Back in the US, David Beckham responds to book criticism

Beckham responds to book criticism

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — David Beckham said Los Angeles Galaxy teammate Landon Donovan was “unprofessional” for speaking out without confronting him first.

Beckham, who was making his first public appearance in Southern California since returning from his five-month loan with Italian club AC Milan, said he had not spoken to Donovan, who called him a bad captain and portrayed him as stingy in an upcoming book “The Beckham Experiment,” written by Grant Wahl.

“It’s unprofessional in my eyes. In every soccer player’s eyes throughout the world it would be unprofessional to speak out about a teammate especially in the press and not to your face,” Beckham said.

“But I’m going to turn it on a positive spin because that’s what this needs. But in 17 years, I have played with the biggest teams in the world and the biggest players and not once have I been criticized for my professionalism. It’s important to get this cleared up and I will be speaking to Landon either this evening or over the next couple of days.”

The Galaxy plays Chivas USA on Saturday, with Beckham returning to his first practice with the team on Monday.

And even though the level of play in MLS isn’t as high as in Italy’s top league the forward thinks the adjustment will be just fine.

“It’s not going to be difficult because we’ve got talent on our team. It’s just about confidence. It will be different coming back, but I don’t see any problems.”

The Galaxy could use a boost. Los Angeles is fifth in the Western Conference standings and could miss the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.

“That’s the important part,” Beckham said. “Now we want to move forward and there have been some good results in the last few weeks.”

Being in Italy helped Beckham keep his game sharp. And even though it involved a month-long saga of negotations involving MLS, Milan, and the Galaxy, Beckham said it was for the best.

He also said he would do it again in 2010 if given the opportunity, so he can make one last World Cup appearance with England.

“To be involved in the World Cup and to be involved with this England squad, I have to give myself the chance to be at that top level. I’ll do that personally and anything to do that. It’s just saying that for the moment, this is what I need to do. It doesn’t mean I’m running away from a project I believe in.”

“I think the experiences I’ve had can only help this team,” Beckham said.

And what about playing with Donovan?

“I’m personally very professional when I am on the field. I don’t care what people say about me off the field, once I’m on the field I’m professional and if there is a chance for him to score, I will be giving him the ball. Me and Landon will talk, but that will be a private conversation.”

Beckham joined former France star Zinedine Zidane in El Segundo to help the MLS kick off its footprint fields community program, which will help develop new soccer fields across the country.

He arrived in Los Angeles on Friday night and visited with his family for the first time in six months, staying up with wife Victoria until 5 a.m. to just “catch up.”

On Saturday, he played in a short scrimmage with 13 and 14 year-olds with Zidane.

Wahl’s book is due out on July 14, two days before the Galaxy play against the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium.

So will he be reading the book?

“No,” Beckham said. “This is an unofficial book that I have not participated in. I haven’t sat down one to one or spoken about the book, so there is not comment where I have sat down with the journalist and gone through. There are many unofficial books that have been published about me, so this is just another one on the shelf.”