Can somebody please explain to me how Juan Carlos Osorio still has a job?

I've never been a big proponent of blaming coaches for poor performances when they've got a roster with almost no professional-caliber talent, but the time has come for the Red Bulls to clean house and start over.

What do they have to lose? It's not like their season could get any worse. They've scored fewer points during the 2009 season than any other club despite having played at least two more matches than every other club in the league.

New York's nearest competitor for the dubious title of worst team in the league is San Jose. The Earthquakes have scored 13 points in 15 matches. New York? A pathetic 10 points in 19 matches. They've already lost two more matches than they did all of last season.

These guys could challenge Derby County's record for futility.

Tear apart the roster and the front office, and just start over.

You can keep Juan Pablo Angel and Dane Richards, but Osorio and GM Jeff Agoos should be shown the door.

Under Agoos' watch, the Red Bulls have gone from playing in the MLS title match to 11 points out of a playoff spot in less than one season. The majority of the signings that he has made as GM haven't panned out.

Khano Smith was supposed to be a great signing for the Red Bulls. Instead, he's appeared in just five matches and hasn't managed to get his name on the scoresheet. Nobody can deny that Smith has the requisite athletic ability to be successful in MLS, but he hasn't caught on with any club because of his inconsistency on the pitch.

Macoumba Kandji was another signing that was accompanied by a great deal of celebration. Kandji was one of the better players in the USL, but he hasn't made a big impact in 12 matches with New York.

In fact, aside from J.P. Angel, nobody on the Red Bulls roster has managed to score more than two goals.

Perhaps this dearth of offense could be explained by the absence of Dave Van Den Bergh, the Dutch assist wizard who was foolishly traded to FC Dallas in the preseason for Dominic Oduro and a draft pick.

Where is Oduro now? After just three matches in a Red Bulls shirt, he was traded to the Houston Dynamo for two future draft picks.

I'd be surprised if Agoos or Osorio were still around to actually make any of the picks that they've accumulated.

So thanks to some poor front-office work by Agoos, Osorio has been left with a bare pantry, but that still doesn't excuse such poor results.

New York's lone victories this season have come against a San Jose side that is nearly as poor as they are, and a Real Salt Lake side that was struggling mightily at the time. Even a single victory against a marquee club like Chivas or Chicago would do wonders to improve the perception of this team, but they can't even get the job done against clubs treading water in mid-table.

Perhaps Osorio's endless tinkering with lineups has contributed to a lack of on-field chemistry, which has in turn produced results that would make the 1962 Mets blush. The first time that Osorio played the same starting lineup in consecutive matches was in the Red Bulls' ninth and tenth matches of the season.

Even Bob Bradley doesn't tinker with his lineups that much.

The 2008 version of the Red Bulls was nothing to write home about, but they produced decent results. They snuck into the playoffs after coming out of MLS' toughest conference, and used that experience to roll all the way to the MLS Cup Final.

Their defense wasn't among the best in the league, but it was far from the worst. When the defense failed, the offense could generally pick up the slack.

This season, the Red Bulls are the proud owners of both the least productive offense in MLS and a defense that more closely resembles a sieve than a football team.

Last season's MLS Cup runners-up have shipped 30 goals this season while only scoring 15. That's pathetic on both ends of the pitch no matter how you slice it.

Red Bulls fans aren't satisfied with a 2-13-4 mark, and neither is the management in Austria. According to Soccer By Ives, Agoos and managing director Erik Stover have been summoned to Austria to explain the poor results. This is a pretty extreme move for an ownership group that doesn't like to intrude.

Changes are coming, but it won't be soon enough for Red Bulls fans.

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For football fans who have been waiting for Chelsea Football Club to arrive in Seattle, the wait is almost over. July 18 is less than a week away, when The Seattle Sounders FC will be playing one of the most storied teams in soccer history in a friendly match at Qwest Field.

While it may not count in the standings, there should be no doubt that the Sounders will play to win.

Qwest Field is expected to be filled to the stadium capacity of 67,000, though there are reportedly a few hundred more tickets available. That is more than twice the attendance that a Sounders league MLS game pulls in for the Sounders, though those games have a capped attendance, with only the lower bowl of the stadium currently available during the season.

Chelsea has been a pinnacle of success in recent years. Despite missing out on the UEFA Champions League final in 2009, they have pulled in five major English titles in the last five seasons, including an FA Cup.

