Ian Plenderleith of the Guardian is at least one British pundit who praises David Beckham’s move to MLS, on both a personal and professional level. He points out, first of all, that was always a foregone conclusion that Beckham would one day wind up in MLS, and with the L.A. Galaxy. Over the years, he’s repeatedly said it’s his dream to grow the sport here. He’s also invested a significant amount of money in a soccer academy in L.A. Thirdly, Beckham is such a global celebrity that any People-reading American knows exactly who he and his wife Victoria are. Other than that, we can think of 250 million reasons it’s a good move for him from a financial perspective, and for MLS it’s a huge marketing and publicity coup (though whether it’s worth $250 million remains to be seen). Either way, billionaire Philip Anschutz’s Anschutz Entertainment Group looks to be footing the bill for this one, much like how Steve Ross’s Time Warner paid for the arrival of Pele to the North American Soccer League. However, Plenderleith calls comparisons to “the star-studded, but doomed” NASL simplistic, as this time there is a solid foundation below this league. Its finances have been closely controlled, and after 11 years MLS has proven that there’s interest in a soccer league in this country. Americans have also shown that they turn out for big names: witness the massive attendances of preseason scrimmages featuring Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona. As for the standard of play, Plenderleith points out that some compare the best MLS teams to mid-ranking Premiership clubs. Beckham’s task will be to deliver flair-and goals.