Galaxy celebrate as Beckham finds his magic touch

Los Angeles David Beckham was ready to leave. Cruz Beckham was not.

The scene was the Los Angeles Galaxy locker room in the aftermath of last weekend's Major League Soccer play-off victory over Chivas USA, and four-year-old Cruz was at the chalkboard, drawing cartoon characters.

"Come on, Cruz, it's time to go," Beckham said. "Come on, it's bedtime."

Cruz ignored him and kept drawing. Eventually, Beckham came over and, taking the marker from his son, squiggled a line of hair on the cartoon face and added a top hat for good measure.

Then the Galaxy midfielder scooped up his protesting youngster and carried him off under his arm — just as, some might say, he has carried the Galaxy in the latter half of 2009.

How has the Galaxy, which failed to reach the play-offs in each of the past three seasons, turned it around in 2009? Was it Coach Bruce Arena's extensive house-cleaning or was it Beckham's suddenly revamped play in his third season with the Galaxy?

"It was probably a mixture," Beckham said. "I've been happy with my performances and been happy with the team's performances, but also having Bruce and his knowledge of this league and this country, it all helped us."

Strong support

Forward Landon Donovan, the Galaxy's leading scorer, said another reason for the team's revival was unequivocal.

"To be honest, the person who's made it work is David," Donovan said. "You guys [the media] see that his attitude and the way he's been playing is the David we know, but off the field he's also been great.

"He's done a lot of things throughout the year to show that he wants to be here. He took the guys to dinner a couple of weeks ago to celebrate making the playoffs. He's just been fantastic."

Since returning to Los Angeles in July after his loan to AC Milan, Beckham, 34, has looked an entirely different player. He is hungry, he is motivated, he is playing at a higher level than he did in either of his first two abortive seasons in MLS.

Part of that is his motivation to make England's squad for the 2010 World Cup, but as big a reason for his newfound enthusiasm is that he is surrounded by better players on the Galaxy.

Fresh coat

When Arena took over as coach in August 2008, he picked up the Galaxy like a rug and shook out all the dirt and debris or, to put it in his own words, gave the team "a fresh coat of paint".

He brought in 16 new players, a mixture of promising youngsters such as Omar Gonzalez, and veterans such as Gregg Berhalter, Eddie Lewis, Tony Sanneh, Donovan Ricketts and Todd Dunivant.

"Bruce came in and changed the culture of this franchise," said veteran midfielder Chris Klein. "I'd like to say he changed it back to what it was" in the days when the Galaxy was the MLS flagship.

The players Arena brought on board, Klein said, were "proven guys who, with someone like David, didn't stand around in awe of him but made him feel part of the team but also let him do his thing".

Beckham responded well to the changes.

"It's a better team, it's more enjoyable for him to play here now," Arena said. "He played with a number of players here over the last couple of years that were fringe MLS players. That had to be, in my opinion, pretty awkward for him."