Top Transfer Rumors: Where to for Beckham? / Kaká to LA Galaxy? / CR7 & Mourinho want out? & more!

CONCACAF Champions League: LA Galaxy 5-2 Metapan

Beckham scores CCL's 1000^th goal in 5-2 Victory over Metpán. (Video Highlights)

January 2012 Transfer Window

So it’s January 28th and we have not yet written anything on the Transfer window. Our twitter feed has been full of rumors but not much has happened. So this will be a quick run though of the transfers that have happened and the rest of the rumors that people have been talking about.

Aston Villa v Everton: Robbie Keane v Landon Donovan

LA Galaxy fans were able to see two of their star players battling against each other Aston Villa took on Everton.

MLS Playoffs 2011: LA v NY First Leg

LA Galaxy took the 1-0 win over New York Red Bulls on Sunday
with an early goal from Mike Magee. The match took place in Red Bull Arena,
therefore LA have the away goal advantage. Both teams had chances, but that was
the low score line we were left with. NY had more shots, but LA were more
accurate with their shots on goal percentage.
Juninho and Rafa Marquez were both shown red cards after Rafa threw the
ball at Donovan which caused Juninho to retaliate. They will have to sit out
the second leg match when Beckham, Donovan and Keane host Henry, Rodgers and
Ream. Here are some highlights;

Tottenham land Adebayor on a loan deal, Man City sign Nasri, Eto'o becomes the world's highest paid player and Robbie Keane comes to LA

Hi guys, so we haven’t been posting for a while and we missed our last podcast but Twil has been on vacation so we decided to skip it. As for the lack of posts, we have been super busy so we are going to do what we can. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter (@flagisup) for daily tweets on current matches and other soccer news. You can find a link on the right sidebar. Also like us on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/?ref=hp#!/pages/The-Flag-Is-Up-Soccer-Blog/171246266253046) for updates on posts. If you have any questions, ideas, or simply want to see some more of a certain topic on the blog, email us at theflagisup.blogspot@gmail.com

2011 World Football Challenge

Clubs from England, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Mexico and the USA will battle it out for the World football challenge. Here is a list of the participating teams;
Manchester City FC – English Premier League (three matches)
Manchester United FC – English Premier League (three matches)
FC Barcelona – Spanish La Liga (three matches)
Real Madrid CF – Spanish La Liga (three matches)
Juventus FC – Italian Serie A (three matches)
Club America – FMF Primera Division (three matches)
CD Guadalajara – FMF Primera Division (three matches)
Sporting Clube de Portugal – Portuguese First Division (one match)
MLS Eastern Conference – Major League Soccer
· Chicago Fire (one match)
· New England Revolution (one match)
· Philadelphia Union (one match)
MLS Western Conference – Major League Soccer
· Los Angeles Galaxy (two matches)
· Vancouver Whitecaps FC (one match)

Beckham: Still #1 in my Book

The classy David Beckham showed off Chicago Fire by providing the assist to Landon Donovan’s header to take the lead early in the second half. Nazarit brought Fire back into the game, also a header. But only minutes after, D. Becks secured the win by scoring from a corner kick. As he sent the ball in, it went through the goalkeeper’s legs, and into the netting. Another phenomenal goal to add to his collection.

Photo Courtesy: David Beckham's Facebook Page

MLS 2011

The MLS Kick off game took place last night featuring LA Galaxy and Seattle Sounders, two popular MLS teams. Galaxy gained much of the popularity through the players on the pitch such as David Beckham, Landon Donovan and newly signed Juan Pablo Angel. Seattle on the other hand, being pretty new to major league soccer, has a huge fan base in the home city, but at the same time catches the attention of the new soccer fans with their bright green kits and Xbox shirt sponsor. Either way, this was definitely the fixture to jump start the new season.

Photo Courtesy: www.laist.com

Beckham and Henry To London:

Beckham’s four-week training spell at Tottenham Hotspur began on Monday morning when he arrived at the club’s training ground.

