Beckham....

[STFC_Gazza]

Jesus christ, do you want to bum him or something?

He was one of our better players in his day. now he isnt and wont really be missed.  I dont feel sorry for him. He's played in 3 world cups, won major trophys and is now worth a few hundred million.  I've nothing against him personally, but sympathy? fuck off. 

No he is not the player he was obviously. But you tell me a player apart from Becks (and maybe Rooney) who shows more passion about playing for his country and I will call you a liar.

[Colin Todd]

How does he show such passion?  He turns up, works fairly hard but so do most of them. Its not like he's nnever had a shit game for england is it?

Like i said I've no issue with him either as a footballer or a bloke and I'd have taken him to the world cup. But lets not delude ourselves that its a major problem, becuase its not. Its equvalent to losing Downing. Losing Rooney is a major problem.

My issue is the "cult of Beckham" worship is fucking gay

[pauld]

I think the key question here is whether Gazza will be going to the memorial service for Beckham's England career?

[Talk Talk]

He's going to be fine after all.

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/sport/sport-headlines/cruise-to-heal-beckham-with-dianetic-mind-poultice-201003152556/

[flammableBen]

I hope he dies.

[BANGKOK RED]

Gazza

No he is not the player he was obviously. But you tell me a player apart from Becks (and maybe Rooney) who shows more passion about playing for his country and I will call you a liar.

Gazza.

He is dead, get over it.

Or am I thinking of MJ?

[adje]

I dont think Cappello really rates him.Now he can pay him all the compliments he likes knowing he wont have to play him.Fucks sake he hasn't been a major influence on the pitch for England for about 6 years when he's started a game and definitely not as a sub for the last 10 minutes.Does anyone really think he has the ability to change a game against any decent international side?He's never delivered in a major tournament and wont be missed at all.Now we can take someone who can play for 90 minutes if necessary.Just hope something now happens to Gerrard,who should not be regarded as an automatic choice,so that Milner can start in the middle of the park.

[jonny72]

I love Beckham, the only non England / Swindon shirt I've got is a Real Madrid shirt with his name and number.

Sure he's past his best and wouldn't even be my first choice for England, but you can't fault him for his attitude, work rate, dedication, passion and all that shit. Just look at all the travelling and games he's been playing to try and keep his place in the England squad. Plus he was practically in tears when he went off at the last World Cup and when he quite the captaincy role - no other player cares anywhere near as much as he does.

I don't begrudge him all the recent subs appearances either, he'd of easily broken the England appearance record if it wasn't for injuries and that fucking twat McLaren. But I wouldn't write him off just yet, he'll be working his bollocks off to get fit again and get back in contention for the England team, even though its probably game over.

[iffy]

Beckham dropping out creates a space in the squad.

Owen Hargreaves played 45 minutes tonight....

[oxford_fan]

Just look at all the travelling and games he's been playing to try and keep his place in the England squad.

agree with the rest of your post but this part is completely his own decision. it shouldn't be regarded as a positive. having to travel and move on loan to get a decent standard of football doesn't show any extra detemination or commitment, it just proves that going to america was a complete balls up for any hopes of playing proper football and holding down his place in the national side.

[jonny72]

it just proves that going to america was a complete balls up for any hopes of playing proper football and holding down his place in the national side.

Except, if I remember correctly, when he signed up for Galaxy he'd been dropped from the England squad and dropped by Real Madrid with his contract up in the summer with no extension on the table. So there wasn't really a place in any team for him to hold on to - a bad decision in hindsight but it was forced on him to a degree.

[oxford_fan]

Plus he was practically in tears when he went off at the last World Cup and when he quite the captaincy role - no other player cares anywhere near as much as he does.

hmm not to pick bones but i'm not sure about this part either. i think its overdoing his sense of patriotism, and undermining the commitment of other england players. i bet rooney, gerrard, all of the others in the squad want to win for england just as much as you or i, or david beckham. they are all english and i don't think i buy into the argument that being a pro footballer in any way diminishes your sense of pride for your country, let alone your sense of pride when actually playing for your country.

don't get me wrong, i like beckham, but for me he's not done anything to deserve this tag of being head and shoulders above anyone else in terms of national pride, and a few tears from a man who admits he's easily prone to them, don't convince me otherwise.

[oxford_fan]

Except, if I remember correctly, when he signed up for Galaxy he'd been dropped from the England squad and dropped by Real Madrid with his contract up in the summer with no extension on the table. So there wasn't really a place in any team for him to hold on to - a bad decision in hindsight but it was forced on him to a degree.

surely it wasn't forced on him at all and he should have taken the opportunity to stay in europe, he could have hand picked from a host of top sides who were eager to have him

[Doore]

I find myself completely agreeing with OF on this.  While pride, passion and determination are positive, they should actually be the very minimum we expect from all of our players, so to be lauded for those attributes is quite shallow praise.  I don't think David Beckham has displayed a sense of national pride above any other player, but he has maybe been a bit cleverer than others in the PR department.

As for the Galaxy move, it wasn't forced upon him, but seems now to be a knee-jerk reaction to being dropped by England and Real Madrid, and a bit of the "celebrity/wife" thing chucked in.  He'd never admit it, but career wise I think he would do this differently - there would have been plenty of big clubs in Europe who would have offered him a lot of money to play for them.

I also stand by my previous comment - he would have had little to no impact on our World Cup campaign. 

[RobertT]

Why was moving to LA a mistake?  He's madea shit load of cash out of it, gets some sun and still managed to hold down a place in the England squad despite clearly being half the player he was - which is damning indictment of the real quality of wingers in this country right now (pacey but forgetting the art of delivery).  Fit, he'd still be in the squad.

I think he does care about playing for England, and no, that's not an amazing plaudit for an England player.  I do think most of the current squad don;t give a shit about it in the way he does and we want them to, Rooney aside.  Even Gerrard is based more on a desire to play well rather than giving that level of a shit.  The rest showed under McLaren that it was a job they do.  He may have been dour and tactically bereft, but he was probably at least expecting a few Terry Butchers or Stuart Pearce's to turn up from time to time.


Oh, and Beckham being out will not hurt us, we still probably won't get past the Quarter finals.