Don Be Daft Fabio
With the post-World Cup aftermath already having taken place as far as questioning Fabio Capello’s merit as England manager goes, you would have thought he will do something concrete with the team other than announcing the offhand retirement of David Beckham.
It was before the friendly against Hungary, in a televised pre-match interview; Don Fabio was asked a question on a certain player the media still can’t get enough of.
Asked if he still considered Beckham as part of his plans for England, the Italian coyly responded by thanking him first for the contribution to England’s 2018 World Cup bid and then declaring he was ‘maybe a little old’ to still be part of his set-up.
Perhaps an echo of the Steve McClaren era when things were ‘moving in a different direction’ under him from the way they ran under his predecessor Sven-Göran Eriksson. Incidentally back in 2006 McClaren seemed to have only made that one change in the otherwise unchanged England camp.
Sure, there were new players called up to be taken a look at but of the squad that went to Germany four years ago, only one player took the brunt. It looked more like a statement from McClaren announcing his intentions of not following Eriksson’s footsteps by axing the one player he was accused of favouring for five years.
The same player however, came to England’s rescue against Greece in 2001 with that last gasp free kick, as well as against Ecuador in the last 16 round of the World Cup in 2006. Given England’s poor performance in the qualifiers under McClaren, he was forced to recall Beckham who ironically at the same time had just forced a U-turn from his then manager at Real Madrid – none other than Don Fabio.
World Cup Fiasco
Now with the wounds from the dismal performance in South Africa still fresh, Capello was no doubt expected to make some changes but ones which would benefit the team and not his own personal ego. Age doesn’t really matter if you’re good enough and the same should apply to everyone. If Beckham plays well then he should still be part of Capello’s plans.
On the same note, judging by England performances alone, golden boy Wayne Rooney could do with watching a few games from the stands. His performance in the World Cup was short of shambolic – a simple waist high pass proved too much for him to control against Algeria, let alone do anything else.
If Capello really wants to succeed with England then he needs to set a lot of things right. For starters, it is truly remarkable that the same players who give it their all every week for their clubs, when playing for country hardly look bothered. You could pick a handful of players who look like they want to do something useful in the England shirt.
History Repeating
With that in mind, axing Beckham could be a déjà vu for Capello, something he may have to retract yet again in a few months.
He famously declared Beckham to have played his last ever game for Real Madrid in early 2007 when it came out he was to leave the Spanish club for American outfit LA Galaxy in the MLS. Fast-track a couple months from there and amid rumours of Capello getting fired if they lost a crunch tie to Real Sociedad, the Italian reinstated Beckham to the starting line-up as if to say ‘Go on then, prove your metal and save us if you can.’
It was a last ditch attempt to save his job and more a way for him to make sure he dealt all his cards before folding, having already gone all in on the stakes. It worked then for him as Beckham equalized in that game from a cleverly worked free kick before playing a major part in the build up to the winner scored by Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Since that performance, the fans turned on the Real Madrid board and Capello asking them to keep Beckham but it was too late then and Capello was heard saying in a television interview that he regretted his actions and wished Becks would stay with Madrid if the contracts could be sorted out again.
Having done all that once already, it’s surprising to see Capello tread down the same road and make the same mistake yet again of offering Beckham as the bait in a bid to turn around England’s fortunes. Especially since he didn’t even play in the World Cup because of that achilles injury and it doesn’t yet make sense to axe a player because of his age to put right the mistakes of those who actually were at fault.
Iron Fist
For some reason, his rigid attitude doesn’t work with some of our pampered football stars. Either drop them for those who are professional and patriotic enough to still play their hearts out; whether they get a smile from the manager or not, or mould your own attitude to get the best out of them anyway. Man-management is supposed to be Capello’s job which he doesn’t seem to be doing at the moment.
In fact it might be argued that dropping Beckham was the last thing needed at the moment, if not for anything else but his motivational skills among the rest of the lads which is propelled by the respect he has in the dressing room after thirteen years of service.
Closing the door on one of the few players we have who still looks as keen as ever to represent England is a bit of a daft move, and don’t be surprised if results go the other way and he comes back to the side as the missing link. He has done it before on numerous times and there isn’t much to suggest he won’t again.
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1 Comment – Postiwch sylw
neilramsden
Rhoddwyd sylw 21 mis yn ôl - 27th August 2010 - 19:46pm
Good article! To be honest though I think we need to be looking ahead, there are plenty of younger players who can fill in for Beckham, whether he plays on the right side or in the middle. I can see him maybe playing in the middle with Carrick or someone, but it looks like we might be starting to play with one up front and two wingers now, so I'm not sure there is room for Beckham even in the middle. Similarly I can't really see the use in talking up Scholes for England at the moment. In two years' time will they really be able to play? Better to start shaping a future team I would have thought.