Donovan and Beckham Turf War Sets Up Great Galaxy Feud

Something is amiss. I mean, I'm turning into a Landon Donovan fan (there, I said it).

Not only has be been stellar in recent World Cup qualifying. Not only was he one of, if not the best, players at the Confederations Cup. But he recently bitch-slapped David Beckham for being selfish, opportunistic creep that he is. Awesome.

Granted, there's a bit of self-interest at stake for Donovan, whose comments about Becks are set to appear in a book written by Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl. But there's no gray area as to where Donovan stands regarding Beckham, who is due back with the L.A. Galaxy this month (who woulda thunk it?).

Donovan, the de-facto captain of the Galaxy (never mind Beckham wears the armband), says Beckham is a lousy teammate. He asserts that Beckham didn't want to play for L.A., especially after coach Ruud Gullit was let go. Beckham proved as much by bolting to Milan and A.C. Milan last January under the guise of maintaining his spot on the England lineup in hopes of playing in next summer's World Cup in South Africa. Now that he's coming back soon, he's gotta deal with Donovan's criticisms. Donovan is quoted in excerpts from Wahl's book:

“When David first came, I believed he was committed to what he was doing. He cared. He wanted to do well. He wanted the team and the league to do well. [Once Gullit was fired] he just flipped a switch and said, ‘Uh-huh, I’m not doing it anymore’. I can’t think of another guy where I’d say he wasn’t a good teammate, he didn’t give everything through all this, he didn’t still care. But with (Beckham), I’d say no, he wasn’t committed.”

The Galaxy were whores to Team Beckham. Spineless Alexi Lalas talked Donovan into giving up the armband to Beckham; nice treatment of a guy who is recognized as the face of American soccer. They shoved Beckham out as the public face of MLS, and what did they get in return? A half-assed performance that couldn't get L.A. into the playoffs (don't eight of MLS' 15 teams get in?). Hell, the Galaxy players couldn't even get Becks to buy a team meal.

Either way, Donovan doesn't want to see Beckham in the Starting Eleven when he comes back this month. Not at least until he proves his commitment to the team and to furthering the Galaxy. He's a teammate, not a commodity or marketing vehicle. Oh wait, he is a commodity and a marketing vehicle.

As for Donovan, he's giving notice that the Galaxy are his team, but if Beckham is going to be out front again, he's not going to be there for long.

"Let's say he does stay here three more years. I'm not going to spend the next three years of my life doing it this way ... I don't want to have soccer be this way. I've got to confront it somehow. If that's the way he's going to be, fine, then hold him accountable. Bench him. Just say, 'We're not going to play you, we don't think you're committed'."

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Beckham Milan Deal Done; Will He Come Back?

Well, at least tickets hadn't gone on sale yet.

The LA Galaxy pulled the plug this week on their offseason trip to Australia to play Queensland Roar in Brisbane because of David Beckham's decision to train/play for AC Milan starting in January.

Guess we know who's running the show in LA. Certainly isn't manager/GM Bruce Arena, who was flummoxed at the initial reports Beckham may be headed to Milan to remain fit and keep his spot on the England national team. No training facilities in California I suppose; shame.

No, it's Beckham's world and the Galaxy and MLS just live in it.

Yesterday, Beckham crossed all the Ts and dotted all the I's on his deal with Milan. He will be with the club on Jan. 7 and return to the Galaxy around March 19. His first game could be Jan. 11 against Roma; question is whether he'll earn a spot in the Starting Eleven alongside Ronaldinho and Kaka in the Milan midfield. Hard to imagine.

But stranger things have happened. The 33-year-old is clearly on the other side of the hill as far as football years go, and he's not lived up to expectations in LA, nor with England where speculation is well deserved that he's just in it to break the all-time record for caps, and possibly extend that to 125 should he play in the 2010 World Cup.

That's two years away, however, and for the time being, the bigger question is whether he returns to LA after all is said and done. Milan officials said yes on Thursday, pointing out the commitment Becks has made to LA, as well as the endorsement deals he's contracted to. But if history has taught us anything, it's that deals are made to be broken. And if Milan is in position to challenge Inter for the Serie A title, or perhaps more realistically, a shot at an automatic Champions League spot, and Beckham is contributing, would Milan angle to keep him through the end of the season in May? And beyond?

