Beckham wows New Zealand

At a training session today, 15,000 youngsters came to see David Beckham in action prior to tomorrows match against the Wellington Phoenix. The excitable crowd cheered, chanted and celebrated the presence of the global soccer superstar.
Beckham is creating a major Kiwi stir, and there is no doubt that the few remaining tickets for tomorrow's exhibition match will be quickly snapped up.
LA Galaxy v Wellington is guaranteed to be sold out, let's hope they get to see another good Beckham performance, but more importantly that he manages to stay injury free.

Sydney 5 LA Galaxy 3

Monday

Over 80,000 attended the game ( a record for club football in Australia) and Beckham gave them what they all came to see. His trade mark free kick bent into the top corner just before the first half ended. This however after Sydney had already netted three times. Things could have gone badly for Beckham after a bad tackle had an effect on the same ankle he had trouble with earlier in the year. Seemingly, he was able to recover sufficiently to score Galaxy's first goal and continue, even getting booked himself for a deliberate foul just after the hour mark.

Apparently about 20,000 Galaxy shirts (no doubt a good number of those with 'Beckham' emblazened on the back) were sold, and the crowd went away happy. The Galaxy and their captain will catch a plane to New Zealand next to take on Wellington Phoenix on Saturday.

Raring to go...

Beckham is keen to show that he is ready to play a full 90 minutes of football tomorrow against Sydney. In his own words, there are no England games on the horizon and the MLS season is over, so there is no reason for fitness to be spared. Contractually Beckham must play 55 minutes (such is the position he finds himself in nowadays!), but he evidently feels that he is good for a full match and is keen to show that he is up for the challenge. It's difficult to recall exactly when he last spent 90 minutes on a football pitch, but lets see if he can stay the course tomorrow...

England Mourns

David Beckham took part in the final Parkinson TV show on Thursday and explained that England should be celebrating, but sadly were in mourning following the failure to qualify for Euro 2008.

Despite acknowledging that England has the players and support (omitted to mention the coaching staff...) to really go places, somehow we find ourselves reflecting on what went wrong.

Michael Parkinson says he hand-picked the guests from amongst the thousands of celebrities he has interviewed over the years.

England manager latest

More people who don't want to manage the England team:

Alan Curbishley (West Ham) says he is happy where he is and is not interested in the job this time, not surprising since he was publicly snubbed last time...

Arsene Wenger (Arsenal) says he would be interested if he were English. Wenger would no doubt be a popular choice amongst England fans, but why on earth would he give up the Arsenal job, to find himself as another failed England manager in two years time...??

Franz Beckenbauer has suggested that Jurgen Klinsmann is the man for the job. He has a history at Tottenham of course, but apparently is not prepared to uproot himself from his home in California.

There are reports that players Terry and Gerrard will be canvassed by the FA for their opinion about who should manage the team. This proposal flies in the face of Roy Keane's view that ego's amongst the playing staff are at the route of the problems. He didn't suggest that Gerrard or Terry were the one's with the inflated ego's, but you have to question making the precedent giving this type of power to players who have failed to produce the results.

Who would be an England Manager?

Several new hopefuls have emerged as prospective England Managers, some it should be said, may be using the opportunity to wangle a new paydeal from their current employers (Surely not...!).
The latest crop include Rafa Benitez (hoping for new pay deal at Liverpool.....), Steve Coppell (Reading) who says he has attracted speculation simply because he is English, and Harry Redknapp (Portsmouth) who has said that he doesn't really expect to be asked....
Martin O'Neill may be reluctant to apply since he was turned down before by the FA, Mourinho says he doesn't want the job, but is still favourite with many....
Sam Allerdyce (Newcastle) was interested when he was working at Wigan and his bosses were 'happy' for him to apply, but this time around, he says his loyalty is with his new club and new contract.
So, far lot's of people saying that it won't be them... let's hope the smoke clears soon, and the speculation is ended with a swift appointment.

Steve McClaren sacked

The FA have today sacked Steve McClaren from his job as England coach following the failure of the England team to qualify for Euro 2008. There was not much doubt that this would be inevitable, and there was no guarantee that McClaren's position would heve remained tenable even if the team had qualified.
The search for a new manager can now go public. So far I have seen speculation about Fabio Capello (former Real Madrid coach) and Martin O'Niell (Aston Villa). Hopefully this issue will be resolved swiftly so that England can rebuild in time for the next world cup. There is also some speculation that out-of-work Jose Mourinho could be in line for the job, which would be a bold choice indeed!!
Watch this space for developing news and speculation on how this will effect David Beckham and the England team.

