If this were a London tabloid, the headline would read “Reeling Ruud Rips Becks.”
In actuality, of course, the criticism of David Beckham by the Galaxy coach was couched in more eloquent terms than that, but it was criticism nevertheless.
“He played too far up,” Gullit said. “Mikey and David, they played themselves out of the game.”
Credit in part goes to Dave van den Bergh, said Red Bull Coach Juan Carlos Osorio, who credited the former Dutch international with “very effectively” playing against Beckham and visibly frustrating him.
Beckham almost conceded he had met his match in the experienced former Ajax midfielder.
“It’s always nice to have a battle on the field,” he said, acknowledging a “couple of clashes” that were “nothing out of the ordinary.”
Incidentally, Beckham agreed with Gullit’s assessment of his performance.
“There were certain times I may have been too forward,” he said adding that he was perhaps a little too preoccupied looking for a “killer pass” to split the New York defense.
He acknowledged too, the more than a hint of fragility that cloaks a Galaxy team so dependent on himself and Landon Donovan, who was largely invisible in the second half especially.
“People can’t rely too much on Landon scoring every week,” he said. “We have to find ways of beating teams when some players aren’t scoring and others aren’t assisting.”
Quote of the Night from Becks, commenting on the team’s inexperience: “We’re still young – some of us.”
Ruud didn’t sound in the mood to use youth as an excuse and obliquely criticized his veteran players.
“Sometimes in a game, I don’t know what it is, we switch off,” he said. “We think we can do it with talent. That’s not the case, we have to work hard.”
“We battled well, I don’t think we played well,” Gullit said. “It cost this team a lot of energy to come from a goal down.”
In contrast, Osorio was pleased with a “massive” three points and going undefeated three games in a row now.
“We have gotten results with different systems,” he said, adding the team had been successful both with three at the back and four at the back. “The team seems very solid and we have allowed teams very few chances.”
A handwritten sign left behind in the stands after the game perhaps summed things up: “We want more goals, Landon,” it read.
Game story here..
Almost forgot: Sorely-missed striker Carlos Ruiz is expected back from injury perhaps as soon as the May 24 game against Kansas City.
Lastly, I would be remiss in not mentioning that Galaxy Equipment Coordinator Jose Vega worked his last game with the team Saturday before starting work as equipment manager with the San Jose Earthquakes.
The Wilmington resident had been with the Galaxy since 1998.
