David Beckham's recent misbehaviour did not go unnoticed, and MLS has dropped the hammer on him.
Beckham was fined an undisclosed amount and suspended one game by the MLS Disciplinary Committee for his actions during and after the Los Angeles Galaxy's 4-3 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes on June 30, the league announced on Thursday. Beckham just served a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation after getting cautioned in the thrilling match versus the Earthquakes, but he will now miss the Galaxy's visit to Toyota Park to take on the Chicago Fire on Sunday.
Beckham was not the only one punished this week by the league. Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena and Impact head coach Jesse Marsch were both given undisclosed fines for publicly criticizing officials.
What do you think of Beckham's punishment? Is it about right or should it have been more severe? Did Arena and Marsch deserve to be fined?
Share your thoughts below.
Arguing about any other incidents besides Shea and Marquez really begs the question. Did Beckham break the rule again? Yes. He hit not only the other player but also the referee. Remember that if Cronin is wasting time, as some allege the referee can show him yellow and even add more time onto the game. Was Cronin wasting time? Maybe (probably), but remember getting even a small knock can disorient one, and it isn’t like he was flailing like some players do. Giving him a minute to clear his head shouldn’t drive Beckham to commit rule infractions.
He just hates cities that start w/ the letter C.
He’s not on the Olympic team. Is he going as a member of the staff?
One game? Rafa Marquez got three for exactly the same thing!!!!
This is why MLS will always be more of a reality show than a real football league.
Oh well, there is always European and South American football.
it’s a big deal because many cannot stand Beckham, and cannot stand LA for spending so much cash to bring in high priced players to the USA and MLS, and they love to see them fail
simple
I’ll bite
admit publically when an official screws the pooch on the obvious ones
the refs are human, so why pretend they are infallible?
how about you? anything in mind?
My thoughts? I hope he gets injured and misses 2 more games. Garber is suckin the teet.
I am more impressed with the accuracy of the drop kick than anything else.
glad to see someone make this point. I was thinking the exact same thing. Rafa lobs the ball at Donovan and the LA players go ballistic as if Rafa had spit in Donovan’s face. that said, I thought the Rafa lob was poor sportsmanship and deserving of stern punishment, just as I think Beckham’s tantrum, which included jostling after the game with that cute little defenseless San Jose mascot, is deserving of stern punishment. And to everyone above whining about Cronin’s play-acting, maybe he was, but maybe he wasn’t. how do we know? According to that logic, then in the future any player on the ground is fair game for a player like Beckham to kick a ball at if thought to be faking. How can players make that judgment, especially Beckham who was 30 yards away? Does not make sense. Beckham was obviously in a bad mood because of the Olympics snub and frustration at the poor form of his team and and his well-known temper got the best of him, just like the kid in this video explains.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl6XutIrc5A
Very true! People pointing out Shea’s outburst are just haters not comparable. Rafa and Beckham did pretty much the same thing..
+1 one game is right, but im glad he did it. Teach cronin a lesson
He skipped three years in a row in Colorado until this year..
Straight up tho… that second ball was pretty great to watch. whether you’re a fan or not, when that went up and you realized right where that ball was going to land and then watching it fall to that spot. then to watch cronin charge like that. i’m still getting a laugh at the whole play.
Did he hurt his finger?
Wow JRP! Selling out your own mom. That’s commitment!
what curmudgeon said.
Objection: West Ham paid Keane millions to miss an open net.
+1
Beckham is a total jackass, but you know, you’re right.
Becks demonstrated more skill so he got 2 fewer games.
Think about actually doing what you propose. Half the league would be suspended at a given time, and it wouldn’t change players’ behavior. On the other hand, as regards Beckham’s tantrum, you can and should enforce rules against kicking balls at players/refs, especially since we know that such acts will often escalate.
And yes, Cronin was time wasting. As Yallop said, the refs will either card him or just add time on… it’s called stoppage/injury/extra time for a reason.
Lastly, first place feels good right now, and we don’t give a f*ck about LA.
I agree. Cronin was wasting time. He stood up right away without any pain as soon as the ball hit him. Didn’t know Cronin was such a lame actor
Was it pink with batteries?
Conspiracy theory: Did he do this on purpose to get a bit of rest prior to his Olympic departure?
Really? you are going to cry about the July 4th game? If Keane buried half the chances in the first 10 mins no one is saying a word, paying him millions to miss open nets. Donavan is everything that is wrong with soccer whenever he wants a call he gets it and they still lost, I dont no what was worse his fake head pump to draw a foul or the one outside the 18 in extra time.
