Beckham’s Hollywood team a mess, says book

DAVID Beckham’s Hollywood soccer team, the LA Galaxy, is racked by infighting and petty jealousies, says a new book.

Written by Sports Illustrated senior writer Grant Wahl, The Beckham Experiment documents a case of chequebook journalism and the futile attempt to turn LA Galaxy into a top US sports team with Beckham as the star.

Wahl reveals that ESPN paid Beckham’s company to produce a one-hour documentary on the former England soccer captain, who quit Manchester United and later Real Madrid to play US Major League Soccer.

The book is scheduled for publication on July 16, when Beckham is scheduled to play his first match for the Galaxy in the new season.

LA Galaxy are portrayed as a team beset by management infighting involving Anschutz Entertainment Group chief executive officer Tim Leiweke, former president and general manager of the team Alexi Lalas, coaches Frank Yallop and Ruud Gullit, and Beckham’s personal manager Terry Byrne.

Donovan said Lalas, who was fired by the Galaxy last August, was “in over his head” and “trying to do too much”.

Wahl says that under Gullit, the Galaxy failed to devote a single practice to set pieces during the 2008 pre-season, even though set pieces are Beckham’s specialty.

Lalas, says the book, overrode a media vote in favour of Donovan as the team’s most valuable player in 2007, giving the award to Chris Klein. Donovan found out and argued, saying it cost him a 25000 bonus.

“Landon got his money because he cried, but I still looked him in the eye and said: ‘I don’t personally believe you’re the MVP’,” Lalas is quoted as saying.

The book says Beckham found Major League Soccer’s travel accommodation “shocking”. After dissatisfaction with Sheraton Braintree in Massachusetts, when the team played at New York, it stayed at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan.

News Source: http://www.thetimes.co.za