Viewing Thread:
"Should David Beckham be dropped?"

Everybody has down-days yes. Down-years though? I know Beckham had an "ok" game last night, but lets face it, it was against Azerbaijan. Do you think he should be dropped from the England first-team and stripped of the captaincy?

Beckham has done jack for England (and I guess to an extent his club team) since "the" qualifying game against Greece.

I admire him for the way he flipped being a public hate figure around to being the most loved footballer in the country, from being a petulant child on the pitch to being a man and leading by example. However, saying that Beckham still deserves to be in the side at this moment in time just because of his past achievements is poppycock.

Yes, David Beckham does have a killer cross on him. Or at least he did.
Yes, David Beckham can whip in a brilliant dead-ball. Or at least he could.

Why was Beckham excelling in these areas? Practice. What happens when you get less practice? You lose your talent (or it diminishes at least).

When Beckham moved to Real Madrid that was the start of the end of his brilliance. He was switched into the centre or midfield because of the range of his passing. Fair enough. You tell me though, how often would you see a central midfielder getting to the final third of the field and whipping in a killer cross for a team-mate arriving in the box?

Beckham was known for his great engine too, the fact that he gave his all for England, leading by example, chasing balls down and getting in the thick of the action. Even players with limited skill (take Kevin Kilbane at Everton for example) who play in this kind of way are revered by the fans because they sense the importance of a win and the show of determination makes people happy. On far too few occasions though Beckham has drifted through a game, relying on his past achievements and knowing that no matter how badly he plays he will still start the next international match. Is it because he is irreplaceable? Is it because we don't have anyone up to his standard to play on the right wing? Is it because everyone looks at Beckham when they're on the pitch and thinks "he's showing me how I should be playing"? OR is it because Beckham is the captain, the most famous English footballer, the "nice guy", the money-maker andthe face of English Football all over the world?

How many times have you seen asians walking to an England game wearing England shirts bearing the Beckham name? Now flip that and ask how many England fans are likely to get "Beckham" on the back of their shirts as opposed to the likes of Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Owen... Terry?

If any one of the first four in htat list were injured, do you think they would be missed as much as Beckham? I know I certainly do.

Beckham living on his past glories is like somebody saying that Manchester United should bring back George Best because once.. back in the day, he was a superstar. Its like somebody paying 25m for Thuram, who is clearly not the player he once was.

Beckham has a good passing range, yes this is true.
Does he have a good eye for goal? His record suggests no.
Can he tackle well? See for yourself and you will realise its not one of his strong points.
Can he head a ball?
Does he have electric pace to take him past a full-back?
Does he have the strength and power to rely on when he's too tired to use his "pace"?
Can he dribble through 2 players to deliver a pass to a team-mate or a shot on goal?

The fact remains that if we started playing Michael Owen or Shaun Wright-Phillips or Frank Lampard or (Goodness help me) Keiron Dyer on the wing they would probably do as good a job as Beckham right now. Beckham has no competition for his place as its cemented. We've only just recently seen him being substituted during games - before say the last 4 games he was probably guaranteed to finish the 90mins whereas someone like Rooney I don't think has managed to complete one 90-minute match for England yet.

Familiarity breeds contempt they say, but I would still rather have Gary Neville as England right-back because he does his job perfectly and the greatest compliment you can say is that you hardly ever notice him when he's playing.

Beckham however, is another matter altogether.

T

I'll dominate you with any team you choose, know this.

Well if you will cheat, then you have to accept the consequences.

Luizao hasn't played for ages. By this I mean he was in Pro Evo 3 but not in Pro Evo 4.

He was a rock in PES3. I miss him, I have to play Edmilson in 4.

Stryke wrote:
> I take it Luizo is Lucio, yes?

Luizao is a defender in the Brazil team as well as Lucio, so he could easily have been referring to either.

I'm betting he was meaning Lucio, though. Just with a pisspoor attempt at spelling his name.

I reckon this a good theory. The Spanish F.A. must have been up to the same thing with Nunez, only he accidentally ended up in England.

I'm sure he's an employee of the FA put there so all the kids don't give up hope of one day making it to the premiership

*If Emile can do it, then i can to!!!*

He doesn't like scoring goals, our Emile. He's such a shy boy and people start shouting his name when he scores goals. He's much happier sitting on the grass and fantacising about being an accountant if mummy hadn't made him play football.

SnoopDogg wrote:
> Heskey isn't a bad player. He gets bad publicity because he doesn't
> score and he doesn't often

I know i can't see what the fuss is all about, it's not like he's a striker and that's what he's meant to do ........ oh

SnoopDogg wrote:
> I think Beckham is still a good player , not as good as he used to be
> but is still a worthy member of the team. Owen is the player we need
> to concentrate on.

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This starts off an awful post. You're so very wrong.

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>
>
> I'm discusted to have Downing on our squad. THIS IS INTERNATIONAL
> FOOTBALL!!! Here are some of Brazil, the current World Champions best
> players: Ronaldo, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Adriano, Dida, Edilson,Luizo,
> gilberto silva...I could go on.

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I take it Luizo is Lucio, yes? You shouldn't type with a pencil you're holding in your mouth.

Downing is awesome, one of the most outstanding Premiership players this year. Whereas Gilberto Silva has sat on his todd and moaned about his back while playing Connect 4 with Aliadiere.

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>
> Then you compare them to Paul Robinson,A.Cole, Frank Lampard, Joe
> Cole,Beckham and Owen. I only hope to God that we will play well
> during the 2006 World Cup because this team doesn't look up to it...

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They're all word class players! Whereas Edmilson, whom you quote as a world class Brazil member, is an awful awful defender.

I have no choice but to regard this post as a joke. I mean, come on, no-one who has even watched a single game of football could have opinions like this.

"i wish we had edmilson were stuck wiv lampard"

Ant wrote:
>> I'm a Liverpool fan, and I think Heskey rocks. :D

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Yes, but you also like Kewell and I reckon your shirt next season will have Nunez 18 on it :)