DAVID BECKHAM thinks the LA Galaxy and Major League Soccer are “a joke” – and that’s coming from a team-mate.

Landon Donovan, who captains Galaxy in Beckham’s absence, has blasted the England international, describing life at the club as “f****** miserable” since he joined.

Donovan, 27, slammed both Beckham’s leadership qualities and the fact he earns so much cash with the American outfit.

The US international said: “Does the fact that he earns that much more money come into it? Yeah.

“If someone’s paying you more than anybody in the league, more than double anybody in the league, the least we expect is that you show up to every game, whether you are suspended or not.”

He added: “Maybe he’s not a leader, maybe he’s not a ¬captain. Fair enough. But at a minimum, you should bust your ass every day. That hasn’t happened.”

Beckham pushed for a move to AC Milan last season and ¬returns to the club to face New York Red Bulls on 16 July. Tensions promise to run high.

Donovan said: “My sense is that David’s clearly frustrated, that he’s unhappy and, ¬honestly, that he thinks it’s a joke.”

The turning point, according to Donovan, came when Ruud Gullit was sacked as Galaxy head coach last August.

“When David first came, I believed he was committed to what he was doing,”

Donovan said in upcoming book The Beckham Experiment. “He cared. He wanted to do well. He wanted the team and the league to do well.

“Somewhere along the way – and in my mind it coincides with Ruud being let go – he just flipped a switch and said, ‘Uh-huh, I’m not doing it any more.’”

And Donovan added: “Let’s say he does stay here for three more years.

“I’m not going to spend the next three years of my life ¬doing it this way. This is f****** miserable. I don’t want to have soccer be this way.”