Arsenal earlier this season, and we want the victory to keep up our faint title hopes. Van Persie is a doubt, Gilberto is injured (if this has a highly negative effects, someone needs to go give Robbie Savage a black eye), and Eboue or Hoyte will be an interesting question.

As for United... well it's quite amazing - they come into this game without a single injury or suspension. That's not to say that we are in bad shape, but Gilberto and Gallas, and potentially Van Persie and Eboue missing will take it's toll. It's going to be a lot of pressure on young Cesc Fabregas, and one wonders who will deputise for Gilberto alongside him. It will probably be Flamini, but the Flamster for all his effort is not really the same kind of player. Still, 4-5-1 might be an option, with Adebayor up front and Henry playing the withdrawn role that he assumed when Gilberto was sent off, or Henry might be stuck up front with Baptista or Diaby affording both more protection and more energy in midfield.

And i'll leave you with some Lauren goodness. There was another great clip where he really gives Mido a tough time, but I couldnt find it. So. Anyways:

Following on from my own views on David Beckham joining the MLS, here is what the rest of the bloggers at OleOle had to say:

Mike T	When I read this morning that David Beckham had signed for the Los Angeles Galaxy, my first thought was: why not Urawa Reds? There had been some rumours - mainly concocted by Beckham and his agents in order to procure a super-rich new contract, no doubt, that Beckham would consider plying his trade in the J-League. Yet when I read of the amounts of money being offered by LA Galaxy for his signature, I suddenly realised there was no chance of any club in Japan matching that kind of offer. So what sort of player are the Galaxy getting for their wads of cash? An under-appreciated one at Real Madrid, in my opinion. But Beckham was as much a victim of politics at the Madrid giants, as he was a player dropped for poor form. That's why I was surprised by his decision to play in the MLS. In some way, I think there'll be parallels with Dwight Yorke's signing for Sydney FC in the A-League. Yorke proved good value in getting fans through the turnstiles, but found his value diminishing on the pitch. There's no doubt that Beckham is a supremely gifted player. But he relies a lot on the ability of the players around him. So will he raise the profile of the MLS and get more fans through the gates? Probably. Will he single-handedly lift the standard of football in the US? I doubt it.
Footie Girl	Beckham's decision to move to the MLS is a tacit admission that he can't hack it at the top level any more. I've never been a huge fan of his, but still, you have to feel for the guy. Just a bit, because after all he's getting $250 million to dry his tears. So, instead of sliding into obscurity at Bolton or wherever, he gets a hefty paycheque, a cushy lifestyle in Los Angeles, and an opportunity to reinvent himself as a sort of ambassador of football. In return, Major League Soccer is getting the most marketable footballer in the world. The deal made front-page news when it was announced, but the question is whether it's going to have enough of a long-term impact to repay their rather sizeable investment. Now they've got Becks to bend in a few free kicks and smile pretty for the cameras, but if they really want to sell their product, they're going to have to improve the league from the ground up, rather than just bringing in more aging galacticos.
Oz	"David, what are you doing?" Probably the words of every football fan across the length of the UK upon hearing month-old rumours substantiated yesterday. All and sundry know that he has at least 3-4 years left of playing at the highest level and the quality of his suitors makes the decision even more baffling (Says the Englishman, predictably! -SM). $55 million/year goes some way to explaining it but most will hope that the US league takes off properly following this coup, to ensure that DB's final few years were not wasted away in a backwater league....
Gabriele	The real winner in Beckham’s transfer to LA Galaxy is Victoria. In my opinion, this is her choice, for her career as an actress. Of course, Becks made a very good deal, earning an incredibly high amount of money, especially compared to the insubstantial toughness of MLS, but I think he would have preferred to keep on playing in Europe. MLS executives think this is a big business for them, I'm sure there will be a great interest around Beckham at the beginning, but we don't know what will be in the next future. To make MLS grow, one single top player is not enough, and I am afraid they don't have money left to "invite" other top players to join the league. Beckham is the best footballer they could sign in terms of image: the Becks will certainly feed all gossip media in Hollywood and generally in the US, but technically speaking a talented player, even a juggler (not necessarily Ronaldinho) would have been better. Americans think about sport as a show, what kind of show a player like Beckham can give them? Crosses and free kicks? I'm not so sure…
Mauricio	US 250 million dollars? I bet Pele is wondering at home: Why don’t I play nowadays???? I think Beckham is absolutely right. In the first place, Real Madrid have already been half way to Hollywood in the last four seasons. Media players like Ronaldo and Becks, after all they won, have to hit the road and try other things in their careers. Although everybody will be saying Beckham is finished, I think playing in the MLS is definitely a better move than playing in Saudi Arabia or other of these great money making countries. And if I were in charge of CONMEBOL, I would straight away invite MLS teams to play in the Copa Libertadores, and get a share of the Becks money too.

