In the megawatt glare of the spotlight, human flaws are exposed. So brightly and constantly does it shine on David Beckham, his LA Galaxy team-mate Landon Donovan can attest, that it is not only football's biggest brand who finds his shortcomings illuminated.

No9: LA Galaxy forward Landon Donovan, who has joined Everton on loan, says he has learned a lot about himself from David Beckham 

Donovan, of course, was the Beckham of the United States when, in July 2007, the circus rolled into town. The parallels, though, hardly stand up to scrutiny. Donovan, star that he is, never had his every move recorded by photographers, his image splayed on billboards. Beckham was pure box office. Donovan, even in his homeland, remained staunchly arthouse.

The United States international, now ensconced at Everton on a 10-week loan spell, insists there was no tension between the pair, but remarks in a book about Beckham's American odyssey - The Beckham Experiment - bear witness to the striker's acknowledged "preconceptions" about his new, illustrious team-mate.

He has now moved to play down suggestions of a spat, but admits Beckham taught him a lot about himself and others.

"I have learned a lot about myself in the last few years with everything that has gone on," Donovan said. "And I have learned a lot about David. He is a very humble human being, and a very good man. Unfortunately, I did not give him chance to show that. I had an idea of what he was like before he got here and that was unfair on my part.

"He is just so famous all around the world so sometimes you have expectations or ideas of what people are like and you do not give them a chance. I learned a lot about myself in that way."

So far, so American psycho-babble. But Donovan is sincere. "I think too often anybody you meet in any walk of life you either expect them to be a certain way, assume they will be a certain way or you think they might be this way or that way instead of letting people be and being OK with that," he says.

"So when I reflected on that situation I realised I did not give that proper chance to David like I would to other people. In doing that I realised what a good team-mate and person he is. It was a good learning curve for me.

"I did not necessarily expect him to be big time. I did not know what to expect but I just thought things would go differently, that he would be different in different ways. That does not get you anywhere when you have those expectations. It made me have some understanding of what David's life must be like, and now we get along better. He is just a good person and a good team-mate."

Their paths will cross again, of course, at the World Cup in South Africa in June. Donovan hopes his loan spell in Europe – no more to come after this one, he insists, adamant that his "next few years" will be spent in Los Angeles – will help prepare him for the rigours of facing Fabio Capello's side in Rustenburg. He fully expects Beckham, impressive on his first run-out back in AC Milan colours on Wednesday night, to be there too.

"Absolutely he can be there," Donovan said. "He played 76 minutes and was instrumental for Milan the other night. He is a very good footballer. I cannot imagine him not being considered for a [squad] spot at least."

Before that, though, comes Donovan's own loan spell, and the chance to measure himself against many of his likely opponents in June. Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City all await Everton in the coming weeks.

"That's the Premier League," he says. "You guys talk about Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham, but every game I watch is [tough], especially this year. We only have one shot at life and I want to be the best I can be. For the next 10 weeks that means I am going to be as good as I can be for Everton."