It’s too easy to buy into the preordained storyline. Instead, let’s just give credit where credit is due, to the Los Angeles Galaxy, who put the right players on the field, even if they were extremely expensive ones, and did what it took to not only be the best team in Major League Soccer during the regular season, but to back it up with a 1-0 MLS Cup victory over Houston in front of their home fans at Home Depot Center, a record crowd of 30,281, in a match that served as many things at once:
First, it was proof that Landon Donovan is the best and most important player in the U.S. Donovan’s run and finish were exquisite on the 72nd-minute goal that decided the match. He met the through-ball from Robbie Keane – one that was delivered to the Irishman by David Beckham – and converted the only way possible from that angle: with a chip off the outside of his right foot, just high enough to skip off Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall’s hand and roll across the line inside the far post and an instant before another Dynamo defender could clear it off the line.
Here are the other players in tonight’s game that could’ve converted that finish: Keane, and that’s a maybe. Even Beckham himself would’ve been out of his element with that ball. Not a single player on the Dynamo roster could’ve score that goal, which was Donovan’s fourth in an MLS Cup final and his 20th in the playoffs. Two years ago, he missed a penalty kick in a shootout loss to Real Salt Lake. Tonight, not surprisingly, then, he was given the game’s MVP award. And still, even though he was clutch and precise, did he deserve that award?
I would’ve given it to Beckham in what seems likely to be his MLS swansong. For all the embellished and over-the-top gushing about the English midfielder, and all the ups and downs and controversies of his tenure in MLS, there’s no doubt about his desire and determination on the field nor his influence within this specific Galaxy team. Beckham played the final “basically on one leg,” as Donovan put it, revealing publicly that Beckham had pulled his hamstring earlier in the week. He didn’t have a cold, didn’t have back spasms. He was hurt, and he still was massive in the match, setting up Keane for a goal that should’ve stood if not for a poor offside call by one of the linesman before knocking down a header that set the game’s lone scoring sequence in motion.
Beckham, should he decide to leave, will now have won a league title in his final season with three teams: Manchester United, Real Madrid and the Galaxy. That is simply stunning.
Yeah, the MLS Cup-winning goal was also an expensive one, costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $12.2 million: $6.5 million for Beckham, $3.4 million for Keane and $2.3 million for Donovan. Yes, this was the first MLS Cup won by a team with a Designated Player. Does that mean that L.A. bought a title? No way, not from this reporter who also covers the NBA. Money spent equals nothing without it being well-spent and well-managed. The Galaxy did both this season, and head coach Bruce Arena – who was deservingly named MLS coach of the year – kept a group together that was put together by AEG (yes, Phil Anschutz ultimately owns my newspaper, too).
What’s the lesson here? Well, that big money can make a big difference – with the caveat of a front office and technical staff capable of spending it wisely, of course. If MLS is going to continue to grow, to attract bigger and better audiences, it’s going to have to shell out money to get players to make the product better. That’s on all the owners, not just those in Los Angeles. And for those of us in Washington, D.C., it doesn’t seem that unrelated to the stadium situation that D.C. United finds itself in, either. It’s time for the team to sort itself out, to get itself in a situation that is worthy of the league that is rapidly leaving it behind. That’s on owner Will Chang and team president and CEO Kevin Payne as much as it is any politicians. MLS commissioner said Chang has the money.
Okay, briefly back to the game, where the Dynamo were nothing special without injured Brad Davis. Am I going to argue that this is why Davis should’ve won MLS MVP? Not when the body of MLS players gave the nod to Dwayne De Rosario. But it’s clear that Davis’ worth to Houston was in the same ballpark as De Rosario’s was to D.C. United. In an messy, bogged down game like this championship, a sublime left foot like Davis’ could’ve turned the tables in Houston’s favor. Could’ve. Not would’ve.
Lastly, having Anschutz on the stage to present a trophy with his name on it to himself was odd, fitting and timely. Certainly, it was quaint that the reclusive Anschutz was there for the trophy presentation, especially since he owns half of the Dynamo, too. It stands to reason that he would’ve been on the stage either way, which is slightly weird.
But Anschutz deserves his name on that trophy, and it really only makes sense that he is the full owner of MLS’ premier franchise, since he knows better than anyone what would be the best property to have himself. Yet, the MLS that just completed its 16th season is much larger than him now, with a footprint and roots that don’t look the same everywhere in the country, with ownership groups and supporters groups and clubs themselves that are poised for growth without being propped up by his deep pockets and steadfast belief in the league and the sport. With new TV deals, more expansion, and proof that more spending can equal a title, MLS has plenty to celebrate, to be excited for. But there’s no doubt of what Anschutz has meant to the league, similar to the roles that Beckham and Donovan and Keane and Arena meant to the Galaxy’s trophy cabinet-filling season and championship effort in the yucky weather at HDC earlier tonight. Maybe it’s late, and maybe I’m trying to find a way to console myself from not being in Los Angeles this moment, but somehow the whole trophy presentation felt in part like a deserving tribute to Anschutz for making it all possible. And that tied everything up into a nice, neat little bow. A pretty good story, one that’s too good to be scripted.
