Beckham Rule: Some Names

An interesting list of names showed up in a Jeffrey Rusnak piece on the designated-player rule:

"The prospects among central attackers include Rui Costa, Pavel Nedved, Paul Scholes, Rivaldo, Jay-Jay Okocha and Alvaro Recoba. Luis Figo plays on the flank and Alessandro Del Piero and Mark Viduka play in more advanced roles, but any of the three would add a sheen to the league. In Argentina, there's the beguiling Ariel Ortega and the fleet striker Paulo Wanchope. It's asking too much, but getting Zinedine Zidane to unretire for one season would be worth whatever it cost."

I'd love to see players like Ortega or Okocha come to the States; that Recoba guy, if he's who I'm thinking of, would be swell too. Even Paul Scholes or Mark Viduka would work; they both seem hungry still. But I've got doubts on everyone else.

We don't need geezers. I don't see much value on Beckham, either. In truth, Beckham would be the worst signing of the bunch from a playing perspective; by that I mean he'd probaby be good for a one-off boost in the marketing department - but that's it. If he's got any interest in striving for a higher level, Beckham should say no, or we should say no for him. Playing for the Galaxy will be a professional cul-de-sac for him and he knows it.

Beckham is, to my mind, worse than straight-up retirees like Figo, Rui Costa, Pavel Nedved, and so on. Yeah, they were great players. But now they're geezers with nothing left to prove and nothing more to play for than the chance to simply play. How many wasted passes and bad refereeing decisions will it take before they mentally say "fuck it" and kick back for the season?

I'm guessing two. And odds are that won't take more than three regular season games.