Beckham's ankle still troubling him

The sold-out stadium in Frisco, Texas might have been filled by people drawn by the star attraction of David Beckham, but the midfielder's injured ankle is not cooperating with the appointment.

After evaluating Beckham on Monday, the Galaxy administration announced he would not travel to the team's SuperLiga match versus FC Dallas on Tuesday.

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David Beckham: New row

"He's not going," said Galaxy coach Frank Yallop. "He's going to stay here and train."

However, Yallop noted that Beckham was making slow, but steady progress.

"He's going to start running today, so that's good."

Yallop explained that while Beckham rested his ankle after finishing his season with Real Madrid, it was hard to tell how serious the injury was. He emphasized that the damage wasn't necessarily missed, but that the healing process is variable.

"I wouldn't say that it's worse. It's just taking longer to recover than one might expect. Looking at it, it's just swollen. There's a lot of fluid and blood that has congealed between the tendons and the bones. You've got to get that out."

While the rest of the team has been practicing, Beckham has been up on the training table, receiving treatment on his ankle.

"They've been working on him night and day, doing the best they can," said goalkeeper Joe Cannon.

Landon Donovan, the Galaxy's captain, did not want to push Beckham's rehabilitation unduly.

"You can't rush that," said Donovan. "[Beckham] knows how it feels. He wants to be out there more than anyone else wants him to be out there, but he's smart about it. If it was up to him, he'd probably be out there. But we don't want to hurt him so we'll make sure he's ready before he gets out there."

Beckham did sit with the Galaxy reserves for the team's latest match, a 2-1 SuperLiga loss to Club Deportivo de Guadalajara.

"Just having him around -- he definitely wanted to be involved, wanted to be in the dressing room, and on the bench," Yallop said. "He's obviously important to us and we're desperate to get him on the field. Everyone in our club wants him to be healthy and ready to step on the field. He's desperate to do that. This was a good learning experience, to get him used to the players, to see how they get ready for matches, how they react and that sort of thing."

The team has been integrating Beckham to the squad socially, playing host to a team barbecue on Sunday.

"Everyone was there," said Donovan. "All the kids were running around."

Yet Beckham is missing out on an important aspect of building chemistry -- working with his teammates in their daily practices.

"It's hard for him, because when you train with guys, you bond," said Donovan. "There's more openness and respect. When you're in the training room all the time, it's hard for him to say stuff to people about, 'You could have done this' or stuff that's easy if you're there training and playing games. I think once he does that, that will be the final step, and then he'll feel most comfortable. Right now it's hard, because he feels like a bystander watching this all go on."

Yallop expected that Beckham, once fully healthy, would take on a leadership role befitting his experience, as has another Galaxy newcomer.

"Abel Xavier has taken on really talking to the back four," said Yallop. "I'm sure that David will do the same thing with our midfield once he plays."

Some have speculated that Galaxy would perhaps protect Beckham from the artificial turf that the opponent following Dallas, Toronto FC, plays on.

"No matter what the surface, if your ankle is OK, then you play," said Yallop of that theory. "If he's ready to go, he'll go."

Andrea Canales covers MLS and women's college soccer for ESPNsoccernet. She also writes for topdrawersoccer.com, lasoccernews.com, soccer365.com and contributes to a blog, Sideline Views. She can be contacted at soccercanales@yahoo.com.