MIAMI -- David Beckham hopped onto the stage, his back to sun-splashed Biscayne Bay, and a pack of photographers jostled for position as admirers cheered and chanted. Ducks Jerseys 2020 . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. The deal will be finalized when the former English national team captain can secure a financing plan and location for a new stadium. Beckham attended a news conference with MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez to discuss their progress. "This is an exciting time, and something were really looking forward to bringing to Miami," Beckham told a crowd of more than 300 people on a downtown museum plaza. The event was frequently interrupted by cheers for Beckham, whos popular around the world and especially in celebrity-smitten Miami. The retired soccer icon has scouted possible stadium sites and is seeking investors to assist with startup costs such as construction and player acquisitions. Among those who might become involved is Miami Heat star LeBron James, who has had recent conversations with Beckham about bringing a team to Miami. "LeBron has become a friend over the last few years," Beckham said. "We spoke about this on the business side and also as friends. Hes very interested in this." Beckham, looking the part of a businessman in a suit and tie, said city officials have promised the teams stadium will be downtown, which is his preference. "We dont want public funding," Beckham said to applause. "We will fund the stadium ourselves. We have worked very hard to get to this stage where we can fund the stadium ourselves. We want to create a football club that is the peoples football club." Gimenez -- who at one point referred to Beckham as "Beckman" -- said theres political support for a plan. "We started our negotiations last week," Gimenez said. "We have to get rolling. Theres a time crunch. We are willing partners. We are very grateful that Mr. Beckham and MLS have chosen Miami as the site for their next franchise. Were going to do all in our power to make sure we get the stadium built in the right place as quickly as possible." New teams have been announced for 2015 in New York City and Orlando, Fla., increasing the leagues total to 21. Beckham declined to offer a timetable regarding when Miami might play its first game, but a likely target is 2017. The former Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Los Angeles Galaxy and Paris Saint-Germain star has the right to an expansion team at a discount fee of $25 million. MLSs Miami Fusion played in Fort Lauderdale from 1998-01 before folding because of poor attendance, but this time, Beckhams star power could make a difference. "Miami is a vibrant city with a lot of passion," he said. "I know this city is ready for football -- soccer -- this time around. I know this is going to be successful." The crowd at the news conference included a throng of chanting, singing fans. "People here love this sport," Garber said. "We together have no doubt it will be a very successful MLS team." Beckham said he also wants to start a childrens soccer academy in Miami. Shareholders in the team will include Beckhams business partner Simon Fuller, the "American Idol" creator who is the driving force in franchise negotiations, and Marcelo Claure, president and CEO of Brightstar Corp. Beckham said hell finalize his group of investors over the next couple of months. He declined to say what players he would like to bring to the team. "We have a list," he said. "We want to bring some of the best players in football to Miami to play on this team. Ive seen what happens to teams when you bring great players in. Im talking about the Heat." That brought cheers from the crowd. James and the Heat have won the past two NBA titles. Beckham laughingly ruled out hiring his former manager, Alex Ferguson, to coach the team, but said he has ideas regarding that search, as well. "I kind of know what makes a great coach and what doesnt," he said. "Well have a good coach here." Beckham praised the growth in recent of years of MLS and said hes optimistic about the leagues direction. Regular-season attendance increased from an average of 15,504 in 2006 to a record 18,807 in 2012 before dropping slightly this season to 18,594. "Ive seen the change in this league," Beckham said. "Ive seen the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona come over to America. They want to play against the MLS teams. Theyre interested in this league, and thats whats changing." Corey Perry Jersey . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Carter Rowney Jersey . Carey Price made 27 saves for Montreal (30-21-6) for his fourth shutout of the year and second in four games. David Desharnais added an empty netter for the Canadiens. Reto Berra stopped 25 shots for Calgary (21-28-7). https://www.cheapducks.com/337c-jari-kurri-jersey-ducks.html . Al Horford said all he had to do was make the catch near the basket and then shoot a soft jumper.The jury is in. Manchester United Football Club finds David Moyes guilty of guiding them to their worst season in 25 years. Until now, none of us really knew what the clubs owners thought about the whole mess that has been the 2013/14 season. Make no mistake, despite his sacking, Moyes is far from the only reason for Uniteds dismal campaign, but his departure means he is the main culprit. In the end his final chapter, fittingly, took place at Goodison Park, a place of happiness for Moyes, his home as a football manager for 11 years, where he had been seen as the major architect for overachievement. On Sunday, marshaling a team in red, rather than blue, he was suddenly