On January 19th, 2012, LA Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena, President of AEG Tim Leiweke, and legendary David Beckham held a live press conference at 2pm Pacific Time on LAGalaxy.com to announce that Beckham will be signing a new contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy to play for another 2 years.
Beckham based a lot of focus on his family in concern with his decision to play with the Los Angeles Galaxy. His family greatly enjoys living in California, and he enjoys playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Although he received many offers, David Beckham remained committed to playing for American soccer. He explained in the press conference that he “did not want to walk away” from everything he has started with Major League Soccer. When Beckham first arrived in the United States to play, he made it clear that he wanted to change and bring soccer to a higher level in the United States. Beckham wanted to return playing after winning a championship and had no plans of retiring from the game after this past season.
With David Beckham on the LA Galaxy for another two years, and most of the other players returning except for Omar Gonzalez who will be in rehab for a torn knee ligament, will the LA Galaxy return to the MLS Cup in November 2012 to win its second championship in a row? Already participating in 2 MLS Cups (winning the 2011 Cup), winning 2 Supporter Shields and having the best record in the MLS for the past three seasons, great things are expected from the seemingly dream team.
As a huge fan of the Los Angeles Galaxy, I am very excited for the 2012 MLS season. I was proud to watch the Galaxy play in and win the 2011 MLS Cup. I thought that the team would win the 2009 MLS Cup, but alas, mistakes were made and the Galaxy did not win. Hopefully, David Beckham, Landon Donavon and the rest of the Galaxy will be able to comeback from 2011 season prepared to win their second championship in a row!
I fully support David Beckham and the changes he has and will make in Major League Soccer while playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy and possibly later on in years, owning a franchise of his own in the league. Will this commitment to American soccer prove to those who believe soccer is not popular in the United States that soccer is a big deal? A big shot like David Beckham had many offers from European teams where soccer is much more popular, but he decided to stay in the United States and finish what he started. All I can say about David Beckham is that he truly plays because he loves the game, and does not necessarily care about the money.