Reuters reporter Ben Klayman takes a look at the just finished Major League Soccer season, from a business perspective, and finds that the much-anticipated ‘Beckham bounce’ doesn’t seem to have happened. He writes:

Two years after David Beckham joined the league, Major League Soccer is facing many headwinds in addition to the declining economy as it attempts to establish itself as a major player on the sports landscape.

While Beckham’s signing in 2007 helped boost the league’s public awareness and put more fans in the seats, television ratings for the young league remain stagnant and some analysts said the MLS will never be more than a minor player behind football, baseball and basketball.

There are few teams making money yet out of the MLS (although the same could be said of most clubs in debt-ridden European leagues) but, as Ben notes, there are plenty of investors still wanting a piece of the action:

Enough people believe in the MLS that seven bidders hope to be one of the 2011 expansion teams, including groups with the owner of the National Football League’s Atlanta team, a partnership that includes the Barcelona soccer club and the owner of the National Hockey League team in Montreal.

Clearly those investor groups believe that there is money to be made out of soccer in the US market at some stage in the future.

Do they have real reason to be confident? Or is Michael Cramer, professor of sports management at New York University, right when he says: “I have real doubts Major League Soccer as we know it will make it in the next 20 to 25 years”?

Personally, I find the argument that the MLS will never be able to overtake the NFL, MLB or NBA in the popularity stakes to rather miss the point. Soccer has its niche in the market, the specialist television stations broadcast the games and the soccer specific stadiums of 20,000 capacity appear to be ideal for the clubs at this stage.

That the MLS is expanding in difficult economic times indicates things aren’t quite so glum as some soccer sceptics suggest. MLS isn’t about to re-make the mistakes of the NASL by expanding too quickly, with too many foreign players, but that means progress is less spectacular.

PHOTO: David Beckham smiles during his presentation as an LA Galaxy player in Carson, California, July 13, 2007. REUTERS/Toby Melville

So now we know why the Premier League are so keen on taking matches on tour to Asia: the 39th game might be the only one that’s actually sold out.

According to a Daily Telegraph report, attendances at Premier League games are down by an average of almost a thousand fans per game this season. Even Manchester United have been affected, the report says, with the English and European champions having failed to sell out Old Trafford’s 76,180 seats for any game this season.

Most will see this as a sign that the recession is biting in England. Shelling out a hundred quid for a couple of tickets to a 90-minute show must feel more like a luxury than ever these days. And to quote from the Telegraph story:

It is the surest sign yet that the Premier League is not immune from the global financial downturn. The cost of entry, as well as the price of travel, is too much for fans already feeling the pinch to justify.

But can the Premier League be confident that the fans will all come back when (or perhaps if) the economy picks up? Might fans decide that the live TV menu is a more appetising one, either at home or in the pub? Outside the top four, are there that many games worth watching at sky-high prices?

I saw an interesting piece on Soccer Pie suggesting that influences from abroad are making matches in England more tactical and perhaps less exciting:

Coaches that prefer football with much more tactical tasks are more successful and all beauty of specific Island football is in doubt. Now, some matches are real chess games.

Attendances in Italy and Spain are dropping as well, aren’t they? So should the leagues be worried?

One of the benefits of being a World Cup-winning manager is that nobody complains if you turn up at a party and start badmouthing the hosts - they’re too grateful you came in the first place.

Italy boss Marcello Lippi did that this week when he reprimanded his country’s professional footballers for their treatment of referees at a ceremony celebrating the 40th anniversary of their union, the AIC.

“No one could have Italian footballers more dear to their heart than me, they made me world champion,” he said. “But something unpleasant exists, there are bad manners on the field. Relations with opponents and, above all, with referees are rude, vulgar and taste of animosity.

“Insults, swearing, expressions of intolerance have become habitual. The referee is faced with the dilemma of pretending not to hear to save the match or sending people off and spoiling the spectacle. Either way he gets criticised.”

The problem is certainly not limited to Serie A and Lippi’s comments take him into a debate sparked by the FA’s Respect campaign in England.

Launched earlier this year, the initiative is already on the ropes as it seems to have amplified attention on the errors referees inevitably commit, producing more questions than solutions.

What can players get away with? Should refs be made to speak to reporters after matches to explain their decisions and admit when they get things wrong?

Might it not be easier to encourage respect by upping the level of refereeing with the use of video replays rather than by ‘awareness-raising’ drives?

Jose Mourinho said on Tuesday that Italian referees have it even harder than their Premier League colleagues because in England “there is lots of fair play and the game finishes with the referee’s final whistle”. In Italy, on the other hand, they have to contend with a roasting in the media as well as grief from players and coaches.