“This will be unlike any international game ever played in the Pacific Northwest,” said Sounders FC majority owner Joe Roth. “Chelsea is one of the top clubs in the world, and they are playing the home team, our Sounders FC, backed by our loyal supporters. The atmosphere that afternoon will be incredible.”

Chelsea will be bringing their starters with them for the match, and has said they will be starting the game, which is music to the ears of Sounders fans hoping to see their team play one of the best in the world.

That will include English national team players like John Terry and Frank Lampard. They will face a hot expansion team in the Sounders, who have been riding high on the defensive play of goalie Kasey Keller and the scoring prowess of Nate Jaqua and Freddie Montero.

“We are happy that a sporting city like Seattle now has its own new soccer franchise as it is important for the development of the game in the United States.” Said Peter Kenyon, the Chief Executive of Chelsea FC. “We will be bringing a full strength squad so it should be a great game."

This isn’t the first time Chelsea has visited Seattle. On the contrary, they have made four visits to the Pacific Northwest over the years. They played against the Scotland Celtic in a preseason game back in 2004. Way back in 1977, the Chelsea played the original NASL Sounders and lost in a 2-0 game.

The day of the game will also be the very first day the new Light Rail system will be running through Seattle, and it couldn’t come at a better time. The stadium will be full of more than just Sounders fans, and the convenience of riding above the road straight from the airport to the stadium will be great for any Chelsea supporters flying in from abroad.

The mass transit solution will also relieve the high stress on parking, which should be expected to be worse than even the Seahawks games. Fans who decide to drive in should take into account that only two lanes will be open on the way into Seattle, making parking in SoDo for the game even less attractive.

Can’t make it to the game? The match will air in its entirety on ESPN2.

Sounders fans are being spoiled this year when it comes to friendly matches. After playing Chelsea, a historic team in its own right, the club will again take on another famous European league team at home when Barcelona comes to Seattle in early August.

Barcelona is fresh off of the UEFA Championship and La Liga, and will also be bringing their star players. 

While this game will have little statistical meaning, the sentimental value on the home pitch will be meaningful, regardless of the outcome. 

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The USA Major League Soccer, founded in 1996, is no longer new to the world and now has to start making changes to improve the quality of the league.

Right now there are three problems in MLS that need to be fixed in order for the league to grow. The first is the MLS salary cap ($2 million). Secondly, the DP rule. And last, the roster amount.

The MLS is not a developmental league, but it seems to act like it with a salary cap of $2 million. This is football—look at the amount of money teams are spending to better themselves because they want to be taken seriously.

A France U-21 player was just bought for $3 million—in MLS, that would call for a DP spot, something that is really unacceptable.

Let's take a look at these three problems and see how the MLS can change them for the better and make the quality of the league better.

MLS Salary Cap

The current MLS salary cap is aproximately $2.3 million. Yea that's not a lot for any team at any level. The MLS, with the current salary cap is really restricting itself from becoming a better league and bringing in better talent, even though it might cost more.

Now does the MLS need to have a salary cap? Yes, for now and at least for a few more years so that the league doesn't blow up—that would be a disaster waiting to happen.

The MLS needs to definitely raise the salary cap because at this rate the MLS will never grow to be anything.

I think a fair salary cap would be $10 million per team. Each team starts out with a $10 million cap limit and cannot exceed it by any means. If a team gets within $500,000 of it then they will have to sell a player or restructure a contract of certain players so that they don't go over.

Now that $10 million is for every player on the roster so owners and GMs will have to be careful. Now, a $3 million dollar transfer fee wouldn't count towards the cap but the player's salary would. So the player could make maybe $700,000 even though the transfer fee would be $3 million.

Then maybe in the future the MLS, seeing the success of the old raise would begin to raise it again but always have a cap.

Designated Player rule

This plays right into the new salary cap. Right now the MLS has what is called a Designated Player rule or what some call "The Beckham Rule" was created when the LA Galaxy and all their wisdom spent $250 million on a publicity stunt called David Beckham. LA was majorly at fault cause they had no clue how to manage a team.

The DP rules is as follows: if they player's contract goes over the $2.3 million salary cap then $400,000 of that player's contract goes against the cap and the rest comes from the owner or endorsements.

