Major League Soccer shows plenty of signs of good health and progress but beneath the surface the North American league has some critical decisions to make over its future direction.

After a week of largely upbeat build-up and nationwide publicity for a sport that so often struggles to get space, the league’s title deciding game, MLS Cup, was played out in front of over 46,000 fans here in Seattle – the city that is staking a strong claim to be the de facto home of U.S soccer.

“It was a memorable night for soccer in the United States,” said league commissioner Don Garber.

Strolling through the squares of downtown Seattle, packed with fans bedecked in team colours and chatting to the soccer-savvy locals, it was hard not to imagine how the sports scene in the U.S could change if the Seattle experience truly was replicated across the country.

David Beckham and L.A Galaxy didn’t get their title, losing on penalties to Real Salt Lake, but they did both earn some respect.

Beckham has surely put to bed the argument that he is not fully committed to his MLS project by playing through the pain barrier of a badly bruised ankle for 120 minutes and since Bruce Arena took over as head coach, the Galaxy feel like a real team rather than the circus act they were in danger of becoming.

Salt Lake won the league in just their fifth season of existence – a real boost for the trio of new teams about to enter MLS, Philadelphia in 2010, Vancouver and Portland a year later and encouraging also for other teams in the league without a big name foreign player.

But for all the very real advances the 14 year-old league had made, MLS now finds itself at the crossroads with some very difficult strategic issues to deal with, including some tough talks with the players’ union over a collective bargaining agreement on wages and conditions.

MLS has prided itself on avoiding the boom and bust associated with the first attempt at a nationwide professional league – the NASL which ran from 1968 to 1984 before collapsing as one debt-ridden club after another folded.

The MLS executives have led a conservative expansion and investment strategy designed for steady and intelligent growth and in many areas that approach has been justified.

The league is a ‘single entity’ which means that there is a strong central control over spending and a collective responsibility for debt. The salary cap and the restrictive rules on recruitment and squad development act as a brake on what is so often the biggest cause of debt in professional soccer — wages.

Like all the pro sports leagues in the U.S, the desire for parity – keeping as many teams as possible competitive with each other – leads to rules and regulations that are surprising for a country known as the home of modern capitalism.

There has been some loosening of the reins – the Designated Player exception, also known as the ‘Beckham rule’, allows clubs to have a player on their squad who is outside the salary cap restrictions and is paid for directly by the team and not the league.

Some clubs in MLS, such as the Seattle Sounders and the L.A Galaxy, would like to see an expansion of that exception and greater freedom for clubs to buy in their own players and offer lucrative deals while less wealthy franchises fear that would create a small elite.

At the weekend Galaxy owner Tim Leiweke suggested a rule change was on the horizon which would allow for three designated players and that he expected to see more big name players head to the league.

However, Garber was quick to put the dampers on such talk.

“It is clear that the LA Galaxy are a big proponent of the designated player rule but I can assure you that no decisions have been taken on the designated player rule,” he told reporters at halftime in Seattle.

“Frankly no discussions will be held at the board level on that rule or our salary budgets or anything related to what we spend on our players until after we get through our CBA negotiations,” he said.

BASIC MATTERS

It is a tricky issue for Garber to address. He wants to keep the big money backers of the Sounders and the Galaxy happy; he wants to see more Beckham style big-name players in the league but he doesn’t want to make the mistake of leaving weaker franchises to fade if they can’t keep up with the big-spenders.

But with the current agreement with the players running out on Jan. 31 and the union pushing for higher wages, it is more basic matters that Garber must attend to.

Some of the salaries being paid to experienced and talented players in MLS are astonishingly low compared to the money that players of similar ability earn in Europe or South America.

Stuart Holden, a 24-year-old U.S international and one of the top midfielders in MLS this season with Houston, earns a salary of under $35,000 from the league while Salt Lake’s top scorer Robbie Findley with 18 goals in 27 regular season games and the equaliser in Sunday’s final, this year earned just $72,000.

A deal needs to be struck with the union to avoid the acutely embarrassing and potentially damaging scenario of threats of a strike and also to lessen the danger of the country’s best talent voting with their feet.

