David Beckham and the Galaxy haven’t had much luck in the past month. Becks, Landon Donovan, and the Galaxy have fallen from the top of the Western Conference all the way to 5th. Last week head coach Ruud Gullit left the team for personal reasons, a move that Beckham understood but was not happy with.

Obviously, it’s disappointing, it’s disappointing to lose somebody who’s a good coach and a good person.It happens in football clubs and it’s happened here. Maybe it happened too early, but we wish him good luck in whatever he goes on and does.

David Beckham on Ruud Gullit’s Choice to Leave LA Galaxy

Along with Gullit out the door went Alexi Lalas, who was intregal in getting Beckham to the states. With a negative aura surrounding the Galaxy, they had to make a move quick. Thankfully the made the right move in hiring Bruce Arena, former US national team coach. This move puts Arena at the helm in place of the temporary coach, Cobi Jones, who despite his inexperience could turn out to be a good coach in this league very soon.

Now, I’m not a fan of the Galaxy. Quite frankly I’m not a fan of any particular MLS team. What I am a fan of is soccer in the USA. And as of late it seems as if the sports’ success in the USA is reliant on David Beckham and the LA Galaxy. The move was a gamble, and almost an all or nothing effort to intensify the sport of soccer in America. As of today I can easily say the move has been a failure. But all hope isn’t lost. Bruce Arena is a coach who is capable of picking this team up and bringing them into the playoffs.

Arena led DC United to two MLS Championships in the early stages of the MLS as well as rebuilding a US team that seemed doomed after their 1998 performance in the World Cup. As of late he has had some difficulty as the US team failed to get out of the group stage in ’06 and his last MLS coaching job with the Red Bulls left him with a record of 16-16-10, a record the Red Bulls expected to be better. Despite the recent troubles Arena is still a great coach, arguably the best American coach and is exactly what the Galaxy need right now.

Arena’s first game will be against the Brian McBride and his new team the Chicago Fire on Thursday night. Chicago sits 3rd in the Eastern Conference and look to build around the newly acquired McBride. The Galaxy are winless in their last 8 games and are searching for something. That something will be found by Bruce Arena who if his resume reads correct will turn this Galaxy team around and turn US Soccer around…again.

Today Los Angeles Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit has resigned from his position, leaving former US National Player Cobi Jones at the helm for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Also leaving the Galaxy is president/GM Alexi Lalas. Maybe this David Beckham idea hasn’t worked out as planned.

Both parties have agreed on mutually agreeable terms to part company, it is an amicable arrangement and we appreciate and respect the issues that Ruud has highlighted with the club and are very grateful for all the hard work he has contributed while with the organization. Hopefully, he has laid the foundations for future success for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Tim Leiweke, president and chief executive officer of Galaxy

The Galaxy are winless in their last 8 games after a solid beginning to the season. Beckham was dazzling, Landon Donovan was finally working well with the new structure of the team and it seemed as if everything was going right. Becks was filling stadiums and fans left satisfied with a Galaxy victory. Then suddenly everything went south. The team soon looked tired and seemed to be getting outplayed every game. All of a sudden now they are 6-8-5 and in fourth place in the west.

Now Ruud is out. Alexi is out. And Cobi is in. If the Galaxy don’t make the playoffs again this year, what does that say for the MLS and this entire situation involving Beckham? Optimists could say, ‘hey look the MLS is so difficult and so competetive that even with David Beckham and Landon Donovan the Galaxy can’t even make the playoffs’. Pescimests will say, ‘what’s the point of Beckham coming over here if he can’t get the Galaxy in the playoffs, he must not be as good as everyone says he is’. And they’d both be right.

Bottom line is, the Galaxy need to make it into the playoffs this year. But going through all this to make the playoffs certainly would be a great story and a testament to David Beckham’s career. For now, we just have to roll with it.

By Sean Connolly

In one of the most drawn out signings in recent memory, Ronaldinho has officially signed with AC Milan. It seems like such a long time ago when it was first said that Ronaldinho would be a part of AC Milan, and after several months and several teams getting involved it’s finally over with.

Many things have happened but in the end I have become a Rossonero player. I am happy to find so many Brazilians but also all the champions that wear the Rossoneri colors. I am really happy. After many years I am here. I am delighted to have arrived to AC Milan and I hope to be able to give a lot of joy to everyone.

Ronaldinho on Finally Signing With AC Milan

AC Milan’s new product will be shown off on Thursday as Ronaldinho will be welcomed with welcomed arms at the San Siro Stadium at 9:30 P.M. This tedious transfer hasn’t taken its toll though. Both Inter Milan, and Manchester City were very well involved in looking to pick up the once world’s greatest player. It has also affected other players who have been unsure where to go, with a portion of their decision in the hands of Ronaldinho. Emmanuel Adebayor seemed the likely choice for Milan but suddenly chose Ronaldinho over the Arsenal star. There has also been rumors that Frank Lampard and Ronaldinho wanted to join forces and that a trade could put those two together.

This transfer should open the flood gates for a lot of moves in the next week or two. It seemed like this and the Cristiano Ronaldo transfer seemed to be blocking the door for a lot of teams. Barcelona haven’t looked back on Ronaldinho as they themselves have signed Alexander Hleb to a 4 year deal from Arsenal.

Who are the losers in this move though? It has to be Manchester City. At one point it seemed imminent that Manchester City would in fact steal Ronaldinho from AC Milan and sign the star but even after offering more than the 21 million Euros that AC Milan will pay Ronaldinho, his heart is in Milan. Signing Ronaldinho looked like such a smart and promising move for Manchester City that would have garnered them much attraction and could possibly allow them to compete with Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester United. Now, even after signing Brazilian Jo, things look bleak for Manchester City as they may need to pull out another blockbuster to bring them up the table.

What does moving to Serie A mean for Ronaldinho? Personally I think this is where it ends for the star. The league is way too strong defensively for Ronaldinho to pull out his magic and he will soon become an average player whose impact won’t reflect his paycheck. I think it’s time to bid Ronaldinho farewell as he will become lost in Italy.