Now even with my proposed $10 million salary cap, the MLS still needs to have the DP rule. If you take out the DP rule and for example Freddie Ljungberg who makes $2.5 million per season from the Seattle Sounders FC, all of that $2.5 million would go against the cap instead of the $415,000.

So it still benefits the team and the player. That way the team could have more to spend on other players with only having a $415,000 cap hit.

Roster amount

The MLS roster went down from 28 to 24 and there is no longer a reserve league.

With a raised salary cap in this scenario the MLS roster amount should be raised back from 24 to 28 but still not have a reserve league.

With these three problems fixed there is no reason why the MLS shouldn't be a very competitive league and grow very fast the next 5-10 years.

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The first half of their debut MLS season behind them, Seattle Sounders FC enters the home stretch sitting in position for a playoff run. With a record of six wins, three losses, and seven draws, SSFC's 25 points puts them 3rd in the Western Conference and in the MLS overall.

The Sounders are also making their mark felt in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup as one of only four remaining MLS teams left in the tournament. They face the Kansas City Wizards this Tuesday for a quarterfinal match.

Despite their somewhat unexpected success, there are some questions that will need answered if SSFC expects to make a run to an MLS Cup located fittingly at home on the XBox 360 Pitch at Qwest Field.

1)  Which Fredy Montero will show up for the second half?

The young Colombian import is undoubtedly one of the most talented young prospects in the MLS. Starting out red-hot with three goals in two games earning him March's MLS Player of the Month honors, the rest of the league took immediate notice and set on a strategy of sending him off his feet more often than on them. 

Meanwhile, off the pitch troubles seemed to distract him and his work rate fell along with his confidence.

However, in the last few matches his focus seems renewed along with his ability to find the back of the net. Montero now stands second best in the league with eight goals and is also clicking with fellow forward Nate Jaqua and midfielder Freddy Ljungberg; the assists killing questions of his selflessness.

The Sounders fortunes seem to rise and fall with Montero's productivity, so if Montero stays hot, this is a dangerous team.

2)  Can Alonso stay healthy?

Ask an SSFC supporter who the MVP of the first half is and you might be surprised to find Osvaldo Alonso at the top of the list. The defensive central midfielder picked up from the USL side Charleston Battery after defecting from Cuba two summers ago, has been a revelation. 

The man is a menace to opposing sides offensive goal production winning ball after ball and killing counter-attacks so quickly that most of the season thus far is spent in the Sounder's attacking third. In short, he's a wrecking ball that also brings the ability to send a screamer in from way outside.

Unfortunately his physical play has also taken its toll and has already rode two separate injuries off the pitch the first, a strained quad and now an abductor. Like Montero, his absence coincided with a lengthy series of draws that resulted from defensive breakdowns that were unheard of while he was in service. 

With a couple weeks off he should be back in action, but a dinged up Alonso clearly changes SSFC's ability to come away with three points.

3)  What will Leonardo Gonzalez add to the defense?

Despite being an expansion team, depth has been a surprising strength for SSFC.  Already we've seen a number of sendoffs due to injury or red card bookings that have meant a large number of reserves capably holding down the fort at key positions. If there is a knock on SSFC, it's been at the left back position with several teams exploiting whoever Sigi Schmidt has thrown at it.

Gonzalez, a 28-year-old Costa Rican international with 59 caps, is big, fast, and left-footed with a reputation as a deft attacker out of the left back and midfield. Called to national duty, he won't be ready until the Tico's are out of the Gold Cup which figures to be late. But even available in late August, he could be the fix for the only glaring hole in Sigi's lineup.

4) Can they win away from the fortress?

SSFC supporters should be proud. In their first season Seattle has rapidly become the most feared place to visit in the MLS. The Sounders clearly feed off that energy and have the second highest goals for/against ratio at home.

You can't play every game at home though, and the second half sees eight of their final 14 matches away including a long three game road trip. In addition to leaving the comfy confines of Qwest Field, longtime Seattle fans know what the road does to Pacific Northwest teams. 

Having to travel further than every other team in the league takes its toll on every athlete, and so far the Sounders haven't had to deal with the oppressive summer heat that some MLS venues offer.

If the Sounders want to be playing into November, they'll have to pick up points on the road.

5) Can Nate Jaqua avoid distraction?