England fail to qualify

Despite the best efforts of Beckham who joined the game for the second half when England were already 2 - 0 down, England fail to make two additional goals count as Croatia knock them out with a third. Final score England 2 Croatia 3 - the side were blatantly missing that vital spark when a Scott Carson error allowed Croatia to go ahead in the seventh minute.

Still reeling from the shock, the defence step out, but not sufficiently to stop Croatia popping a second past a stranded Carson in the 14th minute. From then on England had all the possession but very few creative ideas.

A dejected team left the field at half time to be bolstered by Defoe and Beckham in the second half. A penalty got England back into the game, well taken by Lampard. The inevitable Beckham cross and Crouch finish took England to 2 - 2 with all to play for. Agonisingly the third wouldn't come until the Croatia substitute striker scored a wonder goal burying England hopes in the mud of Wembley.Will we see more of Beckham in an England shirt now he has reached 99 caps? On tonight's performance I have to say Yes... His impact on the second half was undeniable, he gives hope to the team every time there is a free kick and corner. Hope and positivity which was sadly missing when he was not on the pitch in the first half.

Beckham won't start at Wembley

Tonight's vital Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia will start without David Beckham according to the latest rumours. Shaun Wright-Phillips is tipped to replace Beckham in the starting line-up. Steve McClarens bold decision will hopefully pay off otherwise it may be one of the last bold decisions he will be making as the England Manager. Already the stories are emerging of who is likely the replace him, and these aren't just idle speculation.
Wright-Phillips on the one side with Joe Cole on the other may just provide an injection of pace to catch out Croatia, but unless either player can get some telling crosses in, England may not be making the best use of the ultra-tall Peter Crouch.

England v Croatia

This is the big one then, the last chance for England to qualify for Euro 2008. Croatia are certain of a place, but the pressure is now on Russia who need England to fail in order to qualify, assuming they can overcome Andorra.
A minimum of a point is required for tomorrow's game at Wembley, and this time Steve McClaren is not giving any clues as to who will be in the starting eleven.
I am fairly certain that Beckham will play at least a hour, with the possibility of Wright-Phillips replacing him in the latter stages if things are comfortable or if Beckham is tiring. I would hope to see Gerrard and Barry start the game with Lampard kept in reserve in case of early injury. It looks like big Peter Crouch in the lone-role up front which should give the Croatia defenders something to think about, complemented with the pace and skills of Joe Cole and the whipped crosses from Beckham. McClaren will be hoping that this is enough to keep the lid on a Croatia team that have the potential to burst the England bubble...
At the back will be an admittedly make-shift combination built around Micah Richards, Sol Campbell and maybe Wes Brown.
The good news is that Croatia are not under pressure to win, the bad news is that Croatia are not under pressure to win!
C'mon Andorra!!!

Israel 2 Russia 1

Hope springs eternal for England's chances of qualifying for Euro 2008 and Beckham's chances of reaching the target of 100 England caps. Israel go ahead as Russia start nervously, Russia pull themselves together, score the equaliser and begin to stamp their authority on the game, only to lose out to a second Israeli goal leaving them 2 points behind England in the group. With one more match to play, assuming Russia will beat Andorra, England need 1 point minimum from Wednesdays game against Croatia. England's fate is firmly back in their own hands - remember Beckham's last gasp goal against Greece which qualified us for the European Championships? Something along those lines is definitely on the cards.... Many thanks to the Israeli team for their efforts!

Austria 0 England 1

Well, the plan didn't really go according to script tonight, England win but were far from convincing against fairly ineffective opposition.
Beckham played his part by providing the cross from a corner for a Peter Crouch headed goal (I predicted something along those lines at least), but the team as a whole did not really get their teeth into the game and stamp their authority. Worse, Michael Owen is injured and will not play on Wednesday. McClaren will be heavily criticised for the injury to Owen, but his future (if it is not already decided) hangs on how the Israel v Russia and Croatia v Macedonia games go tomorrow.
As predicted, Barry got a run-out in the second half, leading to speculation that he and Gerard (also played 45mins) will start on Wednesday. Defoe looked sharp as a replacement for Owen and may start up front with Crouch. We saw Ashley Young make a good start with Alan Smith coming off the bench and Bentley joining him.
Beckham played about an hour, which was expected in light of the game on Wednesday, everything points to Beckham starting on Wednesday, with the possibility of Wright-Phillips replacing him later in the game.