Beckham back to england - yes or no?

[Tiptop24]

Lets face it. Beckham was tosh in the last world cup and he knew it. He knew he wasnt performing, and hadnt performed well for a couple of years. He was struggling at Real and probably felt a lot of expectation leading England into his last world cup.
He was not going to be dropped by Sven, so someone had to do it, and that happened to be Mclown. He obviously did it because he wanted to set a pecedent.
Beckham has since got back to doing what he does best, whipping a wicked ball in the box. I hope thats why Mclaren recalled him, and not because he was feeling the pressure.
Would the fans have booed if beckham was recalled for the andorra game?

 

[Withdean Wanderer]

Lets face it. Beckham was tosh in the last world cup and he knew it.

Rubbish

They were all Tosh.

We scored how many goals? 6 i think at the world cup. Beckham scored 1 and set up 2 of them. That's half our goal tally.

Below par - yes, along with everyone else.

Tosh - DEFINITELY not

 

[Goodfella]

Beckham has to be in the team, just wish they would play him a bit wider.

 

[zego]

There is a scathing article about this by James Lawton in the Independent today. Pretty much sums up how i feel.

http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/comment/article2591480.ece

Scathing? yes. Right? wrong by miles! What a mean spirited man. Another good reason not to read the Independent.

 

[Icy Gull]

I will be very happy to be proved wrong about Beckham but I'm not getting excited by a friendly and a win against a sunday park nation. I fully expect us to revert to relying on him and building everything through him and against the next quality team we meet, I don't expect him and therefore the team to deliver anything but frustration. McClaren seems set to turn us into a one trick pony team again we really should not be relying so heavily on a man in the twilight of his career, great though he once was. One day we might get a manager who can build for the future and have the courage of his convictions to carry it through without panicking and reverting to the old guard.

 

[Gritt23]

All his performance showed to me last night was how much he lost as a result of having a guaranteed place at Real and also for England under Sven. He could do no wrong, he could saunter through a game, look utter tosh, and still be GUARANTEED his place in the next game. That didn't actually help him at all.

Yes, he played very well last night, couldn't have asked anymore from him, BUT, let's not forget it was against ESTONIA, who are ranked below Hong Kong in the World rankings. It shows that he'll also look very good in the exhibitions he'll be playing in America, but games against Croatia , Russia and then the cream of Europe next summer, is a VERY different matter.

I just can't see how performances against New York Metrostars (or whoever) will get him sufficiently match sharp for Internationals later in the year. And how can we judge what form he's showing in games like that. McClaren was right to shy away from saying that's him back for good with England, personally I think those two games should be his swansong, we need to move on, I simply cannot see him being a force at this level once he goes to the MLS.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Yes, he played very well last night, couldn't have asked anymore from him, BUT, let's not forget it was against ESTONIA, who are ranked below Hong Kong in the World rankings. It shows that he'll also look very good in the exhibitions he'll be playing in America, but games against Croatia , Russia and then the cream of Europe next summer, is a VERY different matter.

.

So are we just ignoring his club form then?

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

I simply cannot see him being a force at this level once he goes to the MLS.

Nail on head. What a joke, an England international playing in the MLS. All very good for his and VB's lifestyle, future (green card and US citizenship) but in terms of the playing side a very strange move when he's got a good few years left at the top level and would walk into any top European club side.

 

[Gritt23]

So are we just ignoring his club form then?

No - far from it. But I think you would have to ignore his club form if you want to continue to pick him once he leaves Madrid, because form in the MLS will mean very little.

His form has been very good for Real Madrid. They have changed their formation to play a couple of more defensive midfielders and that has allowed Beckham, Robinho and Raul the freedom behind horseface to flourish and flourish they have.

Whether England are prepared to play in the same way is debateable, but it's absolutely his club form that has earned him his recall.

My problem is how we judge his club form when he's at LA Galaxy. He'll look good, of course he'll look good, but he'll be in a system that revolves around him, and will be against inferior opponents, and in a league that will lack the pace and intensity of top flight European football. So, IMHO, it will make it virtually impossible to look at his club form in America and make a decision about whether he's playing well enough for the International stage. in which case, I would find it very difficult to justify his selection again.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Fair point but I think that the only thing that will stop Beckham playing for his country is himself. He'll keep himself FIT and STRONG out there and, IMO, the lack of intensity MIGHT be good for him and prolong his international career. Why must it be a bad thing? At least he won't be getting injured every five minutes like the rest of our squad.

 

[Pavilionaire]

Beckham is 32. We have seen how jaded he has looked in big tournaments at the end of a hard season. Personally, I think he'll start enjoying his football more, the matches won't be so mentally demanding and this will mean he'll be fresh come Euro 2008. This will benefit England no end.

 

[Gritt23]

Fair point but I think that the only thing that will stop Beckham playing for his country is himself. He'll keep himself FIT and STRONG out there and, IMO, the lack of intensity MIGHT be good for him and prolong his international career. Why must it be a bad thing? At least he won't be getting injured every five minutes like the rest of our squad.

I'm not so sure that he does keep himself fit, I think he relies on the club he's playing for and the football he's playing to do that. Wasn't it after that last Euro Finals that he said afterwards that his fitness wasn't 100% and he blamed the training at Real Madrid for not getting him fit enough?!?!

I completely agree that "the only thing that will stop Beckham playing for his country is himself", and indeed it was him who chose to go to MLS, and that is what will stop him, IMHO.

I just think it would be like picking a cricketer for England who has quit county cricket to play for Lashings every week.

 

[coventrygull]

Beckham is 32. We have seen how jaded he has looked in big tournaments at the end of a hard season. Personally, I think he'll start enjoying his football more, the matches won't be so mentally demanding and this will mean he'll be fresh come Euro 2008. This will benefit England no end.