Unfortunately off the field problems have been a major part of the story thus far. First Montero was charged with a sexual assault and eventually exonerated, but this week Fredy's fellow forward was slapped with a lawsuit over an alleged sex crime as well.

It's too early to speak to the merits of the case but Jaqua denies the charges and seems supported by his family and the team.

Jaqua fills what is becoming the prototype striker role in a physical MLS.  His size draws attention for a team that generates a large number of corner opportunities, and though he sometimes brings his lead shoes, Jaqua holds the ball up well and appears to be building a good working relationship with Montero and Ljungberg connecting on a number of clever plays in the last couple weeks.

If he can keep his head in the game, he presents a number of problems for the back line of almost any team.

6) Will bookings continue to be a problem?

The occasional infraction is a part of the game. No aggressive player can completely avoid seeing yellow. But the run of losses and draws seen this season also saw a spate of red cards leaving the Sounders without important players at times. 

Some of it is dumb luck. Keller getting called for a handball is a once in a career fluke.  Montero got his arm up with incidental contact but it's a point of league emphasis. There have also been serious mental lapses with cards for fighting and dissent.

A team meeting set to focus on things other than the officiating seems to have worked, but Ljungberg in particular continues to argue calls. With attacks typically beginning or ending at Ljungberg's feet, it seems foolish to risk losing him for a match down the stretch because of a call he felt should go the other way. 

It's a rare day when a good yelling changed a referree's mind...let it go Fred. Let it go.

In all SSFC has a number of things going for it that make it a dangerous side. They probably won't be winning a lot of matches 1-0. This is a team that has a lot of offensive weapons, an aggressive strategy, which means lots of goals all around. 

They have talented reserves anchored by a core from the USL Sounders like fan favorite Sebastian Le Toux and Roger Levesque. 

If they answer these questions, continue to create opportunities and a bit of luck, this is a team that could see itself playing for the MLS Cup in front of 60,000 of its fans at home.

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The book entitled The Beckham Experiment shows the entire debacle that was the David Beckham signing that brought him to the LA Galaxy in January 2007.

David Beckham, since joining the MLS and LA Galaxy in 2007 has appeared in 30 matches and scored five goals in those 30 matches.

Now, when Alexi Lalas made the move to get David Beckham it really put US Soccer on the map because Becks was, and still is, one of the biggest names in world football. However the real problem when David came to MLS was the fact that he went to LA Galaxy, where Landon Donovan was already there.

Ruud Gullit and the LA Galaxy really showed, along with Lalas, that they had no clue how to handle a team once Beckham showed up. Now it is really easy to blame Beckham for the problems but you have to look at how badly Gullit managed the situation.

He never should have named Beckham the captain and should have made him blend in with the rest of the Galaxy players, but of course LA had to basically use Beckham as a poster boy instead of a footballer which is what he should have been.

Look at when he went to AC Milan, a great team, a great locker room, and a smart manager and organization who didn't make Beckham a poster boy.

So now with David Beckham coming back to MLS and the FIFA transfer window opening up this July should the LA Galaxy move David Beckham.

The answer is yes. The LA Galaxy can't bring Beckham back because of the down effect it will have on him, the fans, and the team.

So where should he go? In fairness to Beckham and the MLS he needs to stay in MLS but move to a different team and knowing how Bruce Arena loves to add MLS veteran talent the best fit for David Beckham and the MLS would be to make a trade with the Seattle Sounders FC.

And a realistic trade actually wouldn't be that far off because I think LA will want to move him out of the locker room and he only has two years left on his contract, which allows him to own an MLS team after he's done.

So what could the Sounders FC-LA Galaxy deal possibly look like? Well Seattle has Nate Jaqua, Peter Vagenas, James Riley, plus cash considerations to offer to the Galaxy for David Beckham.

That would give LA what they love which is three MLS vets and Seattle gets David Beckham who will feel right at home with Freddie Ljungberg, Kasey Keller and others.

So why would this make sense for Seattle and why would it work having Beckham come in to the Sounders FC? Well lets take a look at that.

Reasons why it makes sense for Seattle to make this deal (presented up above):

One: They already have a great team chemistry and adding Beckham would not disrupt anything, as a matter of fact it would make the Sounders FC even better than they are right now.

Think about it. The Sounders already have a core with Kasey Keller as the team captain and will continue to be the team captain and welcome David into Seattle. He would open up a lot of opportunities for Fredy Montero, Sebastian Le Toux, and Freddie Ljungberg because Beckham has one of the best serviceable balls in world football.