Not only is MLS unable to attract quality foreign players into the league, salaries well below the international level mean that it cannot hang on to a lot of American talent.

Holden’s contract runs out in January and he could well move abroad and while players of his quality will always be tempted by an offer from England or Spain, what should be worrying Garber is the exodus of more modest talent to smaller leagues.

It doesn’t look good for MLS’s credibility as a major league – among U.S sports or on the international soccer stage — when young American players choose, as a number have, to move to the relatively anonymous and modestly paying Danish and Norwegian leagues in order to earn a better living.

And while Leiweke talks of new names coming into the league, the fact is that his team and the league can’t control the top names they do have.

Next year’s MLS season starts two months before the World Cup finals in South Africa – an event which is being well promoted on television and which is increasingly on the radar of mainstream sports fans in North America.

MLS’s two highest profile foreign players – Beckham and Mexico’s Cuauhtemoc Blanco – will likely be featuring in that tournament and offer the perfect way to lead interested fans from the World Cup to the domestic competition.

Yet at the start of the MLS season in March, those two players will be playing in different leagues, Beckham with AC Milan in Italy and Blanco back home in Mexico – thanks to deals designed to keep them in shape for South Africa.

Blanco may not return while Beckham is being loaned out — a bizarre situation that is simply unthinkable for any major league sport in the United States or any serious soccer championship elsewhere.

The one area where MLS’s caution has been less evident of late is in the matter of expanding its size. The league will go to 16 teams next year and 18 by 2011. In the subsequent seasons Garber would like to add Montreal and then a 20th team, possibly one owned by Beckham or a consortium he would front.

Here again there is something of a quandary – expansion risks spreading the talent too thinly across the league and creates a need for more imported players and therefore a demand for higher salaries to attract those foreigners.

But with interest in the game as a whole growing – with rising television audiences for the English and Spanish leagues and Champions League football – not embedding MLS into key soccer markets risks allowing a generation of fans to get their fix elsewhere – probably from foreign television.

MLS’s prudent, intelligent and relatively cautious approach has been largely justified by the steady progress the league has made and Garber is perfectly right to celebrate the achievements in bringing the sport to a new level in North America.

But there is, at the heart of all these issues, the conflict between the tried and tested methods of North American major leagues – salary caps, drafts, the desire to keep the gaps between the best and the worst to a minimum, and the fact that, unlike American football and baseball, MLS faces strong competition from overseas leagues and a global labour market for talent.

Soccer, globally, is a ruthlessly free-market business where the rich usually get what they want.

Ultimately, if MLS wants to step up to a higher level, if it wants to be truly major league in the U.S. and in the world soccer scene, there will be some strains on the almost socialistic structures it currently operates in.

PHOTO: Los Angeles Galaxy’s David Beckham watches the celebration after losing to Real Salt Lake in a penalty shootout during their MLS Cup 2009 championship soccer match in Seattle November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Robert Sorbo

Major League Soccer’s finale, MLS Cup, takes place on Sunday in Seattle and (perhaps surprisingly to some) the game between L.A. Galaxy and Real Salt Lake will be broadcast in over 120 countries.

For the benefit of those fans outside of the States, who might be tuning in to watch David Beckham play for the Galaxy (or perhaps admire the intelligent midfield play of Real’s Clint Mathis?) and aren’t familiar with MLS or it’s final, here are some answers to the kind of questions you might be asking yourself as you sit down on the sofa and get ready for…

Well no, not really a Cup final. Officially the game is known as ‘MLS Cup’ (or Copa MLS in the league’s Spanish language literature) but unlike say every other Cup final in the world, this is not the final game of a knockout Cup competition. No, this is the game which decides the league champions of MLS.

But what about the team who finish top of the league table? Aren’t they the champions?

What league table? There is no single league table in MLS. The 15 team league has two league tables for the two conferences – East and West. The top two teams from each conference alongside four teams with the next best record in the league overall go into a knockout playoff format and this is the final game of that process.

Ah, so it’s like the NFL’s Super Bowl then, or the World Series. MLS Eastern Conference champions v MLS Western Conference champions?

