When he came to Los Angeles, David Beckham was supposed to push the MLS to new heights. “In his two years with the Galaxy he has successfully sold jerseys and served as celebrity eye candy, but the soccer story has been an epic disaster, from the his injury-plagued season in ’07 through a loss-filled campaign in ’08,” writes Grant Wahl in his new book, “The Beckham Experiment,” an excerpt of which appears in Sports Illustrated. Wahl gives a detailed account of the Beckham saga, of the icon’s struggles with a new soccer culture to his alienating power-grab at the club:
“Beckham’s side made sure he became team captain, and later they engaged in a behind-the-scenes takeover of Galaxy management. Yet L.A. failed to reach the MLS playoffs both years. By the end of the ’08 season Beckham was barely speaking to his teammate Landon Donovan, MLS’s leading scorer, who questioned the Englishman’s commitment to the team.
“The Beckham Experiment is a story of worlds colliding, bringing together the planet’s most famous athlete with teammates who earned as little as $12,900 a year. But that inequity was only the start of a downward spiral that, on the eve of Beckham’s return, has turned into a soccer fiasco.”