Beckham would also make great since because he is not an in-your-face type of player like Landon Donovan said he should have been for the Galaxy. Seattle is not that type of team. He can join right into the team and be a great asset for the Sounders present and future.

Two: Seattle has the best fan base in all of MLS, and all the players agree that Seattle is the best stadium to play in.

Think about how many people showed up for Freddie Ljungberg press conference. Just imagine the support that the Sounders FC faithful would show for David Beckham.

The Seattle Sounders have a "European atmosphere" and if Freddie Ljungberg thought it was touching just think about how loud it would be if Beckham was wearing green.

Three: The Sounders FC is looking to become the benchmark for soccer in North America and well David Beckham is a benchmark in soccer. Add one and one and Seattle really gets to a global stage by adding Becks.

Four: Don Garber, the commissioner of MLS really loves Seattle and has really bent a lot of rules, not breaking them but flexing them so Seattle could be a great city for soccer and look what Garber has got in return.

The greatest fan base and Soccer city in MLS, and I think Garber would really push for Seattle to get David Beckham and help out LA Galaxy.

Beckham could really shine in Seattle and the Sounders would be very wise in terms of an on the field and off the field approach.

On the field it adds a lot of experience and great talent. Off the field it as a lot of cash to Seattle and MLS and no one would argue that.

So in my proposed deal that might have a few tweaks to include would look like this.

Jaqua, Riley, Vagenas and cash to the LA Galaxy for David Beckham.

Let your voice be heard Sounders FC and world football fans

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With or without Beckham, we yawn.

David Beckham arrived in America to one of the biggest receptions for a British import since the Beatles landed in New York some 43 years ago.

His picture, and that of his wife, has been in every newspaper, on all the celebrity-based TV shows, and all over the Web. Before even playing a game, he's single-handedly made the Los Angeles Galaxy a worldwide brand name.

When he took the pitch last weekend in an exhibition game against the great British team Chelsea, much of the world was watching on television.

Beckham and the Galaxy will undoubtedly remain in the front pages for a while, but the bigger question is whether this move will signal an era of greater popularity stateside for soccer, the most popular sport in the world.

Are Americans ready to become passionate about soccer in the same way they are about football, basketball, and NASCAR?

Probably not.

There are several things going against soccer turning into a favorite American sport. One of the biggest is its unsuitability for television. The game only stops at the end of the first half, meaning there's no opportunity for networks to sell beer, car and Viagra advertising every five minutes.

Our pro football games have 19 or more 90-second advertising windows per game. College football has 13 such windows. Baseball and basketball each have 20 or more.

With far fewer opportunities to make money, networks will no doubt balk at carrying soccer games except on rare occasions.

The other, more important reason that America will not embrace soccer, at least in the short term—we suck at it.

In World Cup after World Cup, our teams—or our men's teams, at least—get pummeled by much smaller countries. We never win anything, and our team usually embarrasses itself in the process.

In our sports, like our wars, we stop caring about them once we start losing. Unless our national team starts beating England and Brazil, and our drunken fans can shout, "USA! USA!" at matches, it's unlikely that we'll pay attention to the game of soccer.

Except for the Galaxy, our teams haven't had the money to lure top international stars to play in Major League Soccer.

I've read analysis from experts that the level of play in the MLS is on par with the British Conference Two league, which is three levels from the top, or equivalent to single-A baseball or Division Two college ball in the states.

That means teams such as Accrington Stanley and Rochdale, British squads full of 17-year-olds and washed-up players, could probably beat the crap out of the Houston Dynamo or the New York Red Bulls.

Americans don't like it when foreigners do something better than we can—it's just as simple as that.

It's too bad that soccer will never unseat football in the hearts of my countrymen, because it's an exciting and complex sport with many nuances—at least in the elite leagues, such as the British Premier League and the Italian Series A league.

After watching Inter Milan take on AC Milan, or Chelsea play Manchester United, watching the MLS is like watching Little League baseball. It's the same sport, but one that's played at a much lower level.

As a lifelong NFL and NBA fan, I have to admit I paid more attention to soccer than either football or basketball last year. I had become frustrated with the length of time it took to play, angry with all of the breaks in the action and the subsequent commercials, and the relative lack of excitement.