Got it! L.A Galaxy are the Western Conference champions and Real Salt Lake are the Eastern Conference champions.

But, hold on, isn’t Salt Lake City in the West of the United States?

Yes it is and it plays in the Western Conference. But as five of the eight playoff teams were from the West, Real were moved into the Eastern playoffs – which they won. So both teams in this final are from the Western Conference…

Right…erm, moving on…what’s all this ‘Real’ about anyway? Isn’t it a bit silly to copy Real Madrid’s name when the team has nothing to do with the Spanish giants?

To be fair, the alternative name was apparently Salt Lake City Highlanders and the Salt Lake team, who only joined MLS in 2005, have a 10 year co-operation agreement with Real Madrid which is to include a $25 million youth academy in Salt Lake which Real cough up half the costs for, in return for access to the young players.

However, as this article shows, little has been delivered on the agreement.

$25 million academy…there seems to be a lot of money in MLS. Isn’t Beckham getting something like $250 million for his five-year contract?

No he isn’t. Nowhere near that amount. That widely quoted figure was put out by Beckham’s management team when he signed for Galaxy but it includes an estimate of likely revenue in sponsorship. His actual salary is $6.5 million a year, which is not bad either but not at all typical of the league.

In fact there is very little money in MLS for players salaries – Real Salt Lake’s leading scorer Robbie Findley (18 goals in 27 regular season games) this year earned just $72,000. The MLS Players Union kindly provides details of every player’s salary here.

But if Findley keeps scoring like that he will get a big money move to another club won’t he?

Do you really want me to go into salary caps, drafts, roster regulations etc? Let’s just say MLS is very different from the league you are used to in your country. MLS is called a ‘single entity league’ which means that all the player contracts are actually owned by the league not by the clubs.

There isn’t really an internal transfer market. And as for moving abroad – if say, Manchester City wanted to sign Robbie Findley, they would need to do a deal with MLS not just Salt Lake.

But anyway, Americans don’t care about soccer do they? Will most Americans even know this game is taking place?

Come on, get with the program. 40,000 tickets have been sold in Seattle for Sunday’s game. The main newspapers – like the New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today and TV channels like CNN and ESPN have been building up to the game.

Remember with cable or satellite you can watch soccer from around the world pretty much non-stop every weekend from any living room in the States. And quite a number of Americans do just that. If you have the good fortune to meet a committed MLS fan be ready for a two hour conversation covering various aspects of the global game over the past 20 years and to be told about their lifelong passion for Scunthorpe United….

Scunthorpe United?

Or some obscure Irish team or a French third division club. Soccer is a sub-culture in the United States, maybe even slightly counter-culture. It is an alternative ‘scene’ and the fans are intensely proud of their involvement in the sport, take their ‘fandom’ very seriously and consume and debate huge amounts of information about the game locally and internationally.

Yet despite all that they aren’t trainspotters – just very passionate and remarkably well-informed. Soccer fans are basically amongst the nicest people you will meet in the U.S. Oh and its not just Americans, don’t forget Canada is part of MLS too – with a team in Toronto and a future team from Vancouver joining in 2011 with Montreal possibly following.

Expansion franchises eh?

Now you’re getting it….

By the way, who is that white guy with the long dreadlocks in midfield for Salt Lake?

That’s Kyle Beckerman. He’s pretty good actually and could well be part of the U.S midfield at the World Cup. Keeps it ticking in midfield, intelligent passer.

Is he a Rasta or what?

A Reuters reporter asked him that this week and Beckerman replied that his haircut does not reflect any religious beliefs. However he did say that if he was religious he would probably be a Rastafarian.

And that Donovan fellah playing upfront for L.A. He doesn’t like Beckham does he?

Nonsense. Landon Donovan may have made some very critical remarks about his team mate in the book “The Beckham Experiment” and made no attempt to hide his antipathy for how the Englishman was behaving at the Galaxy but he and David are best friends now. The other day they spent two thirds of the pre-final press conference expressing their admiration and respect for each other.

What is that Shakespeare line about protesting too much?

Stop being cynical. But if it goes on like this much longer, they’ll be modeling underwear together….

