Amid anger and recriminations, has David Beckham's US "project" failed? Neil Forsyth considers an alternative view
While most British footballers watched Ayia Napa slide sadly away through aero-plane windows before returning to pre-season training, the most famous of all has had a far more demanding month. David Beckham returned to America and a controversy that could bring a premature end to a relationship that always seemed built on artificiality and misjudgement on the player’s part.
Could you live on £7,000 a season? If so, and you can also play a bit, you could be a star in the MLS, writes Mike Woitalla
David Beckham’s Major League Soccer salary – not including his endorsement deals – pays him more in one day than MLS players such as Kevin Souter earn annually. Souter hails from Portsoy, Scotland. He was drawn to America by Graceland – not the Elvis estate but a small Iowa university with an ambitious soccer programme. At age 24, Souter attended a two-day open tryout with 200 other hopefuls and won a contract with the Kansas City Wizards that pays him $12,900 (£7,000) for the season. And a Wizard he must be to live on that.
What happens when a national coach doesn't pick a star player who crossed him at club level? Luke Gosset reports on the resulting demo and lawsuits
Ahealthy sense of perspective has been lost somewhere along the line when a lawyer issues a writ to order a national coach before a court to explain excluding a player from his World Cup squad.