BECKHAM AND DONOVAN MAKE PEACE

David Beckham has revealed that he and Landon Donovan have patched up their differences following the US International’s criticism of the former England captain.

Beckham and Donovan at LA Galaxy training

Beckham, who has been on a whirlwind media tour this week following his arrival back in the States, spoke at an LA Galaxy press conference where he reaffirmed his support for the club and the MLS in general.

Beckham said:

I’m very dedicated to the Galaxy, I’m dedicated to the fans.

I’ve always been very positive and very honest with my play here and also when I went to Milan, I explained to everyone the reasoning behind it. I said to the players and I said to the manager that I would be coming back. Maybe one or two didn’t believe me, but at the end of the day I’m here, I’m committed to the team.

The Galaxy presser was the third media job for Beckham who had earlier appeared on NBC’s “Today Show” and “Live with Regis and Kelly”. Answering questions about the World Cup in 2010, Beckham intimated that he would be looking to play again in Europe ahead of the tournament saying:

The England manager has made it very clear to me I need to be playing at a European level. I’ll always regret it if I didn’t do everything to give myself the chance to be involved in that.

Meanwhile, Beckham explained that he’d sat down with team mate Landon Donovan after a much publicized spat. Returning from the Confederations Cup, where he helped the USA reach the final, Donovan was sharply critical of the England player.

Donovan arrives for training clutching his Nike Merurial Vapor IV’s

Quoted in a book “The Beckham Experiment” by Grant Wahl, Donovan said:

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.

Does the fact that he earns that much money come into it? Yeah. If someone’s 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’re suspended or not.

Show up and train hard. Show up and play hard. 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. That hasn’t happened. And I don’t think that’s too much for us to expect. Especially when he’s brought all this on us.

Despite the stinging comments, Beckham revealed that the Galaxy manager Bruce Arena had arranged a meeting between the two players following the 1 – 0 win over Chivas USA in the SuperClasico on Saturday explaining:

It was actually the manager that brought us together.

We knew that we had to speak once we were back in the same country. We sat down, went through everything. Landon apologized and I told him my view on things and it’s forgotten about.

Very cold and wrapped around him – not Victoria for Becks this time but an ice pack' 

On the pitch, Donovan and Beckham are expected to play together against New York Red Bulls on Thursday. However, it’s not clear whether the England player will start or come on from the bench.