Thats if we qualify of course

 

[Easy 10]

As ever, Martin Samuel is RIGHT on the money this week.

Steve McClaren intends travelling to the United States this week; there would be greater logic if Oasis had another go at cracking it.

McClaren’s mission is to watch David Beckham play his first competitive match for Los Angeles Galaxy. He was, of course, scheduled to have a few games under his belt by now, but so badly managed has been his arrival in Major League Soccer (MLS), all McClaren may witness on Thursday is a cameo substitute appearance against DC United, if that.

The England head coach is trapped, though. Trapped because he failed to see beyond an easy, populist victory in Estonia to a time when Beckham’s swansong career as a ceremonial footballer would be under way and England’s needs would be at odds with his own. After Beckham’s performance in Tallinn, McClaren now has to indulge the former England captain or he will appear foolish. He will therefore pick him for the friendly against Germany this month, even lacking match fitness (shades of Sven-Göran Eriksson here) because to do otherwise would expose faults in his long-term thinking that were apparent at the time of Beckham’s England revival. Then he will scout him Stateside, as if his performances in the US offer any indication of how he will fare against serious opposition this season.

Lothar Matthäus was the last MLS player to represent his country at the European Championship finals. That was in 2000 as part of a Germany squad that is widely remembered as a national low. They lost to Kevin Keegan’s England and neither team made it out of the group. Matthäus, who faded before half-time in most matches, was still highly regarded at New York-New Jersey MetroStars, but when he spent time in St Tropez after the tournament to rest rather than returning to rehabilitate his injured back, friction followed.

This is the reality that is biting McClaren and Beckham. The MLS has pretensions to be a serious football league, but nothing that is so heavily weighted towards the star system can be. If Thierry Henry is injured on the first day of the Spanish season, he will not play for Barcelona, despite his £16 million transfer fee; but Beckham was not allowed to be unfit when the moment came for his grand entrance against Chelsea.

Beckham’s bosses now admit that appearing in that match, albeit for 12 minutes, aggravated an ankle injury that dragging the player to Colorado for a coin toss hardly helped. Had Beckham been in the Barclays Premier League, he would have been professionally treated and the way forward would be clear. As it is, who knows?

LA Galaxy may rush him back to placate the sponsors again, or drag him across the continent for a press conference. That is their payback for an investment of £128 million, but unlike Beckham’s American masters, the England head coach does not have five years to get the balance right. He has about 45 minutes, against Israel on September 8, after which, if England are not a goal to the good, there will be tension inside the new Wembley Stadium that not even 2,618 toilets will relieve.

McClaren will learn nothing from watching Beckham in Washington on Thursday because, whatever he sees, good or bad, he must then factor in a two-month absence from competitive football and evaluate the inferior nature of the opposition. The real test will come against Germany on August 22, but suppose that Beckham is not fully fit? The day of reckoning will shift to the match with Israel, when any result bar victory would probably spell the end of England’s qualification hopes, and McClaren’s job.

A year after Eriksson’s departure, his replacement sits in the same boat. Fingers crossed, waiting for Beckham. Wasn’t he meant to have answers to this problem?

 

[Pavilionaire]

Wise words from Samuel.

The fact is that you know what you will get with Beckham, regardless of what league he plays in. He is very professional and keeps himself in shape, and even when he is 45 he will still be able to deliver a better cross than any English player in the Prem.

By going to the States so soon McLaren is perpetuating the media circus. On another tack, it will be interesting to see how the "now well rested" David Bentley performs in the same position.

 

[Easy 10]

So are you agreeing with Samuels assessment or not Pav ?

I was very much in the \"idiotic decision\" camp when it was announced Beckham was being brought back for Brazil and Estonia, for all the reasons that are becoming apparent now. I read a quote from Lalas recently saying that Beckham could play for England on the Wednesday, rest on the plane back to LA on the Thursday, and the time delay factor (going back 8 or 10 hours, whatever the difference is) would then still enable him to train and play for the Galaxy on the Friday or Saturday !!

Its a shambles. Complete waste of time involving Beckham, and these niggly injuries he picks up are only going to get worse when he;s spending hours and hours on trans-atlantic flights. If McLaren had a pair of bollocks, he;d pull the plug on this whole Beckham fiasco right now.

 

[Icy Gull]

. If McLaren had a pair of bollocks, he;d pull the plug on this whole Beckham fiasco right now.

And sack Alonso at the same time

 

[Easy 10]

I see what you did there Icy.

 

[Rookie]

the MLS has moved on a lot since 2000 when Lothar Matthäus played in it so that point is irrelevant. Samuel has had a problem with Beckham for ages and seems unable to accept that bringing him back was the correct decision for a stuggling england team. I personally have no respect for Samuel how he thinks his word is gospal and anyone who disagrees with it is wrong.

 

[Easy 10]

the MLS has moved on a lot since 2000 when Lothar Matthäus played in it so that point is irrelevant. Samuel has had a problem with Beckham for ages and seems unable to accept that bringing him back was the correct decision for a stuggling england team. I personally have no respect for Samuel how he thinks his word is gospal and anyone who disagrees with it is wrong.

Bringing Beckham back wasn;t, isn;t, and never will be the answer for this struggling England team. McLaren should have been seeking new solutions and finding alternatives now that Beckham is winding down his career on the other side of the world. Reverting back to a player who had been underperforming for years in an England shirt was never the answer. A couple of star turns in a meaningless friendly and then against a bunch of goat-herders changes nothing.

Not sure about this \"thinks-his-word-is-gospel\" remark about Samuel either. The guy puts an opinion out, he;s a columnist, thats what he;s paid to do, and most of the time he talks a lot of sense. Where have you come across him saying that anyone disagrees with him is wrong ?