BoxRec

perhaps capello wants to pick wingers that can actually go past a man !!

when did beckham last beat a full back and get to the dead ball line..........errr never.

yes he was a dead ball master, but we have the likes of gerrard, hargreaves andlampard who are ok in that dept, i would rather see wright-phillips or lennon skinning a defender.

He never needed to go past anyone. How many goals has Beckham created from crosses over the years? Too many to mention. I don't think I've ever seen a better crosser of the ball.

Guys like Lennon and Wright-Phillips can go past people but their end product is nowhere near Beckham, in fact both are decidedly average in that department. How many goals will they create from crosses in their careers? Nowhere near what Beckham has. Going past people isn't the be all and end all.

Whatever you feel about Beckham it's pretty difficult to make a case against him being the best player for England over the last decade.

The best of a poor bunch that flattered to deceive it must be said but the best nevertheless.

For that alone I think he should have been given his 100th cap even if it was a 5 minute cameo.

But life goes on. 99/100 whatever, just numbers really.

The thing is, him not getting in the squad for this game doesn't mean that he can't still make 100 caps. The fact is, he hasn't played a competitive game since England-Croatia. And his last competitive club match was some time before that. Yes, he's been a fine player. But the England Manager should be picking his team on the following criteria: Who are the best players available to me, based on form and fitness. Beckham can't hope to be in that group.

Capello hasn't dropped him to try and prove a point, as that gurning tool McClaren did. Indeed, why blame Capello for Beckham not making 100 caps? He'd already be there, and, I imagine, wouldn't have decided to fornicate off to L.A. if McClaren hadn't been so ham-fisted about trying to prove he was different from Ericsson.

Capello's job is to pick the best players he can. And you cannot include someone who hasn't played for months. And this talk of there being no better alternative is daft. There may not be a right-sided midfielder in this country that's better than the David Beckham of 2001. But it's 2008 now. And David Bentley (or Ashley Young, or Shaun Wright-Phillips, or indeed, Steven Gerrard) is playing every week in the Premier League, not bouncing around the globe promoting his own academy.

Rocky Balboa wrote:
Can someone please tell me how a player who gets paid £100,000 per week can have the same hunger, drive & determination as a player who doesn't get paid anywhere near that amount?

Because the psychology of a proffessional sportsman is different to the psychology of a 'normal' person. You need only watch Roy Keane leading Man U out against newcastle (shearer) or Arsenal (viera) to see that. Most of these guys arent driven by money, if that were the case please explain to me why reading and wigan dont win the premiership. you need a team who can delve into the psyche of each player and push the right buttons. Erikson almost got it right, had England got past Brazil (eventual winners) in 2002 who knows, had they beat portrugal (eventual finalists) in 2004 who knows. He also lost big players in Gerrard, Beckham, Neville & Rooney in those finals.

Someone on here once said England have too many "engine room" players. I agree.


Oh, how the fornicate is wes brown in the squad and steven taylor isnt!

states wrote: Capello's job is to pick the best players he can. And you cannot include someone who hasn't played for months. And this talk of there being no better alternative is daft. There may not be a right-sided midfielder in this country that's better than the David Beckham of 2001. But it's 2008 now. And David Bentley (or Ashley Young, or Shaun Wright-Phillips, or indeed, Steven Gerrard) is playing every week in the Premier League, not bouncing around the globe promoting his own academy.

He's been shit in the MLS anyway. Plays around the centre circle pinging balls around.

man u built their 1990's side around beckhams ability to ping it into the box from out wide on the right. no one has done it better. but after he left they became a more expansive side attacking from everywhere and have become a joy to watch. england have always yearned for a great crosser of the ball because we've never been very good at the man u marauding type game. much better to cross it in and hope some big head gets on the end of it - cue DB.
this is still largely the case although the influx of foreign talent has helped us to stop this rubbish a little and try to push the ball around - i think of the great tottenham sides playing this sort of stuff - however, beckham for me still represents this tedious don howe approach to the game and one that has to be consigned to footballing history.

Capello has done the right thing.

Beckham is no longer seroius about his football career; hence why he signed for a pub team, playing in a secondary school league.

The state of English football should be of far more concern to the media than whether on player gets a slushy & sentimental 100th cap.

Beckham is NOT bigger than England & it will dawn on those who crying over Beckham; this Summer, when Euro 2008 & England are nowhere to be seen; that Beckham's caps, whether he has 99, 100 or 765 will matter not one jot in the grand scheme of things.