Sevilla’s Italian midfielder Enzo Maresca said he had seen “more replays in half an hour tonight than in four years in Spain” while taking part in a TV show on Sunday that was analysing controversial penalty calls in AC Milan’s 2-2 draw at Torino.

Lippi thinks that player associations should make moves to cut out the surliness because “a union should not just defend its members’ rights, but also their dignity”.

But I reckon this is unlikely to work too because in football, disrespect pays!

Dissent is not just about letting off steam in the heat of battle. It’s also a way to pressure officials into being softer on your side in subsequent decisions. If a ref makes a dodgy call, it’s a good idea to make sure he knows so he’ll think twice next time. It’s a tactic and one that is hard to wipe out because it’s successful.

Lippi has won all the trophies in his illustrious career. But this time he may well be on the losing side.

PHOTO:Italy coach Marcello Lippi conducts a training session in Coverciano, Aug. 18. REUTERS/Marco Bucco

The William Gallas saga behind them, Arsenal have reached the last 16 of the Champions League after a 1-0 win over Dynamo Kiev.

A late winner from substitute Nicklas Bendtner was enough to send the Gunners through with a game to spare but will Arsene Wenger have to change things if his young side are to progress further in the competition?

Vlogonthepitch regular Owen Wyatt discusses Arsenal’s chances with Joe Brock in the video above. Let us know your views.

You shouldn’t laugh, but it’s hard not to after the mighty Old Firm, soccer’s biggest domestic bullies, once again found they were not so tough when they are allowed into the big boys’ playground.

Celtic might stick it to Hamilton Academical and Falkirk on a regular basis but AaB Aalborg proved too good for them on Tuesday as a 2-1 win for the Danes ended the Glasgow club’s interest in the Champions League early - again.

Why do Scotland’s finest struggle to make any impact when a similar-sized club like Porto continually do well and Anorthosis Famagusta flourish this year?

The Aalborg defeat should not have come as a shock as Celtic have now managed one draw, and a remarkable 19 defeats from their last 20 Champions League away games.

Barry Robson’s opener last night was their first away goal in the competition for two years but it was almost fated that they should add the Aalborg Stadion to the long list of barren grounds with a Gary Caldwell own goal three minutes from time.

Tuesday’s result also ensured that, despite overcoming their travel travails to reach the knockout phase in the last two seasons, they would finish bottom of their group and not even have a crack at the UEFA Cup, where they reached the final in 2003.

Asked before Tuesday’s game whey Celtic had such a poor return from their Champions League away games, manager Gordon Strachan said: “The other teams have scored more goals than us and we haven’t scored enough. It’s quite simple really.”

My how they must have laughed at the razor wit, and perhaps had another chuckle when the simple formula was repeated a few hours later.

Even after what Strachan somehow described as an “unbelievable defeat”, he found a positive spin by saying: “We don’t need to feel embarrassed because there are a lot of teams around Europe who would like to be worried about their away record in the Champions League  but can’t get anywhere near it.”

Rangers, champions of Scotland just the 51 times, did not even get past the qualifying stage this season as they were undone by Lithuanians Kaunas, who coincidentally were knocked out by Aalborg in the next round.

But for suffering Old Firm fans, help is at hand in the form of a return to their never-ending duel for supremacy in the Scottish Premier League this weekend. 

And when everyone else is getting excited about the last 16 of the Champions League next year, Rangers and Celtic can fight it out in the Scottish Cup, where they might just add to their combined 102 appearances in the final.

PHOTO: Celtic’s Scott McDonald fights for the ball with AaB Aalborg’s Andreas Johansson (R) during their Champions League match in Denmark, Nov. 25. REUTERS/Henning Bagger/Scanpix

Arsene Wenger’s appointment of Cesc Fabregas as captain is more than just a strategic move, designed to ward off Barcelona attempts to recover the one that got away. The decision also says something significant about the way Wenger sees Arsenal Football Club. 

Wenger has changed the youth system, the players’ diets and the style of play and he has now appointed a captain made in the image of another gifted Catalan, Josep Guardiola i Sala.

The first time I was in a room listening to Wenger speak was after a Champions League game between Barcelona and Arsenal in 1999. Arsenal had just managed to claim a 1-1 draw, despite being comprehensively outplayed in the first half, and Wenger was extolling the virtues of Barca’s then captain.

“Guardiola was technically perfect,” he said, with something of a “purr” in his voice. “In the first half we tried to close him down to stop him using the ball but that didn’t work. In the second we just had to stop the ball getting to him in the first place.”*

Here’s what Wenger said when asked about the position of captain this week: “I don’t believe too much in leadership. I believe more in good passing than a guy who jumps around with his hands in the air and plays the leader.”

