DIFFICULT TIME

"I definitely agree that there was more to it than the manager, but I'm not going to criticise Fabio Capello because I have too much respect for him as a person and as a manager.

"It was a difficult time and there were many other things going on around the club related to my position other than what was going on the football pitch."

Beckham said this season was even harder to cope with than the aftermath of his sending off for England in the 1998 World Cup after kicking out at Argentina's Diego Simeone.

"It has been possibly the toughest season of my career on and off the field," he said. "After 1998 it was difficult, but this season I've gone through things that I never thought were possible.

"I'm sad to be leaving, I didn't expect to be leaving, but everyone knows what has happened in the last six months. It was the most difficult time of my career, not being involved in training and matches and certain things being said that weren't true."

But the midfielder said he was not interested in recriminations and wanted instead to concentrate on trying to win his first trophy since joining the club in 2003.

"The most important thing is the game on Sunday, what has gone on before doesn't matter now.

"It is a big opportunity for me to win a trophy. That is what I came to the club for, not just to play with the likes of Raul, Zidane, Ronaldo, Figo, Roberto Carlos and everybody else, but to win trophies and hopefully we can do that on Sunday."

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