I can't imagine Beckham is anxious to train every day with Landon Donovan and the collection of also-rans in LA. I can't imagine he has much respect for Bruce Arena, otherwise, he would have stayed in town, trained with the club in the offseason and helped promote the game in the U.S. as he promised when he signed. No, instead he's chasing the bigger stage--and that's fine if he weren't so damned insincere about it.

No one's buying his claims of doing this to stay fit for England's sake. For him, it's a chance to play in another major league in Europe, a chance for his wife to stake her claim in Milan's fashion universe, and a chance, yes, to stay within Fabio Capello's reach.

Try not to have an anxiety attack waiting until March 19 to see how this all plays out. Chances are that our gut instinct is right; Beckham won't be back in LA.

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Beckham Maneurving his Way Out of LA Via Transfer to AC Milan

I usually refrain from posting about David Beckham and the LA Galaxy because, well, I usually don't delve into the irrelevant. But this week's events and Beckham's impending loan to AC Milan are wrong on so many levels, it needs to get smacked around.

What started out as an agreement to allow Beckham to train with Milan in order to maintain his fitness and essentially keep his place with the England national team has evolved (deteriorated?) into a full-on full-time role with Milan at least from January (when the transfer window opens) to March (the start of MLS training camp).

Now Beckham signed a massive deal with the Galaxy that could end up being worth $250 million and keeps him in LA through the 2012 season. It was always tacitly understood that Beckham was to be more than a player with the Galaxy, but a brand for MLS. He was to be the magnet for other fading European stars to close out their careers on these shores, promote the game here and abroad, and elevate MLS to the next level--whatever that may be.

Remember Beckham's first match with the Galaxy against Chelsea? Not only was he injured and played only the final 20 minutes, but viewers in the U.S. barely saw any of the match because the cameras were almost exclusively focused on Beckham.

Well, the furor soon died down as Beckham missed significant time with an injured ankle in '07. This season, he's stayed healthy, but made little difference in the overall product other than forcing coach Ruud Gullit out the door. The Galaxy were among the dregs of MLS and one of the few teams not good enough to qualify for the playoffs. To say the shine is off this experiment does little justice to the concept of tarnish.

And what is Beckham's response? Stay here? Train in the offseason with his teammates? Share his experience, training regimen and game-play acumen with America's Team?

Nope.

"I'm outta here, mates." Beckham wants out. Clearly. He wants to play on the game's greatest stage, which is Europe and not Columbus, Salt Lake City or Foxboro. He wants back into Serie A or the equivalent. He wants in on the Champions League again. He wants to break the all-time England record for caps -- even if it means making token 20-minute cameo appearances in World Cup qualifiers that are long decided.

Beckham's smile and personable demeanor are disarming. He charms you into believing his sincerity. And perhaps at his base, he's a good man. But jeezus, he owes his employers more, doesn't he? His employers being the Galaxy and MLS. His focus clearly isn't on LA and his teammates know it more than you and I do. Why should he be trusted to commit to the club once MLS kicks off again next spring (nevermind whether he'll be back)?

Beckham is clearly the most important guy in MLS, more so than commissioner Don Garber, and certainly more so than LA coach and general manager Bruce Arena, the guy who is supposed to be Beckham's immediate superior, who admitted as much that he's been in the dark regarding the entire transaction. Arena said:

"On the surface, it sounds like an odd proposition. I don't see where that benefits MLS or the Galaxy. I don't know if there's anything true in the rumor. The first I heard about it was today (Wednesday)... but I would think [given] the position the Galaxy is in and [the fact that] we're rebuilding our team and trying to have a successful year, it would seem very odd to me if we were loaning out our top players at the start of the season. It would seem pretty odd to me to operate that way.''

Arena knows this is a mess, and he's preparing himself and the team for the fact that Beckham likely won't be back come March, especially if Beckham has any degree of success in Italy and Milan is contending for the title or a Champions League spot.

Arena knows that this will be the greater degree of embarrassment for the league and the Galaxy. Beckham will come and go as he pleases, daring MLS and LA to stop him. He's working on an exit strategy--and at the same time, MLS is the biggest loser here. They're a pawn. It's Beckham's world, and they're just paying the bills.

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