I caught only a few moments of Saturday’s Chelsea v. LA Galaxy friendly and didn’t feel like I was missing much — Becks or not, a mid-season exhibition for the crummy hosts wasn’t the most glittering entertainment option on offer this weekend. And while it isn’t often the hypothetical Washington Generals are the side with some of the biggest star power, Rumors & Rants’ Ryan Phillips considers the microphone fiendishness of one Eric Wynalda (above), the former U.S. national team fixture described by Phillips as “the most critical, negative, pain in the ass I’ve ever heard on a national broadcast.”

He spent the entire broadcast ripping the Galaxy for their level of play, how outmatched they were and how awful they were playing. Uh, Eric? They were playing Chelsea, FA Cup champions and one of the best clubs in the world. They have guys like Andriy Shevchenko, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Joe and Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Petr Cech, of course they were outmatched. But Wynalda didn’t miss a chance to blast their defense for looking disorganized or their offense for not creating other opportunities. He also took Landon Donovan to task for not having a great season so far for the Galaxy. Well Eric, maybe he’s a little tired, since he’s been busy tying your goals record for U.S. Men’s National Team. The funny part about Wynalda being so negative, was that Tommy Smyth (Mr. “Old onion bag” himself) argued with him or had a positive answer for almost everything he said. They were basically politely arguing the whole time, with Smyth looking better in every exchange.

Some people will say that Wynalda just calls people out when no one else will, but that’s not what the MLS needs. The MLS (in conjunction with ABC and ESPN) needs announcers who are positive, almost to a fault. They need to pump up the league, spin things in a good light and make it seem that the level of play in the league is getting better – as it clearly is. Sure it’s not the NFL, but the league has gotten better and with the luring of Beckham and Cuauhtemoc Blanco to the states are big moves for American soccer and should help tremendously. They need someone who will show those moves for what they are. Having Wynalda fill that chair makes as much sense as darts at a bar. We love darts love playing whenever possible, but has anyone else thought that having alcohol and sharp metal objects flying through the air in the same room, might be a bad idea?

You can file the following under news I ignored on purpose : Lee Cook has moved from QPR to Fulham. The Jewish Chronicle reports the R’s are looking to acquire Chelsea’s Ben Sahar on loan — no comment yet from Steve Lyons about Saturday fixtures.