David Beckham was greeted with much fanfare when he first arrived in Los Angeles to play for L.A. Galaxy in an effort to increase the prominence of soccer in the United States.

Beckham is considered one of the best players on the field and his star power [and that of his wife] is an even bigger attraction.

But Beckham quickly became a disappointment. He missed many games because of an injury and recently half of the season in order to play for A.C. Milan.

And, to add to fans displeasure, an new book conducting interviews with Beckham’s teammates reveals him to be a rather bad captain.

Landon Donovan, whose was captain before Beckham signed on, reveals in the new book titled “The Beckham Experiment” that Beckham was not only stingy but also an indifferent captain. Beckham’s contract entitled him to make over $40 million a year, and the athlete is already millions rich. Beckham’s American teammates, on the other hand, makes pennies on the dollar in comparison with some earning as little as $12,000 a year. One would expect that in public outing Beckham would be generous here and there. Donovan, who makes a good salary rare for an American, often picked up the tab for his teammates and expected Beckham to do likewise. But the Brit never did always paying his share and passing the bill.

More importantly, Beckham neglected the team. As captain he never showed up unless mandated to and never demonstrated commitment to the team.

An expert from the book:

By July 2008, moreover, the L.A. players had seen enough to realize that Beckham might be a good teammate, but he wasn’t much of a captain. It was one thing to take part in team events, the Galaxy players felt, but it was another thing to lead, to rally the players during tough times and defend the greater good of the team with the coach and the front office. Donovan noticed several things. For one, when Gullit gave the players an optional practice day, Beckham rarely showed up. (”As the captain you should at least come in and show your face,” Donovan said.) What’s more, Donovan thought Beckham should address the team about Byrne’s role and clear up any confusion. “But he hasn’t had anything to say to anybody,” Donovan said, shaking his head. . . .

By now, in fact, Donovan no longer agreed with the “good teammate, bad captain” verdict that so many other Galaxy players had reached on Beckham. Donovan was convinced that Beckham wasn’t even a good teammate anymore: “He’s not. He’s not shown that. I can’t think of another guy where I’d say he wasn’t a good teammate, he didn’t give everything through all this, he didn’t still care. But with [Beckham] I’d say no, he wasn’t committed.”

His departure for Milan was the finally straw for Galaxy fans who booed Beckham when he game back to play his first game halfway through the season. Fans held up signs along with their constant boos.

When a fan tired to taunt Beckham by jumping near the field, Beckham went to confront the man and had to be held back by Galaxy security. Beckham stated that he has only going to shake the man’s hand, but the MLS did not buy the excuse and the star has been fined $1,000.

Beckham still has a three year contract with Galaxy, but he has justifiably lost his captain ban to Donovan.