Absolutely right — the better comparison is to the Marquez-Donovan incident. Toss the ball toward Donovan = three games; whip the ball in toward a player on his back and the referee = one game. The Beckham Rule, indeed.
My mama. She said you left your riot stick at her house last night.
Fishy? There is something fishy about a team with that many stars that can’t walk away with the cup year after year. Blame the refs all you want. But if you blame the refs you have to credit them for the cup last year. Congrats to the refs for giving LA the cup last year.
What do you have in mind that they’re not already doing? Please be specific.
No, Beckham’s is worse since he hit both the player and the ref, and since he did it a second time when the first shot failed to connect.
ONE game only? Please. After the other stuff that’s been going down, it should be at least THREE games.
All right folks, who’s got riot gear?
Reading through the comments, I see a lot of comparisons to the Brek Shea incident, but not so much to Rafa Marquez chucking a ball at Landon Donovan, which got him a three-game ban as well.
To me, that’s probably a better comparison than Shea’s outburst, and why there is clearly a double standard at work–Rafa is another highly paid DP (albeit probably the most unpopular player in MLS right now), but MLS punished him severely and appropriately. By that yardstick, one game for Becks barely constitutes a slap on the wrist.
And FTR, I’m not a San Jose fan, and I do think Cronin should have been yellow carded for time wasting after he bounced up so quickly. But seriously, stop trying to pretend that there isn’t a double standard at work with Beckham.
+1
The one point that everyone is missing here is two coaches fined for calling out how officiating has been s**t. How about the MLS starting to do something to correct it rather than fine the coaches for calling out the refs.
If Beckham was 5 yards and kicked it directly at the ref, I would say it was special treatment. And didn’t Brek’s hit the ref in the balls?
Brek kicked the ball from 5 yards directly at a ref standing alone. Beckham hit a player from 25 yards. Is it the same thing?
He kicked it from 30 yards out to the ref and the team who was getting the ball. There was probably some malicious intent and I believe the suspension was justified, but reading the initial reactions I had thought Becks was five feet away and punted it into his face. I don’t know why this is a big deal.
If Beckham’s immaturity was worth a one-game suspension, then Cronin’s simulation is worth that as well. If the Disciplinary Committee wants to hand out punishments, that’s great – but please do it for all infractions, not just ones that get bad publicity.
I agree; I saw Cronin practically leap to his feet after the ball nearly hit him. Not defending Beckham, but, geez, Cronin, grow a pair.
will Cronin get punished for obviously diving/time wasting!? c’mon
I really have no problem with what Beckham did. He is one of the few people who show any passion on this team. Even Bruce has more passion than 8 or 9 of the other starting 11. Bruce has every right to be PO at this point.
The July 4th game had yet another no call hand ball from the opposing team. This is now like 6 games in a row where LAG should have got the call and a penalty kick. These small details can make or break games.
Sure, thats the way the cookie crumbles, but theres something fishy after more than just a couple wrong calls.
Special treatment for goldenballs… 3 for brek but only 1 for beckham. Typical MLS. How soon before they change the DP rules to allow four so LA can sign Lampard.
Just watched the video and actually think Beckham should get a medal. Cronin is obviously wasting time telling the ref about his tummy ache or whatever, but as soon as he gets wind of what Lord B is doing – Miracle Cure! I have half a mind to wonder why the quakes weren’t carded for time-wasting at that point…
I know i’m being a bit over the top with this, but the play acting is one of my least favorite parts of the game and I love it’s shown for the BS it is…
The whole LA gang is getting tiresome – Beckham, Donovan always throwing his hands in the air in outrage, and Magee – save the energy, and just play better. That’s the statement you need to make.
One game for Becks, three for Brek. Seems perfectly in line with the normal special treatment.
I think the suspension was silly. I’d rather see them suspend for all the hacking and tackling from behind that goes on in the MLS.
Also Mickey mouse league waits till the end of the business day thu to announce this…after it was sure the Fire galaxy game was completely sold out…to announce it.
Glad they at least gave him a game but I think it should have been more considering recent similar incidents. Now if only they did something about another Galaxy player ‘Simulating’ contact to the face….
Can we start the Beckham is afraid to play in Chicago rumor? This is the fourth straight year he isn’t playing there for whatever reason. (I’m joking, for the record.)
When is SBI going to change its name to Soccer by Franco? Seems like he posts most of the content on the site. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Franco! Keep up the good work.
For the record, we are the czars of the MLS.