Galaxy boss happy of Beckahms' short term loan

The Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena has backed David Beckham's loan move to AC Milan as being beneficial to the Major League Soccer club.

Arena said the Galaxy had insisted the England midfielder return from Italy to begin the 2009 league campaign in March.

And the former USA national team coach told reporters on Thursday he was happy to let Beckham go to the Serie A club, who have also agreed to enter into a ''technical relationship'' with the MLS outfit, the details of which have yet to be disclosed.

''I'm fine with everything,'' Arena said. ''I have a very good feel for the situation. We've been in, and we'll continue to be in contact with AC Milan and we have a technical relationship with them as well.

''We're all agreed in principle and everybody's happy. A short-term loan works,'' Arena added. ''I did this at DC United with Marco Etcheverry, with Jaime Moreno, with Ben Olsen - I don't have a problem with it. He's going to be back in March and we believe it's going to be around March 1 and he will be available for our opening game.

''I haven't seen the exact details of the loan agreement yet but we fully anticipate that this loan is for approximately two months although there is a possibility he could go in December.The most important aspect of this loan in our view is that he is back here early March.''

Arena said the length of Beckham's loan spell had been the only sticking point in negotiations between the two clubs as he bids to turn the Galaxy around after they missed out on the post-season MLS Cup play-offs for the second year in a row.

''We have a couple of objectives here. We are absolutely adamant about the fact that the club has not played well over the last couple of years,'' Arena continued.

''We think it's critical that we start 2009 the right way and that we place an improved team on the field because we have great fans and great support here.

''In order to do that we need David Beckham on the field and we need to have all of our key players here as we open our 2009 season if we're going to move forward and that was the critical aspect in this loan, there's no question about that.''

Arena also said he was pleased to have forged a technical partnership with the Italian club.

''I'm prepared to tell you how we're going to benefit from this but I think it's just a positive that we are working with a club of this stature.''

Arena added that the cancellation of the Galaxy's tour game in Australia against the Queensland Roar on December 11 in Brisbane had been as a precaution against Beckham being unavailable.

''We were hesitant to go ahead and commit without knowing whether David would be there or not,'' he explained.

''I imagine this allows David to have a little bit of a break before he heads over to Italy.''

United hit 3 against Celtic, as a goal scoring spree in CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

The Red Devils are in red hot form now...

Berbatov double and Wayne Rooney continue his on form in front of goal has put United at the top with a solid 3 - 0 against Celtic. And although both goals from Berbatov seem to be coming from the offside position, there is no denying the fact that Manchester United deserve the victory.

Another one going in...

Meanwhile, another English side, Arsenal prove to be still a threat in the Europe with their stunning form, thrashing Fenerbahce 5 -2 with Adebayor, Theo Walcott, Abou Diaby, Alexandre Song and Aaron Ramsey all hitting the target. In fact, within the first hour, 4 goals has already come from Arsenal.
This could probably be a sign that the English side might still rule Europe for this season.

This could be the winner, a relief for the coach, Ranieri.

Meanwhile, in Italy, with tragedy happening outside of the game, the Italian legendary football club, Juventus prove to still be a strong challenger for the title when they get a deserving victory against nine time European champions, Real Madrid. Del Piero hit the target in 5 minutes while Amauri double the lead. And although Ruud van Nistelrooy managed to reduce the loss, it seems that Juventus indeed deserve this victory, after not winning in their last 5 games in all competition. Indeed a relief for Ranieri.

The other results are as follow:

Villareal 6 - 3 AaB

Zenit St Petersburg 1 - 1 BATE Borisov

Bayern Munich 3 - 0 Fiorentina

FC Porto 0 - 1 Dynamo Kiev

Steaua Bucuresti 3 - 5 Lyon

Rooney goal scoring spree thanks to teammates....

England striker Wayne Rooney paid tribute to his team-mates after scoring another two goals in tonight's 3-1 win in Belarus.Rooney's second double for the team in four days, following a brace against Kazakhstan, helped maintain England's 100% start to their World Cup qualifying campaign.

Yet the in-form Manchester United star, who also scored against Croatia last month, was modest about his efforts.