Hold on a minute, aren’t they playing on a plastic pitch?

The surface is called ‘FieldTurf’ and is indeed an artificial grass pitch. It’s very different to the early artificial surfaces (English fans may remember a very bouncy ‘plastic’ pitch at QPR’s Loftus Road) and is used on a number of NFL venues. Qwest Field is home to the Seattle Seahawks as well as the MLS’s Seattle Sounders.

So American players like playing on artificial surfaces then?

No. “All the players prefer grass” said one MLS Cup participant this week.

What happens if the scores are level after 90 minutes?

Extra-time and penalties if needed — same as anywhere else. The days of the ‘shootout’ with players running with the ball and taking on the keeper are long gone. Shame really, that was pretty good.

So will they be dancing in the streets of Salt Lake or honking their car horns around L.A if their team wins?

OK, MLS Cup is raising its profile but sure, it isn’t the Super Bowl. There will however be several thousand fans from both cities in Seattle to support their team and many more at viewing parties in the pubs back home. The pub has become a central part of the new MLS fan culture as the last few nights in Seattle have proven.

Hmm almost sounds worth going to a game over there, but if I go to America do I really have to call it ‘soccer’?

Well, is it really so bad? Think of the history of that term — soccer was a phrase first used by the English as a way to shorten the term ‘Association Football’ used to distinguish the game from Rugby Football. Charles Wreford-Brown is credited with coining the phrase and if it was good enough for a man schooled at Charterhouse it is surely acceptable for former subjects of the crown to use.

And doesn’t it make perfect sense in countries with other kinds of football (Australia or the U.S) to use the phrase soccer?

But anyway if you really have ‘issues’ with the phrase then don’t worry – almost everyone in America knows what the rest of the world means when it talks about football. They won’t think you are talking about the NFL. MLS probably gets it right with its slogan – Football, Futbol, Soccer (video here).

In other words, take your pick.

Ok, let’s have your pick then. Galaxy or Real?

I’m not a betting man but the form book shows that Salt Lake lost more games than they won in the regular season and only won twice away from home.  But then again this is a Cup final…..

PHOTO: Kyle Beckerman (R) of the U.S. and Walter Julian Martinez Ramos (L) of Honduras fight for the ball during the first half of their CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-final soccer match in Chicago, Illinois, July 23, 2009. REUTERS/Frank Polich

Manchester United fans will doubtless be pleased by Wayne Rooney’s latest comments pouring cold, or at least lukewarm water on the idea that he might move to Barcelona, or anywhere else for that matter.

Good news for United it may be, but I’m not so sure it’s in England’s interests for so few of the country’s leading players to try their luck abroad.

Whenever this subject comes up, I can’t help but look to the great strides made by Spain at international level, progress that must have been aided by the far more adventurous attitude taken by some of their players in recent times.

Spain used to have a similar reputation to England in this regard, with virtually everyone happy to stay at home and enjoy the riches available from clubs swimming in cash from huge TV rights deals. Heading into the 1998 World Cup, every member of the Spain squad played for a Spanish club, while four years later Gaizka Mendieta was the only export (and he was about to come home, after confirming a lot of prejudices in a nightmare season with Lazio).

Fast forward to Euro 2008, where a Spanish squad featuring Pepe Reina, Alvaro Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres (all Liverpool) and Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) swept all before them.

Perhaps it’s a coincidence, but I suspect not. In the past, tensions always seemed to rise in the Spanish camp as long tournaments wore on (I covered them at Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup and at Euro 2004) but last year there was a new confidence about them.

Wouldn’t it be beneficial for England if their better players spent some time abroad, learning new languages, experiencing different cultures and absorbing new ideas?

I’m not specifically talking about Rooney, who I’m sure will go on and achieve even more at United. But would it really be so bad if players like him followed the example of Steve McManaman and David Beckham and tried something different.

PHOTO: Steve McManaman lifts up the European Cup at Madrid’s landmark Cibeles fountain May 25. Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 in the Champions League final at the Stade de France in Paris May 24 to secure their eighth European title.

David Beckham will tread a familiar path once the MLS season is over, joining AC Milan on loan again for a five-month loan spell from January.

