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Donovan blasts Galaxy teammate Beckham
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Landon Donovan has issued the Los Angeles Galaxy an ultimatum -- compel English superstar David Beckham to clean up his act or risk alienating Donovan, the club's all-time top active scorer.
"Let's say he does stay here for three more years," Donovan said in passages from a upcoming book on Sports Illustrated's website. "I'm not going to spend the next three years of my life doing it this way. This is (expletive) miserable. I don't want to have soccer be this way."
US national team captain Donovan blasted Beckham in the book, "The Beckham Experiment", questioning the former England captain's work ethic, leadership and teammate skills on the Major League Soccer squad.
"Maybe he's not a leader. Maybe he's not a captain," author Grant Wahl quotes Donovan as saying in the book, scheduled to be released later this month.
"But at a minimum you should bust your ass every day. That hasn't happened."
Donovan feels he and Beckham can still mend their fractured relationship but not unless the team takes a tough stance against Beckham.
"I've got to confront it somehow," Donovan said. "If that is the way he is going to be, fine, then hold him accountable. Bench him. Just say 'We are not going to play you, we don't think you are committed."
Donovan, who led the Americans to a surprise runner-up finish on the weekend at the 2009 Confederation Cup, is one of the most decorated players in Galaxy history.
He leads all active Galaxy players in career goals (58), assists (44), shots (226) and game-winning goals (14). He holds club records for multi-goal games (14) and penalty-kick goals (17).
Donovan believes that Beckham, as the highest-paid player in the league, has a responsibility to his team and especially to his Galaxy teammates to set an example through hard work.
"If someone is 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, train hard, show up and play hard.
"As time has gone on, that has not proven to be the case in many ways, on or of the field."
Beckham is currently on loan from Los Angeles to AC Milan. The 34-year-old Beckham was originally supposed to return for the entire 2009 season but got his stay in Europe extended to halfway through the MLS season.
Beckham is scheduled to return to the Galaxy for a game in New York against the Red Bulls on July 16, two days after the release of the book.
"I can't think of another guy where I would say he wasn't a good teammate," Donovan said. "He didn't give everything through all of this. He didn't still care. But with (Beckham) I would say no, he wasn't committed."
Donovan said Beckham's attitude changed after the team got rid of former coach Ruud Gullit.
"He (Beckham) just flipped a switch and said, 'Uh-huh, I am not doing it anymore.'
"It coincides with Ruud being let go."
Donovan said Beckham was sincere about helping the sport grow in North America when he arrived but became discouraged easily.
"He cared. He wanted to do well. He wanted the team and the league to do well," Donovan was quoted as saying in the book.
"My sense is David is clearly frustrated that he is unhappy and honestly, that he thinks it is a joke. I don't see dedication or commitment to this team and that is troubling."
Beckham has left only a modest footprint on the North American soccer landscape in two ineffective seasons so far with the Galaxy.
The Galaxy have failed to make the playoffs since his arrival in 2007.
Even when he has suited up for Los Angeles, Beckham has had little impact. He played just five games of an injury-filled first season and had five goals and 10 assists last season.
American fan interest in Beckham has faded since his splashy introduction in 2007 when more than 66,000 showed up for his first game at Giants Stadium in San Francisco.
Television ratings in 2008 were 22 percent higher for Beckham games than they were for games he didn't play. But that figure was down from 67 percent during his first year in the league.
Some criticized Beckham and his handlers for misleading the American sports fan. When he arrived, the Galaxy and Beckham's handlers hyped up a 250 million dollar "agreement".
But it was a pie-in-sky figure, which Beckham's handlers slipped past many of Los Angeles' tail-wagging media which many didn't check to see if it was true before rushing it into print.
Beckham was also stripped this season of his captaincy as the armband has been handed back to Donovan.
"It is difficult to know how to approach him with things, to be critical of him," Donovan said. "because he doesn't take it well."
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