- guardian.co.uk, Thursday 16 July 2009 00.51 BST
David Beckham at a press conference in Hoboken, New Jersey, before his return to MLS action. Photograph: Rich Schultz/AP
David Beckham has launched an impassioned defence of his decision to join Milan on loan midway through last season and, despite fierce criticism in the United States over a perceived lack of commitment to Los Angeles Galaxy, has pledged to do the same again in the year ahead to maintain his hopes of representing England at the 2010 World Cup finals.
The 34-year-old former national captain returns to Major League Soccer at the Giants Stadium in New Jersey tonight and is expected to start when the team he joined in the summer of 2007, in a five-year deal worth around £25m a season, take on New York Red Bulls. Beckham continues to be MLS's major attraction and some 100 journalists filed into a pre-match press conference ahead of a game that will be attended by around 40,000 supporters.
The atmosphere was distinctly prickly at the W hotel in Hoboken, as Beckham fronted the media alongside his coach, Bruce Arena, although the veteran was unrepentant over his decision to return to Europe with Milan for six months, a deal he part-financed himself and which ensured he missed a significant proportion of the current MLS season.
"I was given the chance to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world and still be contracted to my club [LA Galaxy]," he said. "For those first three months, when the Galaxy weren't playing, I enjoyed a great time. Then Milan asked me to stay on.
"Ask any player in any league in the world and, if they were given the chance to spend a bit more time at one of the biggest clubs in the world, not one player would turn that down. I'm an honest person. If I didn't want to be here now, I wouldn't be here. I've been committed to every contract I've had as a soccer player: with Manchester United, Real Madrid and now the Galaxy. If people want to question my professionalism and my commitment, they should take into account that I travel thousands of miles to play for my country. That says it all.
"At the moment my priority is the rest of the season and staying in every squad for England and representing my country. Going forward, I want to be at the World Cup. But even if I go on loan to Milan or another club [in December], it doesn't guarantee me a place at the World Cup. Once the season is over, I'll decide what I do from then on.
"But the England manager has made it very clear to me that I need to be playing at European level. I'd always regret it if I didn't do everything to give myself a chance to be involved in that."
Some of the fiercest criticism of Beckham's hiatus from the MLS came from his team-mate Landon Donovan, who claimed the former England skipper "wasn't committed" to the Galaxy in a book, The Beckham Experiment, published this week. Arena has since arranged for the midfielders to meet and clear the air. "I spoke with Landon after the game, the win against Chivas USA on Saturday," Beckham said. "We sat down, we went through everything that had been said. Landon apologised and I told him my view on things.
"It's forgotten about. We're both men. We don't take it on to the field, because that's when it would disrupt us, and we go on and play our soccer. That's the most important thing.
"All I'll say is he apologised for everything that went on and the position that we were in. We're professionals and we move on. I've always been very positive and very honest with my play here. I explained to everyone – the manager, the players, the fans – the reasoning behind me going to Milan. I've always said I'd be coming back. Maybe one or two didn't believe me but I'm here. I'm committed to the team."
Beckham has pledged to honour his contract in Los Angeles, which runs to 2012, but will return to Europe – most likely with Milan but potentially to the Premier League if the Rossoneri do not take up their option – in January in an attempt to prove to Fabio Capello that he should be part of England's squad for the World Cup.
Arena admitted the previous loan move had been "a little bit awkward", though he did not give the impression the club would stand in the midfielder's way when he seeks a repeat arrangement at the end of the MLS season in November.
"It would have to be another six-month loan leading up to the World Cup," Beckham said. "But, with the last loan, it worked out pretty well. I'm not going to sit here and say it was ideal and perfect. It was great for myself but it's tough for the Galaxy and the guys when you lose any player.
"It wouldn't have been possible without the support of the Galaxy. I don't know where I'll go. Milan said before I left that they'd love me to come back but at the moment all I'm focusing on is the Galaxy. I'm committed to them and I'm happy here."