Milan have just announced the deal on their website (just in Italian for now), meaning any lingering hopes Premier League clubs had of changing the England midfielder’s mind have finally been dashed.

Milan sound thrilled:

“We are very happy to David Beckham in the red and black shirt again after the splendid experience of last season,” Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani told www.acmilan.com.

“We are sure that this period in Europe will help the player to take part in the next World Cup and then to continue his career at Los Angeles Galaxy, whom we thank for their help.”

Beckham’s main target is obviously the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, as the Milan chief hints. Wonder if he’ll be on the plane…

PHOTO: Los Angeles Galaxy’s David Beckham walks on the field during Game 1 of their MLS Cup western conference semifinal soccer playoff series against Chivas USA in Carson, California, November 1, 2009. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

The US national team beat European champions Spain in the Confederations Cup and give Brazil a scare in the final. In the NFL heartland of Baltimore, 71,000 turn out to watch Chelsea v AC Milan.

In Pasadena, Chelsea v Inter Milan pulls in 81,000.

David Beckham gets booed and jeered on his return for L.A Galaxy and the American sporting public laps it up – top sports talk shows, which usually ignore soccer other than to mock the game occasionally, lead their bulletins on the issue.

Giants Stadium in New York sells out with 79,000 for USA v Mexico in the Gold Cup final – even though both teams field reserve sides.

There is more to come — Real Madrid and Barcelona are about to start mini-tours of the U.S. that will bring in similar huge crowds.

In Major League Soccer, the Seattle Sounders average 30,000 for home games in their first season. Philadelphia and Vancouver sign up to became the next teams to join the league.

Television stations now battle for rights to Europe’s Champions League – which will be broadcast on the Fox Soccer Channel while ESPN is already running trailers for next year’s World Cup finals.

No wonder, the Wall Street Journal asks Are Americans Becoming Soccer Fans? Well, are they?

The numbers are impressive and are hard to ignore but it is worth noting, as U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati did this week, that the games that are attracting such huge crowds involve the absolute cream of the crop.

“Clearly we are not getting those attendances at MLS games, and it is an important question as to how we can tap into what is clearly an audience for high-level international games.

“It’s a little bit chasing stars if we think most teams around the world would draw those sorts of attendances. If we were to have a tournament next summer with Stuttgart, Aston Villa, Olympique Marseille and pick another team, I don’t think we’d have those same sorts of attendances.

“The teams that have come are two of the glory teams in Real Madrid and Barcelona, two or three of the top English and Italian teams, really the best teams in the world and biggest stars,” he said.

Nonetheless, the idea that soccer is alien or foreign to Americans or that the game somehow needs to be altered to appeal to those used to the NFL or NBA has been shown to be the nonsense that it is. (more…)

He was supposed to be the man who would take soccer in the United States to the next level yet David Beckham is in danger of becoming an embarrassing liability to the game in the country.

On a weekend when 65,000 people turned out for a friendly match in Seattle, 82,000 watched a Gold Cup game in Dallas and the U.S. national team continued their impressive form with another victory, the soccer news was all about Beckham being booed by his own fans.

The fans wrote their own headlines — “Go Home Fraud” read one bluntly worded banner draped over a section of the Galaxy stadium while another made the point in a more eloquent manner: “Hey Becks, here before you, here after you, here despite you”.

American soccer fans were not supposed to be following L.A Galaxy despite Beckham — the plan was they would fall in love with the team because of the celebrity midfielder.

A significant section of the L.A. fans have turned against Beckham for one simple reason — he turned his back on them.

Beckham’s decision to spend the Major League Soccer (MLS) off-season, from January to March, playing on loan for AC Milan in Italy, was grudgingly accepted at the time it was announced. When he decided to stay until the end of the Serie A season and so miss the first half of the MLS campaign it was a different matter.

Sports pundit Jay Mariotti, a regular on radio and television sports talk shows, wrote on Monday: “Beckham came here two years ago intending to lift Major League Soccer to unprecedented heights, but when he abruptly abandoned his stated mission in January for more prestigious duty in his native Europe, his purported goal became phony and rather pathetic.”