He told Setanta Sports: "I think I owe a lot of credit to my team-mates - great individual work by Emile for the first goal and a great pass by Stevie.''

With 12 points from their four games, England have now made their best-ever start in World Cup qualifying and Rooney felt tonight's win was thoroughly deserved.

He added: "I think it was really good, we had to work really hard.

"Belarus are a good football team, they pass the ball well, similar to Arsenal.

"We worked hard - I think we deserved three points.

"To get three points and 12 from four games is a great boost.''

England captain Rio Ferdinand was pleased with the performance but insisted the job was still far from done.

"It's good but still there is much to improve. It doesn't make us qualify because we have won four on the bounce - it puts us in a good position.

"We are happy with where we are but we want to keep going in the right direction and winning games.

"We made sure we were a tight unit and not easy to get through. The one time they got the ball behind us they scored.

"We are disappointed in that aspect but we managed to score some good goals.''

Ferdinand also praised the efforts of Steven Gerrard, who after criticising his own performances earlier this week, opened the scoring in Minsk.

"I am delighted,'' he said. "Maybe he was a little over-critical of himself. You can't always be superman for every game you play.

"He does it a lot for Liverpool and he has done it a couple of times for England.

"He is his own worst critic because you want to do it all the time for England. Tonight was a step in the right direction, it was a great finish."

Gerrard admitted he was happy to put all the debate about his role within the England side behind him after starring in the win.

The Liverpool midfielder set England on their way to victory with a long-range effort after 11 minutes.

"Playing for England you always have a point to prove,'' he told Setanta Sports.

"You are fighting for the shirt every game and it's always nice to score and win.

"A lot of people have been talking about me and Frank Lampard and where I'm going to play all week but as long as I am in this team and we are winning football matches then I'm happy.

"I thought I played well tonight. But every game I play for club or country I try and play the best I can do.

"Sometimes I haven't always hit the heights I would have liked to but I'm moving forward now and I'll continue to work hard and give everything I have got for the country.''

The 28-year-old said he was relishing his next game in an England shirt.

"When you are winning you want the next game to be around the corner, but it's nice to be top of the league going into the end of the year,'' said Gerrard.

"We have got a couple of friendlies before the next match where we can try different things and by the time the next qualifier comes around I'm sure we'll be even better again.''

Rooney received special praise for his performance from Gerrard.

"When Wayne's in this type of form he's up there with the best players in the world,'' said Gerrard.

"He's a special talent and the understanding and awareness he has is fantastic. It's a pleasure to play with him.

He did warn, however, that despite the win, England will still have to improve if they are to become world-beaters.

"We are slowly building into a good team but there's a long way to go yet before we get to where we want to be,'' he said.

England manager Fabio Capello was quick to stress the importance of team unity in his side's victory.

Tonight's win means England have got off to their best start in a World Cup qualifying campaign and Capello said he was delighted with the win, which he saw as a superb team effort.

"I'm very happy, it was a very important game for us,'' the Italian told Setanta Sports.

"Belarus are a good team. We played well in the first half but in the second half we played better.

"Gerrard played well but all the players did. It is very important for us if we want to play well we have to play like a team and not as single players.

"Tonight I saw one team and that was very important for us.

"Wayne Rooney is on good form at the moment and worked hard for the team tonight, but it wasn't just him. All the players played fantastic tonight.''

Capello urged caution, however, when asked whether England's fourth consecutive qualifying campaign win marked the start of a new era of success for the Three Lions.

"It is only one step. It was an important victory but we have to play more games before we get to South Africa,'' he added.

Tevez story of his lack of GOALS this season....

Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez believes the demands of English football have lessened his threat in front of goal.

The Argentina international has scored just once this season and he feels his form has been affected because of the work he has to do for the team in a highly-competitive Premier League.

"I'm not as dangerous. I'm not as effective in the penalty area any more," he said.

"That is something I have lost and I have to get that back. I used to score better goals, great goals.

"But something strange has happened. I think it has to do with the fact that the person up front has to do a lot more for the team than just score goals.

"They have to play more for the team and I think I have sacrificed myself recently with regards to that aspect."