Even when nothing appears to be happening in soccer, many things are going on. There's the jostling for position, the patient assembly of a scoring opportunity or just somebody being bodyslammed into the grass.

Too much time is spent on utter nothingness in football, with players running off the field, with guys just standing around, with John Madden talking about the fine ribs he ate the night before.

Baseball is so full of cheating and scandals that it lost its credibility years ago. The all-time home run record has been broken, and not that many people care about it.

What does it say about America that we willingly spend time watching millionaire athletes doing nothing?

The average baseball and football game lasts well over three hours, with basketball not too far behind.

A pro soccer game lasts 90 minutes, plus 15 minutes for halftime. Unless it's a championship game, in which extra time is added for a tied match, it ends on schedule, even when fans are throwing bottles and rocks at the players.

At any rate, while Beckham might not be the savior of American soccer, anything that gets people more aware of the sport is a good thing.

Perhaps someday Americans will realize just what a great sport they're missing.

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Yes I did try to throw in some Spanish in that title. However that being said over the last two years, sports in the emerald city has been horrendous and the worst sports city in the U.S. Even worse than Detroit with the Lions and Pistons, because they have the Detroit Red Wings.

Let’s recap the last two years in Seattle sports.

2008:

Seattle Mariners: In 2007 the Seattle Mariners went 88-74, finishing six games back of the division winners the LA Angles. Having such an optimistic season turned out to backfire in 2008.

They made a huge splash by trading top prospect Adam Jones, and four others to the Baltimore Orioles for SP Erik Bedard who was just shy of being a CY Young pitcher. When Seattle added Bedard, at the time people said it gave them the best rotation in the MLB.

Yea and a year later they finished as the second worst team in the majors, behind only The Washington Nationals. This for Seattle fans made then irate because for the entire season the Mariners could never win.

When they had to lose only two of their last three games of the season they couldn’t do it and wound up losing the chance to draft Steven Strasberg, the best college prospect since Mark Prior.

They wound up drafting the best college hitter in UNC's Dustin Ackley.

Now this season the Mariners were expected to do horrible again and finish dead last in the division. Well they came out firing on all cylinders leading the division for about a month in the first part of the season.

They are currently third in the division, but only 3 1/2 out of first place. Not to bad for a team with only good pitching and no offense.

Plus Ken Griffey Jr is back in a Mariners uni and doing great with 10 HR so far.

Seattle Sounders FC: The Seattle Sounders FC is the newest addition to the USA Major League Soccer. Touted by many as being the bench mark for soccer in North America.

They do not seem like your usual expansion team because of who they signed to join the team in their inaugural season.

They managed to sign former Arsenal Great Freddie Ljungberg, former US GK Kasey Keller, and quite possibly the next Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi—you get the point—FW from Columbia Fredy Montero.

They set many records even before they started their first game by selling 22,000 season tickets which lead the MLS. Then their first opening game of the regular season drew 32,523, who all stood for all 90+ minutes and that is one thing the fans are known for and that’s standing the full 90.

As majority owner Joe Roth put it, everything is first rate and with every ticket we sell, every sponsor we talk to, every player we sign is towards that purpose of being the benchmark for soccer in North America.

Strong words from a owner that his entering his first season in the MLS.

So did the Seattle Sounders back their word? That simple answer is YES. They won their first game, shutting out the NYRB, who were the runners up for the MLS Cup last season 3-0 at home.

Then they set a new MLS record by winning their first three games, something no expansion team has ever done, and they are the only team along with Chicago to win their opening game.

The Sounders FC are currently third in the western conference with 25 pts. They are currently 6-3-7.

A lot of MLS people including Commissioner Don Garber think that the Sounders will make the playoffs and have a deep run in the playoffs.

The 2009 MLS Cup will be held in Seattle at Quest field, home of the Seattle Sounders so it will be interesting to see what transpires this season and in the playoffs.

Receiving honorable mention: Seattle Storm

So for right now, who is the best team in Seattle between the Sounders FC and the Mariners? The clear cut answer to that question is the Sounders.

After the Seahawks season this year I will post an update final article on all the Seattle sports teams and which was the best.

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It seems that one of the most dynamic partnerships that MLS has ever seen was nothing more than smoke and mirrors, hiding a fractured relationship bathed in turmoil.

