International Football - Donovan slams Beckham

Eurosport - Sun, 12 Jul 17:49:00 2009

David Beckham has come under a blistering attack from Los Angeles Galaxy team-mate Landon Donovan just ahead of his return to the MLS team.

FOOTBALL 2008 Los Angeles Galaxy David Beckham - 0

In a new book due out later this month, Donovan claims Beckham has demonstrated little commitment to the Galaxy cause and been a negative influence on the team since the ousting of former coach Ruud Gullit.

"All that we care about at a minimum is that he committed himself to us," Donovan says in 'The Beckham Experiment', authored by Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl. "As time has gone on, that has not proven to be the case in many ways - on the field, off the field."

He continued: "Does the fact that he earns that much more money come into it? Yeah. If someone's paying you more than anybody in the league, more than double anybody in the league, the least we expect is that you show up to every game, whether you are suspended or not. Show up and train hard, show up and play hard."

Donovan, who is the United States captain and wears the Galaxy armband in Beckham's absence, also questioned the former England skipper's leadership abilities, claiming he is too often silent in team meetings.

"Maybe he's not a leader, maybe he's not a captain," he said. "Fair enough. But at a minimum, you should bust your ass every day. That hasn't happened. And I don't think that's too much for us to expect. Especially when he's brought all this on us."

Beckham's first season in MLS was a largely miserable experience as an unbalanced Galaxy team struggled all year and missed out on the play-offs, with Gullit quitting before the end of the campaign.

Gullit's departure, which came a little over a month after Beckham's Galaxy debut, is the moment Donovan believes the light went out for the club's marquee player.

"When David first came, I believed he was committed to what he was doing," Donovan said. "He cared. He wanted to do well. He wanted the team and the league to do well.

"Somewhere along the way - and in my mind it coincides with Ruud being let go - he just flipped a switch and said, 'Uh-huh, I'm not doing it anymore'."

PA Sport

Comment 62 - 81 of 141

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  1. Best MLS Player ESPY Award (Beckham)...voted by the­ fans
    Donavan won 2006/2007

    Donavan hates sharing the­ spotlight. Donavan is the American soccer players god­ and he knows it. A prima donna in his own. Tried and­ desperatly wanted Europe but failed 3 times and now­ critisis Beckham cause he did what Donavan tried to and­ failed.

    Bitter and jealous.

    Bigger fan of Dempsey and­ Altidore

    From jimbo, on Thu 2 Jul 4:19PM

  2. Funny that everyone assumes Landon actually said all­ these things. Its written in someone elses book !!! oh­ but it must be true no one would ever lie in a book to­ sell more copies. Let Landon speak b4 he is judged.­ They are both good players, maybe the MLS is not a­ technical league but it is physical and I as an­ Englishman enjoy going to the games.

    From britboy.englishman, on Thu 2 Jul 4:15PM

  3. FYI Beckham did lead Galaxy in assists last year (alot­ to Donavan to help him with his best ever goal­ tally)and if you thought Beckham was going to score­ bucket loads of goals when signed you need to know­ alittle more about him and his game. Only once ever­ has he scored more than 10 league goals. His 5 were­ small but not bad for midfielder of his passing style.

    From jimbo, on Thu 2 Jul 4:06PM

  4. Landon has hardly been a success, he's been a good­ servant for an average National team.

    Club career has­ been poor.. Leverkusen did not want him and he never­ scored in the handful of games he played and when he­ went back for a second stint in the Bundesliga, Bayern­ Munich did not want to extend his 6 month contract,­ again he scored no goals..

    Lets see how well USA do in­ the World Cup, I mean they got to the final of the­ Confed Cup a bit of a nothing close season \ pre­ world cup tournement, beat Spain (who's run had to­ come to an end at some point).
    I don't know why­ the USA comments on here are thinking all of a sudden­ they are some sort of world force in football because­ they done OK in a competition that no one really cares­ about!

    From adammoore82, on Thu 2 Jul 3:44PM

  5. date rich men and celebrities, meet your classy half on­ _C lassymingle C om_ the place make your dream come­ ture!

    From Lianlian A, on Thu 2 Jul 3:43PM

  6. Donovan should shut up, hes not even 1 millionth the­ player beckham is

    From shawmail27, on Thu 2 Jul 3:40PM

  7. continued from 75 cut off sorry for long.

    The­ American club also revealed that Beckham did have a­ release clause in his contract that would allow him to­ leave for free at the conclusion of the 2009 season.­ [35] On 14 February, Milan chief executive, Adriano­ Galliani dismissed the MLS deadline, calling it a­ "tactic" and said that Milan were still­ hopeful of signing Beckham. Ancelotti also referred to­ Beckham as "indispensable" to his squad and­ reiterated his desire that Beckham stay with the­ club.[36]

    After failing to impress at Munich, on 5­ March, it was announced that the German giants were not­ interested in offering Donovan a permanent contract and­ that he would be returning to the Galaxy prior to the­ start of the MLS season. The decision represented a­ bitter disappointment to Donovan, who publicly stated­ that he was seeking a permanent deal with Bayern. It­ represented his third failed attempt to succeed in­ Germany, with two previous failed attempts with Bayer­ Leverkusen.[37]