the architect of underachievement. Yes, the season had been poor and had exposed some players for what they were but, with less than a month remaining in the season, United were absolutely pathetic at Goodison Park, leaving many to ponder whether any signs of improvement would ever come under the first year manager. At Everton he was the big fish in the small pond, paid more money than any player and relied upon by owner Bill Kenwright to make average players good and good players, very good. His record against the leagues top clubs was poor but that was when the blame was placed on the players. They werent quite that good to topple the best of the rest, we were told. It was a resume that got the attention of others. Last April, Sir Alex Ferguson called his fellow Scotsman while he was out shopping with his wife and asked him to come to his house immediately. Moyes admitted later that he thought he wanted to speak to him about one of his Everton players. In the end, the only signing taking place was Moyes, handpicked by Ferguson to take over the monumental task that was Manchester United. A year on it is fair to say that Fergusons choice of Moyes can be put under the same category of many of his last few signings at the club. British, expensive and nowhere near a level that a club like United should strive for. Ferguson did many things right at Old Trafford but he is also made mistakes and the sacking of Moyes now means his hiring of him is one of the biggest he made. In Moyes he clearly saw traits he admired, traits he believed were similar to his own but the football club was at a much different stage than it was at when he took over in 1986. Uniteds first colossal error in a long-line of them in the past 12 months was not conducting a deep, thorough search for Fergusons successor. Within that search they needed to evaluate everything, including a look at their own results which showed, despite winning the Premier League last season, a decline in their status as a top club in European football, highlighted by how they performed against the big six clubs in England (Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Man City, Tottenham) and in European competitions. In the three seasons of 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11, United played 70 of these big game matches. They won 45, drew 18 and lost 17 for a very impressive win percentage of 64 per cent. During this time they went to the Champions League final TWICE and lost in the quuarter-finals on away goals to a team called Bayern Munich. Max Comtois Jersey. Over the last three seasons (2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14) United have now played 70 of these big game matches. They have won 28, drew 16 and lost 26 for a very disappointing win percentage of 40 per cent. Their worst performance in the Champions League in the three previous seasons (QF) was now considered a success. Much of this was down to Ferguson. He ignored the warning signs when teams like Basel and Benfica humiliated them in the Champions League, sending them into the 2012 Europa League where they were given a tactical, technical masterclass in their own stadium by European lesser lights Ajax and Athletic Bilbao. During this era, Ferguson and his staff signed many average players, throwing the same 80 million pounds he received for Cristiano Ronaldo on Bebe, Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Shinji Kagawa and Wilfried Zaha. Domestically United bullied their way past far inferior teams in the Premier League but across Europe the elite got further and further away. This is what Moyes inherited and that was exactly why he was the wrong man for the job. When United struggled, much of the blame went towards the players initially. Gradually the pendulum of blame swung towards the manager but it took much longer than it would at most clubs and thats because outsiders were not sure what some insiders were starting to find out. By hiring Moyes, an unproven manager in big games and with no experience with genuine world class players, United were able to shield their manager from the usual tirade of criticism because no one quite knew just how good he was. If Jose Mourinho, for example, had been given the job and they failed, then the players were completely at fault. By going down the Moyes route, United took longer to identify their issues. In truth, they still may not know them all, completely. What Moyes has done for them is show them just how poor some of their players can be for long stretches of a season. This can never be solely blamed on a manager and United would be best served to use this season as evidence to move aside a number of players at the club. Some will say those players have let Moyes down but, ultimately, the game is about what they believe, not what fans or media believe and it was clear from a very early stage that they had very little faith in their manager to turn it all around. Once he lost the players, he lost his job. He departs a club at a crossroads in their journey towards success at the highest level. This past season they have lost too many football games. They lost their ruthless, attacking identity. They lost a spot in next years Champions League. In the process they were perilously close to losing their status as a genuine big club on the pitch. Instead, they chose to lose their manager. It is time for United to aim higher and grab world class talent when shopping for new players and, now, a new manager. Their naivety in those areas has led to this point and for a club like Manchester United there should be no lower point than what has happened this season. ' ' '