McClaren makes his mark
England’s new manager, Steve McClaren, has made his mark on the team by dropping David Beckham from the squad that will play Greece in a friendly on August 16th. McClaren informed Beckham of his decision to exclude him from the squad, citing that it was time to take England in a new direction.
Although many thought that Beckham’s form in the World Cup was sub-standard, I personally believe that without him in the team, England would not have progressed as far as they did. He was directly responsible for victories against Paraguay and Ecuador, and he also setup the first goal against Trinidad and Tobago (a goal that came in the last 10 minutes of regulation). Fair enough he’s not as quick as he once was, but he’s also 31 years old. He’s still one of the best passing midfielders in the world, and his execution of freekicks is second to none. I still believe him to be one of the top players in the world, and I would definitely want him on my team. Who will ever forget the free kick in extra time against Greece that put England through to the 2002 World Cup?
Although McClaren hasn’t closed the doors on a return to the England squad for Beckham in the future, it is highly unlikely that the new manager will admit that he made a mistake and return him to the squad. I believe this is a premature end to Beckham’s superb international career.
roBSMjnTVFc
One of many Beckham highlights - this one against Greece to put England through to the 2002 World Cup
Thats a bloody outrage… may England lose against the Greeks (in true English spirit and start fights)
The reason for dropping Becks was sound. Steve McLaren has a solid reputation for picking people based on form, and the good of the team rather than the Eriksson approach of picking Beckham because he is his buddy.
No one can question Beckham’s ability at the dead ball, however he does have any speed (and he never really did) and he can’t beat the man which is what you need from a right midfielder.
McLaren’s theory is that he has the two best attacking midfielders in the premiership at his disposal (Gerrard and Fat Frank Lampost) but the two of them can’t play in the middle together, because they both want to maraude into the box and score goals, leaving no one to guard the midfield.
Every succesful team for the past 20 years has had a holding midfielder at the core of the team. Think Keane for Manchester United, Makalele for Real Madrid and now Chelsea, Vieira for Arsenal. Playing Gerrard on the right allows England to play Owen Hargreaves (a vastly underrated player) in that holding midfield role, allowing Lampard and Gerrard to bomb forward and do what they are best at.
Unfortunately, playing Beckham in the team does not allow McLaren to play Gerrard and Lampard together, and a 4-0 result is solid proof that he was right to leave Becks out.
Come off it. If you were going on form, Gerrard and Lampard would both have been left out of the team following the World Cup - during which Beckham outplayed the both of them. I hardly think the 4-0 outcome would have been any different if Beckham was still in the team.
If you were purely picking a team on form then I can agree that Lampard probably should have been left out of the team, however you could further suggest the same for Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, (pretty much most of the England team). Carry this a bit further, I think perhaps Brazil should consider leaving out Ronaldinho, considering his poor World Cup. I’m curious to know how Beckham outplayed both of them, he delivered free kicks for 180 mins, and not much else. Interestingly, if you want to know Beckham’s true worth, read this article that was published at the time of his transfer from Man Utd to Real Madrid (http://www.therockalltimes.co.uk/2003/06/23/real-madrid-offer.html)
Unlike Errikson, McLaren understands the importance of picking a team based upon not only natrual talent, but on the combination of players, and ensuring he gets a balanced line up. Last I checked, Steven Gerrard was England’s top scorer at the WC. Gerrard was Liverpool’s top scorer last season, Lampost was Chelsea’s top scorer last season. Lampard was runner up for European Footballer of the year, Gerrard was third.
Beckham has been relying on his reputation for years. He has done next to nothing at Real in the time he has been there, apart from a rapid increase in replica shirt sales, and I don’t think anyone in the England setup was disappointed by the coach’s decision to drop him.
Ask yourself this question, if Beckham was/is so damn good, then why did Darth Ferguson sell him? Last I checked, Fergie was the most astute manager in world football and is not into the habit of selling players who he feels make a valuable contribution to his team (read: Cristiano Ronaldo saga). Did ManU suffer when Beckham was sold? Not in the slightest, they won the Premiership the next season. And before anyone makes comment on “What have ManU done lately?”, it’s got nothing to do with no Beckham, Man Utd still score as many goals now as they were when Beckham was playing. Just look at the goals conceded column for all the answers you need.
Beckham scored against Paraguay (technically an own-goal, but it was going in anyway) and against Ecuador - he also set up the game breaking goal against Trinidad and Tobago. Beckham was easily one of England’s best during the WC, and if he didn’t have a better World Cup than Gerrard, it was bloody close. Fergie isn’t perfect either, he got rid of Van Nistelroy after he had a great season last year (what is up with VN??).
I guess we will need to agree to disagree. You think Beckham is the greatest, I think Beckham is the great pretender.
Re: the Van Nistelrooy saga. Last season VN got injured for a while, while he was out Louis Saha came in and scored 13 goals in 20 games (a pretty good return). When VN was fit again Ferguson decided not to drop Saha because he had done well and Man Utd were winning. VN had a massive spit claiming that his reputation should guarantee him a start. True to form Fergie didn’t take kindly to it, and promptly sold him to Real Madrid at the end of the season. Funnily enough, Marco Van Basten (the Dutch national coach) has dropped VN as well due to attidute problems.
Man Utd seem to be going fairly well without him (unbeaten so far) and Saha and Rooney have been on fire.
If Fergie wants a replacement however, I would suggest signing this guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bj%C3%B8rn_Tore_Kvarme
Beckham can’t be the greatest, because that title belongs to Cantona!
Did you look at the link? Great player!
HAHAHA! I had totally forgot about him, but rolled my eyes when I realised who it was.