MLS needs Donovan-Beckham clash

  AP photo / David Beckham (right) and Landon Donovan.

When we're talking about soccer controversy in the U.S., what typically comes to mind? Maybe hiring-and-firing chatter about a coach's personnel moves (i.e. Greg Ryan going with Briana Scurry instead of Hope Solo), or criticism of officiating.

Soccer culture loves to nitpick everything.

But how often do you have two high-profile players within Major League Soccer - Landon Donovan and David Beckham - questioning the leadership, dedication or actions of the other? And how often will that chatter carry some weight to it for likely the remainder of the 2009 MLS season?

MLS could certainly benefit from this, because at times this league feels too PR friendly. MLS would obviously prefer to mask any tension with perhaps forced celebrity tie-ins like Ziggy Marley or Jim Belushi. Fair enough. But as a soccer fan, it is more refreshing to hear about Donovan's criticism of Beckham than some staged, off-the-field gimmick.

Instead of Beckham Mania, we now are fixated on the two Los Angeles Galaxy teammates playing together for the first time this season on the pitch this Thursday against the host New York Red Bulls. And whether you want to believe they made up or not, the bottom line is they need to play well together.

Unlike most other sports - say Michael Jordan telling his Chicago Bulls teammates not to pass the basketball to aging center Bill Cartwright en route to their first three-peat - in soccer you can't get away with dodging one another on the field. Everybody will notice that, from the coaching staff to the fans.

Beckham and Donovan need each other. For the team's sake, they need that chemistry. For their individual sakes, they definitely need it.

Beckham has these glorious plans to revolutionize soccer in the U.S., and his success is vital. Donovan is keeping the captain's armband, and if he wants to back up his criticism about Beckham's previous stint as Galaxy captain, his success also is vital.

Embrace this bit of tension.

This clash is a dose of soccer passion that ballooned into a mainstream sports discussion and likely best-selling book. There is no harm in that. And if you want to argue that this high-profile tiff is staged, or an "artificial stimulus," then blame Sports Illustrated for the timing of Grant Wahl's "The Beckham Experiment" book.

You've heard the maxim: Turn a negative into a positive.

Quite a bit of good could come from this ... as long as the Galaxy string together a winning campaign.

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David Beckham had a pretty busy slate of interviews Wednesday:

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• Commish makes All-Star choices: On Wednesday, MLS Commissioner Don Garber selected Real Salt Lake midfielders Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales as his two "Commissioner's Picks" for the 2009 MLS All-Star Game. On Monday, Houston Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear and his staff will complete the 18-man roster for the July 28 All-Star Game against Everton FC. On Tuesday, Fire midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco replaced Dwayne De Rosario on the All-Star First XI, which was originally announced Monday.

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Charlie Corr is a freelance sports writer based in Chicago. In addition to his Major League Soccer duties, he is the Chicago Sports Examiner and the creator of a Chicago-based soccer Web site, SlideTackles.net.

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