It appears that the honeymoon between Los Angeles sport fans and football star David Beckham may be drawing to a close. A leading LA sports writer recently tore a strip off Beckham when his planned interview with the LA Galaxy midfielder was cancelled.

In an article headlined “So Much For Beckham Being the Voice of MLS” (Major League Soccer), award winning sportswriter TJ Simmers claims he was told that Beckham was “too tired” to keep the appointment.  Fair enough, but in a city where the paparazzi outnumber the celebrities by 10-1, keeping a low profile is not always easy.

The night before the cancelled interview, Becks was seen in the early hours at a pre-Grammy party dancing up a storm with Janet Jackson. The columnist points out that Beckham, to that point, had played just eight games for the Galaxy since his move from Madrid more than six months earlier and he had managed to score just one goal in exchange for his 250 million UKP pay package.

Simmers also suggests that the only thing Beckham has really accomplished is a photo spread for an Armani underwear advert - billboards of the bare-chested Becks will soon sprout up across the US.

In a country where fans expect their sports heroes to shine on and off the field, many are sharing Simmers concerns.  Despite the mumbling, club manager Alexi Lalas and president Tim Leiweke are still gushing about the English player’s ability.

Quoted recently in People Magazine, Beckham concedes he is “incredibly disappointed” for the Los Angeles Galaxy, which failed to make the play-offs. “But we’ll come back stronger next season I’m sure,” said the British soccer star, who was sidelined by an injury for much of the season. Of playing in the final game of the season, Beckham says: “It was a great feeling to be part of the action again.”

In a recent blog entry, the Spice Boy and underwear model says: “I’ve been very busy this week, training with the Galaxy for our new season. Although it is several weeks away, we have been working extremely hard twice a day, with Ruud and the coaching staff to ensure we are fit when we play our first game against Colorado Rapids at the end of March.

“For me, this is going to be my first full season with the Galaxy and I am really looking forward to it. We have improved our squad of players this winter so we will also be looking to improve on last season. Next Monday (Feb 18) we leave for Hawaii and the Pan Pacific tournament, which everybody is looking forward to. The opening game is against Japanese side Gamba Osaka so we’ll definitely be looking to try and build up our match fitness from thereon.”

Fabio Capello left out Beckham when he announced his provisional list of 30 players for the February exhibition match against Switzerland at Wembley Stadium. (England won the match) Capello, who was hired in December, said he omitted Beckham because the Galaxy midfielder hasn’t played a competitive match since November. The Italian did say he would give Beckham another chance to make the team if the former England captain shows good form when the Major League Soccer season restarts in the spring.

After the initial euphoria that surrounded the Beckham’s arrival in LA, things seem to have chilled. To document the family’s move to America, Victoria signed a deal with the NBC network to do six half-hour episodes of a reality TV series, but that was trimmed to a single, one-hour episode because there just wasn’t the material or the viewer interest.  Critics at the New York Post described it as “an orgy of self-indulgence”, describing Beckham as “vapid and condescending”. Ouch!

In America, where the typical household receives 100+ channels on the telly, many of them offering professional sports, Beckham will have to manage a lot more than one goal in the upcoming season to justify either his massive pay cheque or the outpouring of fan adulation that accompanied his arrival.