Steve McClaren won’t be laughing

Yes, Steve McClaren is looking rather foolish these days. Even more foolish than the time he did a Gene Kelly when his English team was minging in the rain.

Even more foolish than the time he showed the world how good his grasp of the Dutch language was.

Thanks to supanovasky

No, it was almost four years ago that Steve McClaren banished David Beckham into the international wilderness, seemingly never to reach 100 caps or play at a major tournament again. This set Beckham’s career into a spiral where he fell out of favour with Fabio Capello at Real Madrid and seemed to be setting himself up for retiral in the world of US Soccer.
Wow – it shows how football is hard to predict.

McClaren guaranteed that no English players would be playing at a major tournament in 2008.

Capello relented and saw a Beckham inspired Real Madrid snatch La Liga…and the player was practically begged to postpone his Stateside jaunt.

And Beckham now stands on the brink of his first MLS title, back in favour with the national set-up and on 115 caps, ten away from the English record, held by Peter Shilton.

After disappointment, Beckham is determined to fully enjoy this World Cup and help England to glory.

Even if England triumph in South Africa, Beckham will be unable to beat Shilton’s record at that tournament but he is not ruling out playing on even further for England. A stint at AC Milan will ensure Beckham remains match-fit for the World Cup but he has already extended his MLS contract with the LA Galaxy.

In an interview with The Times, Beckham, when asked about what would happen if England triumphed and came so close to holding the record number of caps, stated;

“Even if that dream came true, I’d still make myself available to play for my country”

The role of Beckham is becoming marginalised but his ability to whip accurate cross balls into the box ensures he is a useful player to have in a squad. Pace and dribbling ability were never Beckham’s strong point so he hasn’t lost much there and no other English player has the ability to deliver telling crosses in the way that he can.

After McClarens axe in 2006, who would have thought Beckham would be looking to 2010 and beyond with so much vigour and optimism?

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