In a column set to be published in the July 6th edition of Sports Illustrated, columnist Grant Wahl places the Landon Donovan/David Beckham dynamic under a powerful microscope. What follows is a damning expose that places one of football's most recognizable stars in a very unflattering light.

The troubles between the two date back to July 2005 in the days before Beckham arrived in Los Angeles.

In meetings with then-Galaxy coach Frank Yallop and then-GM Alexi Lalas, Donovan was told that the higher-ups in the Galaxy hierarchy wanted him to surrender the captain's armband to Beckham.

Donovan felt disrespected by the club's owners, but had no choice in the matter. He could fight the change and cause problems with Beckham right from the start, or he could give up the armband and be seen as a magnanimous teammate.

But, according to Wahl, owner Tim Leiweke wasn't behind the change like Yallop and Lalas had implied. In reality, Beckham's close friend and manager Terry Byrne requested the change.

This was the first sign that Beckham would never be able to be "just one of the guys" in Los Angeles. It's a rare occasion that a player has this much pull over personnel moves, but the LA front office seemed very willing to accommodate Beckham's ego in return for quality on the pitch and merchandise sales in the stores.

Controversy struck again in 2007 with the appointment of Ruud Gullit as manager.

Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas was universally panned after Gullit's tenure ended in failure. The Dutch legend lasted for half a season at the Home Depot Center and was criticized by many members of the club—notably Abel Xavier—for having divided the locker room beyond repair by pandering to star players.

Gullit was seen as an outsider, somebody with no understanding of the American game and no awareness of an MLS talent not named David Beckham.

Why would Lalas hand a seemingly unqualified coach a three-year, $6 million contract?

Well, Lalas apparently had nothing to do with the decision at all. Nobody in the Galaxy organization had a hand in the hiring.

Tim Leiweke had hired Byrne as a "special consultant" and left Byrne to conduct the coaching search. It was Byrne who recommended Gullit, and it was Byrne who took the first steps in the negotiations.

So by extension, it was Byrne who was responsible for making possibly the biggest hiring mistake in MLS history. Beckham's entourage was undermining the Galaxy's hierarchy once again.

Any doubts that Gullit was the worst hire in league history should be erased by allegations that the club didn't practice set pieces at all during the preseason, and that Gullit was often the last to arrive and first to leave training.

It's said that bad things come in threes, and the Beckham experiment was no exception. During Gullit's tenure, his teammates began to realize that while he was a great footballer, he was by no means a great captain.

Defender Greg Vanney said that Beckham never tried to rally his teammates during rough patches, such as the three-month losing streak that the team endured that summer. Nor did Beckham bother to appear at optional practice days. He didn't stick up for teammates that were being wrongly criticized by the coaching staff.

The last straw was when Beckham had begun considering the loan deal with AC Milan. He began distancing himself from his teammates and allowed his frustration with poor form to show through on the pitch. Mind you, this was poor form that his entourage was at least partially at fault.

At a crucial match in Houston late in the season, Beckham didn't even show up to support his teammates. He was suspended, but Donovan was still upset.

"All that we care about at a minimum is that he committed himself to us," Donovan said. "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."

Strong words from the normally restrained Donovan. He's never been one of the more outspoken members of the footballing community, so when he speaks up in this manner, people should listen.

The verbal onslaught would continue and intensify.

"Let's say he does stay here three more years," Donovan said. "I'm not going to spend the next three years of my life doing it this way. This is f------ miserable. I don't want to have soccer be this way."

A confrontation was staved off by virtue of Beckham's loan to Milan, but he'll still be returning to the Galaxy for the latter months of the 2009 season to play side-by-side with Donovan for a few more weeks.

Will there be drama when Beckham comes back in a couple of weeks? Undoubtedly. Did he bring it on himself? That seems to be the case. He managed to alienate teammates like Eddie Lewis and upset the best player in US history by letting his ego run rampant.

These recent reports put the Beckham era in a new light. It's already been widely panned as a failure because of poor results on the pitch. Now it will be seen as a failure because Beckham helped create these results.

With these most recent revelations, I can't say I'll be sorry to see Beckham leave. He has a clause in his contract that will allow him to opt out after this season, and he'll likely leave town. MLS can benefit from star power, but not if the stars are going to sabotage their clubs from the inside.

Quotes and other information for this article were taken from Grant Wahl's column in the July 6th edition of Sports Illustrated.

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