Just three months into his five-year MLS adventure, David Beckham has once again found himself in the position of having to prove people wrong. A pair of injuries restricted him to just three league appearances, and five overall, causing many to brand Beckham as “a bust, a distraction to his struggling team, and a malingering, fragile has-been,” according to Andrea Canales. Good thing his teammates finally started picking up the slack — big time — in recent weeks.
There’s a still A LOT to do — three (more) wins in a row for a team that’s won just eight games all season is a big ask — but it looks as though Becks will at least have the opportunity to control of his own destiny. Should he return against Toronto FC next weekend (likely says Canales, given his eagerness to play against Houston last weekend), he will have three chances to help his team get to the playoffs.
The situation, in fact, is eerily similar to the one he faced with Real Madrid earlier in the year. Given the chance to help turnaround what had been a sub-par season, Beckham proved inspirational in Real’s improbable run to the La Liga title. Could Becks help drive the Galaxy to an equally improbable run to the MLS playoffs? History says don’t write him off — the guy gets off on proving people wrong. But his sprained right knee needs to give him the chance to do so.