Perhaps, the 34-year-old could have patched up things with his fans, and other supporters of the game in the U.S, if he had returned and apologised for letting them down.

Instead Beckham, whose professionalism and commitment had been questioned by his team mate Landon Donovan, in a new book, thought that making up with Donovan would be enough of a gesture. It clearly was not.

LOAN DEAL
On his return, Beckham could have told the L.A fans: “I am sorry for letting you and the team down but I really felt I needed to finish the season in Italy. Now though I am back with you and 100 percent committed to this club”.

He could not say that, however, as he is already eyeing another six-month loan deal to Europe, perhaps to Milan, perhaps to an English team.

“At the moment all I’m concentrating on is being part of this team (L.A) and being successful with this team. Once the season is over, then I will decide and decide what I do from then on,” he said last week.

It is hardly the kind of talk to convince fans he really cares about the long-term future of their team.

What is occupying Beckham’s mind is the need to keep himself in the good books of England manager Fabio Capello, who the midfielder says wants to see him playing in Europe before next year’s World Cup in South Africa.

“Leading up to the World Cup, the England manager has made it very clear to me that I need to be playing at a European level,” he told reporters last week. “So I will do everything possible… I’ll always regret it if I didn’t do everything and to give myself a chance to be involved in that.”

The puzzling aspect is why, if Beckham’s number one priority is playing for England in the World Cup, he chose to come and play in Major League Soccer at all?

Perhaps it was the appointment of Capello that changed things — in which case, why has Beckham not sought a permanent transfer away from Galaxy to a club in Europe?

Major League Soccer faces a tough task in establishing its credibility among sports fans in the United States as a serious professional league and Beckham, rather than showing this is a league that attracts quality foreign players, is merely adding to the belief of some that MLS is not something to be taken too seriously.

There was one positive for MLS that came out of Sunday’s anti-Beckham protests: the Galaxy fans showed the world that they are not star-struck kids in awe of the celebrity Beckham but are as passionate, loyal — and as rude — as fans anywhere else in the world.

Fans of Manchester United or Real Madrid would not put up with one of their top players spending half the season with another team in another league and Galaxy supporters showed they do not accept such an arrangement either.

Boos and protests, while headline grabbing, are not good for any team or any league. The question now is how long Beckham, Galaxy and the MLS are prepared to let the situation continue.

Florentino Perez is back on the scene and if the Madrid sports press are right the first ‘Galactico’ of his second era at Real Madrid will be Brazil’s Kaka, assuming he wins next month’s election to the presidency.

“Kaka signed” Marca said on a special wrap-around front cover for Saturday’s edition, while AS led with “Kaka, the details of the agreement.”

There was little evidence given to substantiate the stories, which spoke of a five-year deal agreed with the player and a transfer fee of around 60 million euros agreed with Milan, all linked to a Florentino victory.

On Thursday, Florentino formally declared he would enter the race for the presidency and spoke of plans for a “spectacular sporting project”. He said details would be forthcoming in the near future but his answers to questions were carefully designed to tip the wink.

When asked whether Kaka was on his agenda, Perez was charm personified as he replied with a smile: “I am a friend of (Milan’s vice-president) Adriano Galliani. We often speak to each other.

“Sometimes we talk about football, but you’ll have to wait until the election.”

This sort of talk is music to the ears of Real Madrid fans who are desperate for a return to the glamour of his previous six-year tenure when vast sums were splashed to lure Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham to the Bernabeu.

If timing is everything, the Kaka ‘revelations’ on the Saturday Barcelona could well wrap up the Primera Liga title, are the perfect tonic for downcast Madrid fans.

Also, the reported deal for Kaka is a perfect dig at former president Ramon Calderon, whose resignation back in January precipitated the new election. Calderon was elected to the post in 2006 on the back of a promise to sign Kaka — something he failed to do and something fans never allowed him to forget.

Florentino overshadows the other three candidates being tipped to stand when the registration period opens on May 21.

His media pull is reflected in the fact that Marca, Spain’s biggest selling newspaper, devoted the first 16 pages of Friday’s edition to coverage of his formal entry to the race.

