Danny Dichio: The Beautiful Game Embodied?

Toronto FC has received great coverage in the local press to go along with stellar support in the stands. Along with great coverage, however, they also have columnist Cathal Kelly, who seems genetically predisposed to nonsense.

In this latest article http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/270316, Kelly writes:

"[Beckham] was here to lend [soccer] glamour, to attract coverage and to serve as its spokesmodel.

It was the job of other, hungrier, more-reasonably-paid players to prove the game's worth with the ball at their feet.

Witness what Danny Dichio's done in Toronto. The English journeyman is already a cult hero because he is exactly the sort of player Beckham never could be – hard-charging, camera shy and occasionally brutal. The powerful striker arrived an unknown, but made his name through his play."

There are a couple of ideas here that are just completely wrong. First, while Dichio deserves his cult hero status in Toronto, does he really get the adulation because he's "camera shy"? Or is it because he scored the club's first ever goal and led them in scoring? Second, the idea that Beckham could never be "hard charging... and occasionally brutal" shows that Kelly hasn't watched much Beckham. Becks is a workhorse midfielder, relying on an impressive workrate. No, he can't tackle to save a baby seal, but that doesn't stop him from trying. Becks isn't a dirty player but he earns his red cards.

But finally, and most importantly, if guys like Dichio are our best hope to "prove the game's worth", then we're sunk. Surely guys like Cuahtemoc Blanco, Landon Donovan or even Canuck midfield De Rosario are better suited to that task-- I just get the sense that Kelly hasn't really watched enough of the league to know that they-- the real purveyors of the beautiful game-- rather than hard-worker scrappers like Dichio are what make the game wonderful.

In any event, I'd like to propose a cage match between Paul Gardner, whose motto is "If it ain't latin, then it's shit", and Kelly, whose motto is "If it's not Toronto, I don't know about it." That should be more entertaining than a season of Toronto FC games.