Beckham called bad teammate
NEW YORK — David Beckham has become a bad teammate on the Los Angeles Galaxy, according to Landon Donovan.
"All that we care about at a minimum is that he committed himself to us," Donovan was quoted as saying in an excerpt of Grant Wahl's "The Beckham Experiment," scheduled for publication July 14. "As time has gone on, that has not proven to be the case in many ways — on the field, off the field.
"Does the fact that he earns that much 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're suspended or not. Show up and train hard. Show up and play hard."
Beckham joined the Galaxy in July 2007 from Real Madrid and has a $6.5 million average annual income from the team, twice the $2.94 million Cuauhtemoc Blanco earns from the Chicago Fire. Donovan was fifth at $900,000 at the start of the season.
Beckham was loaned to AC Milan last winter and the 34-year-old midfielder is to rejoin Los Angeles for its July 16 match at the New York Red Bulls.
Donovan was angry that when Beckham was suspended for a game at Houston and didn't attend the match.
"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," Donovan said. "But with (Beckham) I'd say no, he wasn't committed."
An excerpt of the book was published in this week's Sports Illustrated. It portrays Beckham as stingy, saying he wouldn't pick up meal checks for teammates who earn as little as $12,900 annually. It states Terry Byrne, Beckham's best friend and personal manager, pressed for the Galaxy to strip Donovan of the captain's armband and give it to Beckham. Donovan went along with the move.
It says that at a dinner at Morton's steak house in Arlington, Va., Beckham initially wasn't served wine because he didn't have ID, and needed the intervention of the maitre d'.
Byrne, according to the excerpt, was hired as a Galaxy consultant and conducted the search that led to the hiring of Ruud Gullit to replace Frank Yallop as coach — even though general manager Alexi Lalas advised against hiring the 1987 European player of the year.
"My sense is that David's clearly frustrated, that he's unhappy and, honestly, that he thinks it's a joke," Donovan said last August.
GERMAN PLAYER MIGHT JOIN U.S.: Midfielder Jermaine Jones could join the U.S. national team later this year, possibly with defender Edgar Castillo.
Recent comments
If David Beckham makes the all star team, I will boo at him every...
three11stu | July 3, 2009 at 10:08 a.m.
- Sports reflect, affect ethics 5:04 p.m.
- Common phrases rooted in scripture 5:04 p.m.
- Season in bloom with the Jesse tree 5:04 p.m.
- Muslims quick to respond to Ft. Hood 5:04 p.m.
- Sermons give time, place for tattoos 5:04 p.m.
- Utah religion in the news 5:04 p.m.
- Religion news around the world 5:04 p.m.
- 5 'house church' leaders sentenced 5:04 p.m.
- Think before buying trendy pet 5:04 p.m.
- Unhappy wife wants husband out 5:04 p.m.
- BYU would like friendlier rivalry
263 - Protests against Phoenix LDS temple
211 - RSL wins MLS Cup on penalty kicks
202 - Bronco, Kyle rubber match
139 - Thunder rolls by Jazz
136 - Letters: Rushing to judge Palin
133 - Boys basketball rankings
126 - Editorial: Poor welcome for Palin
112 - Man trapped in Nutty Putty cave dies
106 - Hall, Johnson matchup key
102
It's finally time for the game that everyone has been waiting for all...
Carlos Boozer denied that playing so well against the Chicago Bulls held...
There are 14 BYU players from Salt Lake Valley. And there are four Utah...
nothing great, but surrounded by a pretty good core team - and that credit...
I'm shocked Leon agreed with keeping John in there. Then again, if they EVER...
We need to add a few more facts to the 9:56 a.m. post. PAST = 1....
Nobody smuggled a beer into the Utah-BYU game last, kept it the whole game,...
byu by 1
Thanks for showing, Lenora, that leading begins in the home. No wonder you...
Yes three ten win seasons in a row :) Like picking our stats? Well, if...
To Mike / 4:44 p.m. If you read all of the news articles, you will know...
I love the current uniforms! How silly to go back to the old ugly uniforms...
I can't wait for this time tomorrow and all the excuses the B Whine U fans...

