After listening to David Beckham try to whine his way out of Los Angeles, and comparing and contrasting it to Juan Pablo Angel talking about re-signing with the Red Bulls, I can’t help but think of two words. Crass & Class.
Goldenballs came to MLS talking a lot of junk about wanting to be an ambassador for the sport, yada-yada-yada. What he wanted was someplace to make some coin before then use as a springboard back to Europe. Mission accomplished. Angel joined Red Bull and has been ever better than advertized, not only as a player but as a leader.
Contrast these quotes:
“I hope that things will go the way I want them to and I have already said it is my desire to stay at Milan,” Beckham said. “Having clarified that I want to stay here, it might be difficult to go back to playing in the States.”
Yeah, that’ll go over well with MLS defenders. Call me silly, but I was always taught you finish what you start, you do what you say and you say what you mean. So what if the Galaxy stinks? Lift them to being better. So what is MLS isn’t Serie A? Help it grow. That’s what that big contract was for.
Now listen to Angel:
“It is an honor to continue to be part of this organization, and getting this extension done was very, very important for me and my family…I also would like to thank the fans for the support that they have given me from day one. That is also one of the main reasons that I wanted to be here.
“It seems like I’ve lived here forever. My family settled there very quick, and my family is a very important part of everything I do. The city welcomed me with open arms. I’d like to spend more time in here; now I’m going to have the opportunity to live in it and get to know it better. I’m loving it. Apart from soccer, it’s a great thing to be able to live in the U.S.”
After the laundry list of failed big-name signings in Metro history (Lothar, where art thou?) and questionable Designated Players since the league initiated the rule (Denilson and Marcello Gallardo are busts, and Becks isn’t looking too good), Red Bull should feel fortunate they spent their coin on Angel.
“Well, you hope to minimize the luck in this by doing your research and making sure you have the right player. With Juan Pablo we have a new standard of what the designated player should be, not only for this team but in this league,” said sporting director Jeff Agoos. “We were very confident in Juan Pablo when we signed him. I don’t know if the expectation was for him to deliver as much as he has. We’re extremely happy with what he’s done here on the field and off the field.”