BECK-HAM!

LA Galaxy players have branded team-mate David Beckham a crap captain, and a tightwad. The England international star's commitment to the MLS side has been questioned and is under the microscope. Beckham is to return to America from Italy where he has been on loan at AC Milan to play the remainder of the MLS season.

He will come face to face with Landon Donovan who replaced him as Galaxy captain. Landon apparently isn't a fan of Beckham and has spoken out in The Beckham Experiment, which is a book compiled by author Grant Wahl, excerpts of which are released in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. It is said that Beckham's pal and personal manager Terry Byrne was the reason why Ruud Gullit got the job as manager of Galaxy. And Gullit's arrival made Donovan realize how Beckham lacked the leadership skills needed to be captain.

Wahl writes:

"By July 2008, the LA players had seen enough to realize that Beckham might be a good team-mate - but he wasn't much of a captain. It was one thing to take part in team events, the Galaxy players felt. But it was another thing to lead, to rally the players during tough times and defend the greater good of the team with the coach and the front office."

According to Donovan, when Gullit gave the players an optional training day, Beckham rarely showed up. "As the captain you should at least come in and show your face," he says."

According to Wahl, though, Beckham's leadership wass also scrutinized by players who liked him personally such as defender Greg Vanney who told Wahl that he thought Beckham was a great guy, a great father and a good soccer player who's special in the qualities he brings to the field. But he felt that Beckham didn't live in the same world as other players and noting the ex-Manchester United midfielder did not rally players during rough stretches and never called team meetings during losing streaks. "Maybe it's not in his best personal interest to take a stance - but it's a stance he should take because he's the leader of our group", Vanney said.

The moment that sealed Beckham's 'good team-mate, bad captain' reputation might have come last October, when one of Donovan's pals, Galaxy defender Chris Klein, started questioning whether Becks was well-suited for the armband. Klein said: "I really like David as a person and I respect him as a man but it's a different type of leadership that has to go on with all this."

According to the book, off the pitch there were good times with Beckham but also some surprises. Wahl writes about how Becks helped organize a meal with 10 other players but when it came to paying Beckham didn't pick up the bill. He just put in enough to cover his share. And supposedly Donovan could never get over Beckham's alligator arms when the tab arrived.
"Nobody would have believed it, he said, Beckham is a cheapskate."

Donovan also seemed convinced Captain Galaxy had vanished in spirit in terms of the US project weeks earlier, saying

"My sense is David's clearly frustrated, that he's unhappy and, honestly, that he thinks it's a joke. I also feel he has taken the team for granted. I don't see dedication or commitment to this team - and that's troubling. All that we care about at a minimum is that he committed himself to us. As time has gone on, that has not proven to be the case in many ways - on the field, off the field. Maybe he's not a leader, maybe he's not a captain. Fair enough. But at a minimum you should bust your ass every day. I don't think that's too much for us to expect. But that hasn't happened."

So here we are again. Just as I said about Cristiano Ronaldo, Beckham thought he was bigger than Man UTD and Ferguson proved him wrong, like he does to all the players he has with this mindset. All Beckham wants to do is to play a bit of football, get lots of glory, get the publicity to please Posh and go home and rake in the dough. Beckham WAS a good player, but like Ronaldo he's a baby....if he doesn't get what he wants or what he thinks he's worth he looks for something better.

As far as I'm concerned, he's washed up and should move over for the younger better players to come in. Galaxy should never have bought him for the stupid amount that they did and should take the hit on this venture and sell him to anyone who wants him. At this stage of the game, all I've seen him do when he played for Milan was pass the ball. He's lazy, and I think that's what makes him happy...a manager who just says "It's ok David, you just pass the pall every now and again and let the others do the hard work".

Sorry Becks, it doesn't work like that. Hopefully Galaxy fans will show him the reversed V-sign and tell him "see ya mate"!