Beckham to leave the MLS. Return of normalcy of Soccer in the USA?

I'm coming there not to be a superstar. I'm coming there to be part of the team, to work hard and to hopefully win things. With me, it's about football. I'm coming there to make a difference. I'm coming there to play football... I'm not saying me coming over to the States is going to make soccer the biggest sport in America. That would be difficult to achieve. Baseball, basketball, American football, they've been around. But I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I could make a difference.

-From ESPN.

This seems to be in the past now. Today the news are that David Beckham wants to remain at AC Milan. Beckham has made it clear, that he does not want to return to the Los Angeles Galaxy. This era Beckham would, therefore come to an end in the Major League Soccer. But is the return of normalcy good or bad for Football in America.

Beckham created an enormous amount of hype when he touched down in Los Angeles. He was actually hailed as the rescuer of Soccer in America. In the last two years, however, he only managed 30 appearances for his club. In his time there the LA Galaxy failed to make the playoffs, and finished 5 in 2007 and second last in 2008. Beckham often failed to make an impact for the team, because he was mostly interested in pursuing his England career. He often left the Galaxy to play for England. The MLS does not break for International games, and Beckham often preferred to sit on the England bench then to play for the Galaxy.

Beckham often seemed unmotivated when playing in the MLS. But perhaps he is not the only one to blame. Most of the players on the team did not have the international standard Beckham is used to from his former clubs Manchester United and Real Madrid. Many MLS players a mere amateurs playing for less then $ 30,000 a year. Perhaps Beckham was just to big for this league. The MLS actually now has a chance to continue the natural growth that any sports league has to go through.

Outside of LA the league seems healthy and despite the recession will continue its expansion. Players like Freddie Ljungberg will remain an attraction, but will not as much explode the wage structure of the league as Beckham did.