Carra the brat
So Jamie Carragher has retired from international football has he? Stop throwing your toys from the pram.
You’re not an international centre-half, so be it. But neither are you in a position to throw a big strop and retire from your country. Playing for England should be the pinnacle of anyone’s career (as long as they’re English, otherwise it makes no sense…). There should be a Roy of the Rovers feeling about it, wherever you play. If Carra isn’t good enough to displace Terry and Rio, then he should knuckle down and keep trying. I understand his frustration at being played out of position, but playing at all should be enough.
For the inept MacLaren, it should make his defensive decisions that bit easier. A fully fit King should now be third choice, with Woodgate filling in as required. And ex-Wolves superstar J-Lo should also warrant a squad place, especially given his aptitude at filling in at left-back, though I’m sure Steve will bottle it and select Dawson instead.
Hot for the press
As last rolls of the die go, bringing back the prodigal son, banished by your own ‘fair’ hand to appease a pack of baying hacks, is pretty desperate. The media maelstrom that is David Beckham waltzed back into the
England fold this week after nearly a year in the doldrums following his unceremonious cutting at the hands of Steve McClaren.
This troubles me in many ways. Beckham was obviously not dropped for footballing reasons – he’s not going to bring anything new to
England, other than those qualities we all know he already has. If they were not good enough a year ago, why are they good enough now? His form for Real Madrid has given McClaren an easy excuse, but in truth he’s been the most consistent of the Galacticos. So, then, he was dropped to distance McClaren from the Ericksson regime. Fair enough – there was a clamour for a sea change at the time, and the most obvious way to differentiate one slaphead from another would be to drop the captain, who was perceived to have that little amount too much power.
But now McClaren has crawled back to Becks the moment he’s in trouble. So, not only was Beckham dropped because of his name, he’s now being brought back because of it. McClaren neither has the balls to make his own decisions, nor to stick by them once their justification is shown for what it is – flawed.
The questions are simple:Ø Was Beckham dropped because he wasn’t the best right midfielder we had?Ø If so, why wasn’t he in the squad? Or wasn’t he the second- or third- best right midfielder we had?Ø If it wasn’t because of footballing reasons, then why has he been brought back?Ø Doesn’t his re-emergence undermine every reason for his departure?Ø Or is it simply that McClaren will do whatever the nation’s media pressure him to, rightly or wrongly?
At least Ericksson, Taylor, Hoddle, even Keegan, could make their own decisions, Steve…