Before the vote is held on June 14, expect further revelations, correct or not, with regards to Franck Ribery, Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabregas, Cristiano Ronaldo and Arsene Wenger among others — not from Florentino directly, but from his cheerleaders in the Madrid-based sports press.

GALACTICOS NEW AND OLD?: AC Milan’s David Beckham (R) and his teammate Kaka speak during a news conference before their friendly match against Albania in Tirana May 12, 2009. REUTERS/Arben Celi

With the new Star Trek film out, we thought we’d have a bit of fun and see which soccer players could play the famous characters.

They’ve changed all the actors anyway and brought in a youthful crop, so why not?

Over at Kottke.org, they’ve already done it with NBA players. Captain Kirk is Tony Parker they reckon.

Reuters resident Trekkies Kevin Fylan and Alison Wildey had a bash at a soccer version but please come up with your own ideas in the comments below.

1. David Beckham as Kirk (if not John Terry or Steven Gerrard)

2. Someone logical and Germanic as Spock, so maybe Arsene Wenger

3. Scotty would have to be a little powerhouse who fixes it just in time like Maradona (or a Scotsman like Archie Gemmill)

4. Bones is tricky. Are there any doctors in football? Dr Josef Venglos? Did Norman Whiteside go off and get a physio qualification?

5. We need the guy in red who gets shot at the start of each episode. Darren Fletcher?

PHOTO: Cast member Zachary Quinto poses at the premiere of the movie “Star Trek” at the Grauman’s Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California April 30, 2009. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Ukraine coach Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko said his players had been overawed by the Wembley atmosphere in their 2-1 World Cup defeat by England but their nerves must have been based on the twin-towered mystique of the old stadium rather than the soulless feeling of the new.

At a cost of 800 million pounds ($1.15 billion), the new Wembley undoubtedly looks impressive and there was no hint of the credit crunch as the wine flowed in the packed private dining suites before the game.

Out in the seats, however, any hope of building a rip-roaring atmosphere before the game continues to be undone by the FA’s obsession with deafening announcements.

In the 30 minutes before kick off on Wednesday fans were treated to a spoof comedy show involving the England players, a lengthy film pleading for respect for referees in amateur football — including the chance to receive the FA’s own guide to parental behaviour — and pleas for the fans to respect the national anthems.

There were also the obligatory sales pitches for the new England kit, available now for “just 50 pounds ($72.76).

By the time the players kicked off, the near-90,000 supporters in the stadium appeared to be relishing the peace rather than getting behind their heroes (although Wayne Rooney said he was happy enough with the noise).

England fans bow to no-one when it comes to the noise they make at tournaments, but on home soil they are second division in comparison with the likes of Turkey and Croatia, who have their stadiums rocking hours before kick-off.

The result on Wednesday was a subdued atmosphere that seeped onto the pitch as England produced a flat performance.

Hanging on to Peter Crouch’s 39th-minute opener, their 100 percent start to the campaign looked to be over when Andriy Shevchenko levelled after 74 minutes.

Only then did the players rouse themselves and, helped by some belated crowd encouragement, claimed their win through captain John Terry five minutes from time.

So often in the past we have seen transfer deals go through simply because the player asks to leave. Clubs fear the players won’t play to their full potential if their wish is denied so they cave in and take the transfer fee.

But recently, some clubs have started fighting back against player power and have been rewarded.

David Beckham asked to stay at AC Milan permanently but Los Angeles Galaxy were having none of it, especially when the Italians first offered a low sum the Americans said was “ridiculous”.

Galaxy stuck to their guns and have managed to get Beckham back for at least July until November.

A similar story happened last year when fellow England midfielder Gareth Barry wanted to go to Liverpool but Aston Villa would not budge on their asking price. He is still at Villa and could stay for good if they make the Champions League this season.

Are we seeing a new hard ball approach from selling clubs?   

PHOTO: AC Milan’s David Beckham controls the ball against Al-Sadd during the Jafal Rashed testimonial soccer match at the Jassim Bin Hamad stadium in Doha March 4, 2009. REUTERS/Fadi Al-Assaad