Well, turns out Alexi Lalas' post MLS general manager career should be okay. Helping out in the ESPN MLS Thursday night studio, the Rutgers athletic hall of famer, let fly on his former crown jewels at the Los Angeles Galaxy -- David Beckham and Landon Donovan.
First Lalas, who let's be fair, was an ancillary player in the Beckham scenario, let loose on the famous England player:
"When you talk about David Beckham, it's about so much more than what he is on the field, for better or worse," Lalas said. "He's a great player. I think he helps whatever team he's playing for, whether it's the Galaxy or AC Milan. The reality is, he's going to do whatever it takes to play with the [England] national team. That's fine. I was a little disappointed with the way that it all came down with him and his folks. I mean, hello, a courtesy telephone call, a little bit of respect to call the coach so that [Arena] knows what's going on, knows that you're being shopped around. But sometimes the tail wags the dog."
No too bad. Fair criticism of Beckham's daliance with AC Milan. I'm sure if you sat down with Lalas over a couple of tall cold ones, the words might be a little harsher. No general manager in any sport wants to deal with that kind of circus.
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Lalas, however, was a little more frank about Donovan and his proposed move back to a European club.
"If Landon wants to go, he should go," Lalas said. "He's a great player. A lot of people would love to see him. And guess what? The Galaxy can survive without Landon Donovan. He's a wonderful player. He will be a difficult player to replace if he goes. I think the bigger question is: What does Landon Donovan cost on the open market? Because what MLS thinks he costs and what the rest of the world thinks he costs might be two different things."
Tough, tough but fair words about Donovan considering he's hardly a poster boy in European, rather more of a whipping boy.
The bottom line here is that Lalas has always been candid in the media and would be a welcome voice in ESPN's MLS coverage, far better than his former U.S. National Team mullet buddy Marcelo Balboa, who used to work for the Worldwide Leader. It's not like Lalas and ESPN don't have any history, as this gem proves.
Lalas Rips into Former Players originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Sat, 08 Nov 2008 09:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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