Well, today it was announced that David Beckham will join the Los Angeles Galaxy to play in the Massive Lump of Shite (MLS) that is Major League Soccer (MLS). The deal is completely ridiculous, because the right-footed one will be earning £128 million over 5 years, which amounts to just under £26 million per season, which translates to about half a million pounds per week, which amounts finally to just under £3000 per hour (!!). This is atrociously ridiculous, because David Beckham, at 32, playing in an absolute joke of a league, has become the highest paid player in football to date (a record which will probably not be broken for a very long time). We all thought the inflated wages that Chelsea paid were bad, but Beckham will now probably earn more than John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba combined. Like I said... ridiculous.

I feel bad for Becks, because he's only 32, and still had a fair amount to offer top-level football teams. Perhaps he didn't want to play for a smaller team than Real Madrid or Manchester United, but was the LA Galaxy the solution? I keep feeling like it was Steve McLaren dropping him that made up his mind, but to be honest I think McLaren would have eventually bungled around with the England team and then called up David Beckham in an attempt to solve everything. He was 6 caps short of the 100 mark, and i'm quite sure he would have ended up getting there.

Becks has basically decided to retire. That's all this is. He is being paid a massive, massive amount of money to go and play in a rubbish league. Dennis Bergkamp played at the top level for Arsenal till he was lamost 38. Zidane almost conquered a second World Cup final at the age of 34. Teddy Sheringham has been playing comfortably at the top level for smaller clubs for the last 2-3 years, and he's 40 now. Big Alan Shearer was banging in the goals until the age of 35. And crucially, Becks has never had any major injury problems.

I say this equates to retirement, because nobody goes to the MLS and comes out bigger, especially not at 32. He has gone to enjoy the sunshine, the money, and the American celebrity lifestyle that he has professed his love for, for so long. He's said goodbye to European football, said goodbye to the Champions League, said goodbye to England, and said goodbye to ever winning a major trophy again (he's won nothing since his last league title at Man United in 2002/2003)... so let's all just say goodbye to Becks now.

As for the whole aspect of improving the MLS... this is a joke as well. Granted, Beckham is probably the youngest of all the old heads they had brought in (Stoichkov, Limpar, Valderrama, Djorkaeff, etc)... but is probably amongst the least talented of this "superstar bunch". Do Americans not watch football? (No, they are probably too busy watching soccer). Yes, Beckham is a great player, but if you knew anything, you'd know that the reason why he is so famous is because of his looks and celebrity, not his football. Beckham was never a particularly naturally-talented footballer, but he was an incredible professional, and dedicated team lad, and a good guy. Alex Ferguson said he would spend hours and hours on the training ground developing his incredible ability to strike the ball, and working on his free-kicks and set pieces, and that is how he got to where he is. He was never particularly quick (less so now), and was never particularly tricky or exceptionally skilful, but he was frightfully hard-working, consistent and able to maximise his abilities (especially at United). So what are Californians and fans around the USA going to expect?

Are they expecting to go see the world famous David Beckham, and see a guy lighting up stadiums with exceptional skill and dribbling and loads of goals? I hope not. They're going to get a footballing icon for sure, but one who's already slow legs are on the wane, one who can provide exceptional service but relies on having good players around him who can provide the requisite end product. He will score a fair amount of goals from free kicks, and i'm sure the team will score more from his set pieces, but what they basically have is a player who mentally is in retirement mode. This is not to say that Becks will not try hard, but what is his motivation really? He will have his new lifestyle, and his football academy to distract him as well. I don't doubt for one minute that he will hugely raise the profile of football in the states, but I hope that people will not be disappointed by him. ESPN ran a survey on their site, and apparently 72.7% of the visitors said they were going to be more interested in the MLS because of his arrival. So let's see...

And lastly, another mention about the amount of money spent. Would it not have been better to sign 10 players instead for that money? They have in no way improved the quality of the football with an ageing superstar, but for the money paid they could have signed 10 good players and paid them more than what they would have earned in Europe or South America. And what about the other, existing players in the MLS, the most lowly paid of all American sports? How do they feel about David Beckham coming in and earning more in one week than they earn in 5 years? As it is the boisterously capitalist USA somehow manages to run the most controlled and communist-like sports federations, where the MLS controls the transfers and wages and signings and owns the players... this anomaly makes things even more bizarre.

But enough ranting and raving. Good luck to Becks, and I hope he can win something with Real before he leaves for his nice sunny retirement experience.