In England, where the captaincy often goes to the most ‘inspirational’ player, Wenger’s words probably sound strange but, thinking back nine years, I can’t help feeling Fabregas, a ball-playing midfielder who commands respect by the way he plays and leads by example, is the captain Wenger has wanted all along.

And if the move helps him recover his outstanding form of last season, and keeps Barcelona at bay for a year or two more, so much the better.

PHOTO: Gallas and Fabregas attend a team training session in London Colney, Nov 24, 2008. REUTERS/ Eddie Keogh

* I paraphrase, of course. It was a memorable quote, but nine years is a long time…

I have a suggestion on how to clear up inconsistencies with handballs.

Law 12 states that “a direct free kick is awarded to the opposing team if a player…handles the ball deliberately”.                                                                  

In reality, we all know this rule isn’t always applied correctly. When the ball strikes a hand or an arm which is well away from the body and all the stadium can see it, the referee will invariably give a foul whether it was deliberate or not (we can also argue whether the player is being naive by having his arms flailing about).

I think we should take ‘deliberately’ out of the law and replace it with “…gains an advantage from handling the ball”.

A perfect example was Sunday’s 2-2 draw between Torino and AC Milan. Hosts Torino scored a late equaliser from the spot after the ball hit Milan defender Kakha Kaladze on the thigh before striking his outstretched arm. 

Milan were furious but Torino would have been as well had the penalty not been given. If the ball had not struck Kaladze’s arm it would have flown across the face of goal and given the home side a chance to score.

If the ball had bounced down off Kaladze’s arm into the path of a Torino attacker, then there would have been no advantage to Milan and therefore it should not be a foul.

Defenders don’t deliberately score own goals but they count. Forwards don’t deliberately run offside but they are still penalised. What’s the difference with handball?

I know controversies make football so enjoyable but if we sorted out the handball rule, we’d still have tackles, offsides, red cards and goalline technology to argue about…

“There’s a lot of cover-ups sometimes and players need to stand up and be counted. I’m not sure that happens a lot at this club.” — Roy Keane, May 7, 2002.

“When you play for Manchester United nothing should interfere with what you are doing during the week and during a match. I have felt that one or two of the younger players have slackened off in training. I have not been happy about it. I have said it to them but maybe I have had to say it in public for them to sit up and take notice.” — Roy Keane, Feb 19, 2004.

And he did it again in 2005.

So what’s new about William Gallas revealing ’secrets’ from Arsenal’s dressing room? Nothing. And what’s so terrible about a captain hitting out at his team mates when they fail to deliver?

Gallas was doing the job of a captain at a club without a trophy since 2005.

Alright, Gallas is no Keano, but we cannot blame him for trying.

After all, it can get a lot worse in Germany. I remember in 1999 Bixente Lizarazu reportedly slapping Lothar Matthaeus in the face during a training session at Bayern Munich.

Perhaps some people will see a pattern emerging, and seek to blame the French, but then you may also remember the Italian Giovanni Trapattoni criticising players by name.

PHOTO: William Gallas trains with Arsenal, November 24, 2008. REUTERS/ Eddie Keogh

Adriano is surely one of the most frustrating players in the world.

The Brazilian has all the assets needed to be one of the very best strikers — power, pace and guile — yet he has wasted several opportunities to show he can be consistently good.

Indiscipline is part of his problem. Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho left him out for five games after he ignored his orders in a league match, stayed out at a night club and turned up late for training.

Cunning Mourinho brought him back for this weekend’s big clash with rivals Juventus, hoping Adriano would make the most of his return from exile.

Serie A leaders Inter deservedly won 1-0 and Adriano was alright but did nothing spectacular. Afterwards Mourinho defended his decision to recall the striker saying he needed ‘an animal’ to battle against Juve.

But didn’t Adriano used to be something more than an animal? 

He scored goals for fun for Inter and Brazil in 2004 and 2005, good goals at that, but a disappointing World Cup was the start of a sharp decline. His lifestyle upset then Inter boss Roberto Mancini and last year an overweight Adriano was packed off on loan to Sao Paulo.

He rediscovered his verve in Brazil and on his return to Inter it looked like he was going to be a regular, threatening Mourinho’s obsession with three upfront. 

Now the 26-year-old is once again in no man’s land. Will he finally fulfill his potential or is ‘the Animal’ destined to feed off scraps for the rest of his career?

PHOTO: Inter Milan’s Adriano (R) challenges Giorgio Chiellini of Juventus during their Serie A match at the San Siro, Nov. 22. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

For 12 years, Arsenal fans have been used to a manager so loyal it borders on the belligerent, but that quality appears to be lost on the team’s captain, William Gallas.

According to reports this morning, Gallas has been stripped of the Arsenal captaincy. For the sake of the club’s future, the manager may have to go even further and boot him out altogether. (more…)