Donovan Responds to Beckham, Puts Galaxy Captaincy Rift to Rest

Over a decade since tensions flared between Landon Donovan and David Beckham at LA Galaxy, the rift between the two icons appears finally healed. As reported by AS USA, Donovan publicly responded to Beckham’s recent admission of regret over taking the captaincy from him during their time together in Los Angeles.

“I never should have taken the armband from Landon Donovan,” Beckham confessed on CBS Sports Golazo’s Beckham and Friends.

Donovan, speaking on his Unfiltered Soccer podcast with Tim Howard, revealed that he reached out to Beckham personally. “I thanked him for saying that. We hadn’t talked about it since, but I’ve always tried to see it from his side, especially after how rough things started for him in LA,” Donovan said.

The USMNT’s all-time leading scorer acknowledged that the club likely felt naming Beckham captain would help him gain trust and adapt faster. “It was probably the right decision at the time — the team needed to believe in him, and it helped him settle,” Donovan added.

The long-standing controversy — once a symbol of clashing egos and internal conflict — now seems resolved, with both legends recognizing their growth and the context behind one of the MLS’s most talked-about chapters.