Capello will consider Beckham for England

Fabio Capello seems to have reconsidered his very public 'writing off' of David Beckham after telephoning him and speaking personally. His normal stance is not to talk directly with players, but made an exception in this case. His relationship with the players has been cited as a cause of unrest, and his detached air may be an issue for the future if not resolved, but equally, players should have respect for their manager and his methods.

Capello has said that if Beckham gets fit and is playing regular football, he will consider him for the squad even though his recent emphasis has been on youth in the squad. Although it sounds like a sound policy, I would reiterate my view that as an Englishman, I am not concerned with age so much as ability to win games. There is a place for youthful exuberance in the squad, there is also a place for experience, but most of all, there should always be space for talent regardless of any other boxes that are ticked or un-ticked.

Capello has written David Beckham off twice now, for Madrid and for England. He was proven wrong in excluding him from the Madrid team, and hopefully Beckham, will get a chance to prove him wrong again.

Will Beckham play again?

Despite Capello and Allegri writing off the career of David Beckham whilst he recovers from his ankle injury, training is progressing and we can be assured that Beckham will be looking to silence the critics as soon as possible if not sooner...
In the meantime, West Ham have apparently renewed their surely hopeless quest to bring Beckham back to the Premiership, and it is even less likely that Beckham would entertain an offer from the new owners of Blackburn Rovers who are equally keen to have him on their books...

The story from LA is that Beckham has resumed normal training with his Galaxy team-mates carrying out the same routines and drills as everyone else. Far from being completely out of rehabilitation, LA coach Bruce Arena has stated that it's too early to expect to see Beckham playing competitively in the next few weeks. Nevertheless, it is clear that Beckham will be keen to get back on the pitch and demonstrate his skills, it is equally clear that it will be in Galaxy colours rather than a Premiership or England national team strip.

Rather than accept retirement on Capellos terms, it is thought that Beckham could make the proposed game between LA Galaxy and Manchester United next Summer his final game on English soil. However, talk of retirement is not really on the agenda whilst David gets himself ready to turn out to help The Galaxy get to the play-offs again - right now, LA are in a commanding position 4 points clear of Real salt Lake at the top of the Western Conference league table.

Beckham 'too old' for England

Fabio Capello appeared to end David Beckhams long international career last night when questioned about his place in the new set-up. Keen to emphasise the new blood in the England squad, Capello was seen to be agreeing with the view that Beckham is too old to win his place back in the team.

Of course, the fact that Beckham is past his very best is not in question, but it seems to me that there are two observations to be made about the Capellos comments:

• With Beckham recovering from injury, not present at the press conference and obviously not informed in advance - this was not the time or place to publicly 'retire' the most capped outfield player that England has ever had. Capello still displays a lack of tact and diplomacy, an attitude that seems to have had a telling effect on the England squad of late.
• Age seems to have been Capellos prime criteria rather than ability, this implies that a younger less-talented or gifted individual would get the nod before Beckham simply because of his age. Maybe Capello thought that saying Beckham was old was kinder than saying he wasn't playing at his best, but to be fair, no-one knows how well Beckham is going to play when he has recovered from his injury - Capellos timing is atrocious when you consider the lengths Beckham will be prepared to go to in order to serve his team and country.

Capello survived World Cup failure, and frankly, I was glad to see him retain his position - whether he will survive treating Beckham like this is another matter...

England 2 Hungary 1

This new look England team, with a new formation started the game well retaining 100% possession for the first 5 minutes or so right from the kick-off. Yet the longer they went without scoring, the more anxious fans and players became.

However, in the first few minutes Rooney had the ball in the net shortly before realising he had been flagged for off-side. Other chances came for this team which included the likes of Walcott, Jagielka, Adam Johnson and Joe Hart in goal (none of whom played in the World Cup). Walcott was a revelation, skipping past players and even getting crosses in - one lovely cut-back saw Adam Johnson uncharacteristically fire over the bar from close range.

England played efficiently and dominated the first half, which finished 0-0, nevertheless the fans were not delighted...

The second half saw the introduction of more new blood in the form of Keiran Gibbs, Bobby Zamora, Ashley Young and Dawson. It was just 15 minutes into the half that saw Dawson make an error, going to ground and allowing Zoltan Gera space in front of goal. The resulting pass and shot was deflected towards the goal, Dawson came flying in to make amends by clearing the ball milliseconds before crossing the line, but the linesman had already flagged and the goal was given. England 1-0 down, it wasn't as blatant as Lampards effort against Germany, but now England have suffered through linesman error in two games on the trot...

This goal (as so often happened in the World Cup qualifiers) animated England, Milner came on for Rooney (no doubt an hour was the limit stipulated by Sir Alex..), and a few minutes later Gerrard found himself in a bit of space 25 yards from goal and struck the ball with venom into the left-hand corner, 1-1 and game on!

4 minutes later and Gerrard scored again, this time using exquisite skills in the box rather than brute force, forcing his way through defenders and poking the ball past the keeper to seal an England victory - Dependable Gerrard, a 30-year-old in a team of youngsters, stepping up when Rooney had left the field - what a night for the England captain.

All-in-all, a solid performance to settle the nerves, Adam Johnson will surely be scoring his first goal in an England shirt fairly soon, he had the chance to play both on the left, and on the right and looked good. Walcott looked good, Gibbs looked good, Gerrard was inspired, Zamora had a great chance in the closing minutes tipped over the bar, as did Adam Johnson. Hart stood up well to deny Gera a late equaliser for Hungary - the only question is whether Rooney is really in the right place mentally when he puts on the shirt in the current England line-up...

No more Milan games for Beckham

AC Milan coach Massimo Allegri has hinted that there will be no third stint at Milan for Beckham as Arsenal host Milan at the Emirates stadium and hold them to a 1-1 draw - Beckham and family watched the game from the stands. Allegri suggests Beckhams injury will be difficult to come back from, yet David is aiming to come back months before originally predicted.
Rumours have been circulating that West Ham were hoping to sign him, but the Beckham camp have moved swiftly to deny and state that Beckham is happy in LA.