Meanwhile NewYork Red Bulls striker Henry has begun a training stint with his former club Arsenal in order to keep fit during the Major League Soccer off-season.

The pair are two of the biggest names ever to have graced the Premier League having made a combined total of 519 appearences.

Spurs started negotiations with the MLS side [L.A. Galaxy] last week over a two-month deal but the north London club announced that Beckham would only come to train with the club, rather than play.

Galaxy said to be wary of their 35-year-old prize asset becoming injured any loan spell, as Beckham did during his spell at AC Milan last year when he tore his Achilles.

However Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is still keen to see Beckham play in a Spurs shirt and negotiations about a loan deal are ongoing.

While Spurs still hope to arrange a deal to enable Beckham to play for them, Henry’s return to Arsenal is purely a fitness exercise. (PremierLeague.com)

As you’ve read before, Beckham has been in contact with Tottenham for a loan spell. Everything seemed to be going great until L.A. Galaxy stated it would not happen because of insurance. Galaxy are conserved about Becks leaving because of what happened before the World Cup while he was on loan to AC Milan. Instead of completing the transfer right away, he was only set on training with the club for a month, but this didn’t stop Harry Redknapp from trying to work out a deal with L.A. But it now seems that Redknapp has given up hope on signing the former England captain during this transfer window.

David Beckham takes part in a Tottenham Hotspur training session at Tottenham Hotspur training ground on January 11, 2011 in Chigwell, England. (Getty Images)

"As far as playing goes, it's a no-goer. I'm 99.9 per cent sure it won't be happening.”

"It couldn't happen so, not a problem, we'll just get on with it." (The Sun)

There has been talk of Redknapp signing David in November, when his contract with L.A. Galaxy ends and will become free agent. I’m sure there are going to be a handful of clubs that try to sign him, with possibilities such as AC Milan, Arsenal, Leicester City, Galaxy, extending their contract, and of course Tottenham. All decent teams, but let’s be honest, Leicester City should have expected to be turned down by the superstar. When he said he wanted to return to Europe, I’m sure he meant a top league team. In my opinion, I don’t think he will extend his contract with the MLS team because this whole loan spell was to get back on the English National squad, and continuing what he has been doing might not be the best idea. I think signing a contract with Tottenham in November will be the best for Becks because Harry Redknapp is said to be England’s next manager, which would probably allow Becks a spot on the team. It is also said that after his time is served with playing on the team, he will become Redknapp’s assistant manager. Now when you look at past players who have become manager they haven’t had the best outcomes. Not mentioning any names, but Diego Maradona made a joke of himself during the world cup. He was jumping around, having the craziest reactions and made a joke of his legendary status. I this case, I don’t think

Beckham will do the same, mainly because, he was there during the world cup, and was very subtle. He also won’t be the manager, just an assistant manager, so he will still have a very experienced manager next to him. I think this partnership will work well together because there will be an experienced player and an experienced ENGLISH manager. Redknapp did play professionally so he does have player experience, but the game has changed since his day. All in all, I think Becks can fit in a few more years playing, and after his contract ends with whichever team he signs with in November, he can be a great impact as a manager with his national team.

On another note, Thierry Henry has followed Beckham’s footsteps once again. They both left to English Premier League to go to La Liga. Beckham left United for Real Madrid, Henry left Arsenal for Barcelona a few years later. Then they both left La Liga for the MLS, Becks arriving in 2007, and Henry just in 2010. Now Henry has followed Beckham back to London to keep in shape, but Henry is training with his former club, Arsenal. He wants to keep in shape for the MLS season which starts up in March. Henry never considered a loan spell to Arsenal; he strictly wanted to train with them.

What do you think about Beckham’s future with the English National Squad?

Do you think we will ever be able to buy the 77 Tottenham jersey with Beckham's name gracing the back?

-JoeyB