    From jimbo, on Thu 2 Jul 3:38PM

  8. Beckham and Donovan Loans
    In January, both club captain­ David Beckham and vice-captain Landon Donovan were­ involved in loan deals with European clubs until the­ beginning of the new MLS season. Beckham was loaned­ from January to March to Italian giants A.C. Milan,­ while Donovan was loaned to German giants Bayern­ Munich. While Donovan had already made it clear that he­ was seeking a permanent transfer to Munich, Beckham was­ expected to return to L.A. in March, prior to the 2009­ season. However, after impressing at the Italian club,­ scoring two goals in his first four matches, rumors­ began to swirl that Beckham would stay in Milan, with­ the Italian club reportedly offering to pay a­ multi-million dollar fee for the English legend. The­ rumors were confirmed on February 4, when Beckham­ stated that he was seeking a permanent transfer to­ Milan, in a bid to sustain his England career through­ the 2010 World Cup.[33]

    On 7 February, it was­ announced that Galaxy officials had rejected­ Milan's initial offer, believed to be in the region­ of 5 million pounds, claiming the offer was "too­ low" and that "time was running out" to­ conclude the deal. It was believed that the Los Angeles­ club were seeking an offer in the $10–15 million range,­ but wanted the deal finished quickly, as the club­ wanted to rebuild the squad with the transfer money­ prior to the start of the league season in March.­ Several Milan players and manager Carlo Ancelotti­ expressed their desire for Beckham to stay with the­ club permanently, with Ancelotti even pleading with­ Milan executives to "make sacrifices" to sign­ Beckham. [34]

    In a surprise twist, on 13 February,­ L.A. announced that Milan had failed to make the­ expected second offer prior to MLS commissioner Don­ Garber's deadline on the 13th, and that Beckham­ would be staying with the Galaxy for the 2009 season.­ The American club also revealed that Beckham did have a­ release clause in his contract that would allow him to

    From jimbo, on Thu 2 Jul 3:33PM

  9. Comment 73: Look at the mirror... and you will notice­ who is the idiot

    From khaled_rigo, on Thu 2 Jul 3:29PM

  10. comment 72 your an idiot

    From thrrgegt, on Thu 2 Jul 3:08PM

  11. Shut up americans know nothig of football

    From Jim, on Thu 2 Jul 3:03PM

  12. He's got a point about beckham he hasnt done­ anything for them doesnt score much but for Donavan He­ should just get on with it you cant have that in your­ mind he must push on with out him

    From thrrgegt, on Thu 2 Jul 3:01PM

  13. eh jimbo, comment no. 68 i think your confusing donovan­ wit beckham, lackluster performances?? beckham is the­ one who has a guaranteed spot in the england squad no­ matter how @#$% he is!

    From Keith, on Thu 2 Jul 2:59PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Donovan played in the Confed Cup on merit, Beckham can­ only dream about participating there coz England sucks­ in international footie! I bet USA can now thumb the­ English sissy boys

    From emchikwati, on Thu 2 Jul 2:54PM

  15. First off I support the US team but Donavan is such a­ baby, I wish they would drop him for a lesson as he­ needs to show up better for National team. Some very­ lackluster performances in past and seems he has a­ guaranteed spot no matter what although most goals­ against week opponents. Agreed a great showing last 3­ games of confederations so why talk @#$% about a­ teammate (so un-captain like) 1st thing back in­ autobiography. What did he have to mention Beckham to­ get publicity?

    From jimbo, on Thu 2 Jul 2:48PM

  16. i'm glad someone has finally come out and said­ something, well done landon donovan!! Beckham is the­ most over-rated player in the whole world! you english­ make me laugh because you all think he is still good­ and still world class!! ha ha as if!! Landon Donovan is­ miles better than beckham look at his goal agaisnt­ brazil in the confederations cup - sheer genius,­ donovan should be the one linked with high profile­ clubs across europe he has the ability to be a world­ class player and play in the premier league, while­ beckham should be grateful to even be playing for LA­ galaxy, if he wasn't all hype then he would be a­ reserve player at galaxy

    From Keith, on Thu 2 Jul 2:46PM

  17. First L, who the bloody @#$% would destroy there own­ buildings and kill there own people? Wait... If­ you're talking about the countries in the Middle­ East, then yes they do that, like Iran...

    From shuffle_k, on Thu 2 Jul 2:40PM

  18. Dale A you better stick your comments with your 4th­ rate league.
    I have seen few of Beckam’s games with AC­ Milan, very professional performances and can assure­ you with passion as well. Can you blame him if USA­ players were not technically gifted enough to take­ advantage of his game? If there was no stimulus for­ him. Apart the money? (Keep on thumbing down comments­ spelling the truth)

    From dante, on Thu 2 Jul 2:26PM

  19. don't be hatin' if he earns more money than­ dono who?

    From john t, on Thu 2 Jul 2:25PM

  20. Hey shuffle...at least we don't destroy our­ buildings and kill our people for oil and control. U se­ why r u all stupid? For accepting that.

    From First L, on Thu 2 Jul 2:21PM
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