An article about a certain bearded midfield player’s stint in the United States appeared in Sports Illustrated magazine in July with the headline “How Beckham Blew It”.

“The soccer story has been an epic disaster,” the story declared. “A fiasco.” So it may come as a mild surprise to gaze at the present Major League Soccer (MLS) standings and find Beckham’s club, the Los Angeles Galaxy, topping the Western division.

The Galaxy host the San Jose Earthquakes tomorrow assured of their first play-offs place since 2005: some recovery for the team that were the joint worst in the league last season, especially because Beckham has hardly contributed this year, playing only ten times. Still, blow it? In a month’s time, the former England captain could win it.

“They’ve done well this season to get into the play-offs, they look a solid team that’s capable of winning the MLS Cup,” Frank Yallop said.

Yallop, the former Ipswich Town defender who is one of MLS’s most respected coaches, takes his San Jose team to face the Galaxy at the Home Depot Centre tomorrow. He was the Galaxy’s head coach when Beckham sensationally arrived from Real Madrid in 2007.

Yallop left for San Jose at the end of that season after the Galaxy finished with the third-worst record in MLS. In his place came Ruud Gullit, who lasted less than a year. Neither could produce results to match the hype. Beckham’s star shone so brightly that it was blinding rather than dazzling, as harmful as it was helpful.

What the league and the Galaxy craved when signing Beckham — the world’s attention — became their biggest problem. He arrived only midway through the 2007 season and injuries limited him to five appearances. Fans were irate when he did not play. The media were fascinated but sceptical.

“I don’t like the word ‘circus’ because it sounds like it was out of control and I don’t think it was,” Yallop, 45, said. “It was just that we had no idea just how huge David Beckham was. It caught us all by surprise. Not having the best of teams and having a few injuries, including David, who hardly played for me — it didn’t really go well.

“Now they handle things fine but we were all entering the unknown. The first four months were crazy, so many people at the press conferences. We weren’t quite ready.

“When you look back, as a coach, it was tough — you’re trying to make sure all the guys are focusing on the game. It was a fun time but the results on the field didn’t show that. Now the buzz is over a little bit, he’s been there a while now and it’s calmed down and the team is better and more focused.”

The Beckham Experiment, the book by Grant Wahl from which the Sports Illustrated article was an excerpt, laid bare the resentment felt towards Beckham by Landon Donovan, the United States forward who was then the club’s other star. Donovan accused Beckham of being uncommitted and a poor captain. The pair have since patched up their differences.

“David’s fine,” Yallop said. “Obviously all the stuff that comes along with him is not [typical] but in the dressing room and at training he’s like one of the normal players and goes about his business quietly. He wasn’t a problem to handle at all.”

Beckham has hinted that he may leave Los Angeles before his contract expires in 2012, but Yallop expects the 34-year-old to stay in California. “I think he enjoys it there and he enjoys his time away from football in Los Angeles with his family,” he said. “I expect David to come back and play his years out once the World Cup’s over.”

But would lifting a trophy be an incentive to stay or a happy ending? Beckham in the US: not a disaster but certainly epic.

The business end

• This weekend is the last of the MLS regular season. The top eight teams qualify for the play-offs, which start on October 29 and conclude on November 22 in Seattle with the final, which decides the winner of the MLS Cup. The present holders are the Columbus Crew.

• David Beckham in LA Games-Goals-Assists 2007 5-0-2 2008 25-5-10 2009 10-2-3

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