Poll: Should Beckham earn his 100th cap?

David Beckham received a standing ovation from some of his harshest critics on Sunday as he restated his desire to earn a 100th international cap against Switzerland next month.

As Matt Dickinson notes in his column in The Times, the unusually sentimental scribes at the Football Writers' Association dinner all seemed in agreement that Fabio Capello should select Goldenballs for his first match as England manager.

Are they right?

Did the LA Galaxy player prove on his recall to the England squad for their final Euro 2008 qualifiers that he remains his country's best right-sided midfielder? Perhaps Capello should satisfy the sympathetic urges of those who think Beckham should be rewarded for more than a decade of loyal service to his national team?

Or is it misguided to think that a 32-year-old can make a telling contribution to a squad that has no competitive fixture for nine months and will not contest a major finals for at least two years? And could you not also argue that training with the Arsenal reserve team is no preparation for international football - regardless of what Theo Walcott might suggest?

Maybe you think the debate is redundant and all that matters is that Capello picks the strongest squad. After all, the Italian would surely look weak-willed if he picked Beckham for one match only to discard him for the next.

Whatever you thoughts, we want to hear them via the online poll and comment box below.

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Comments

[Rus Lord]

Only interested in the money NOT in the sport. Many better players than Beckham received less than 100 caps, so why is he so important. I would never have picked him again after he let England down by senslessly kicking an opponent years ago. Rooney is the same (wrong temperament). Let Capello choose his own team but if he can pick Beckham then he should also start looking in the lower leagues for talent also because that is where Beckham is now playing.

[Sid James]

He hasn't been good enough for 5 or 6 years.
He'll be remembered as a very good player who,probably,didn't fulfill his potential.
Bye Bye.

[Keith Fletcher]

George Best was right. When asked about Beckham he said, "He never beats a defender, seldom tackles anyone, can't kick with his left foot, never heads the ball and doesn't score many goals. Other than that he not a bad player". Say no more !

[GEOFF HOLDEN]

David Beckham should be brought on as a sub for the last 20 minutes in the Switzerland game so he could gain his 100th cap as a token gesture for his service.Then he should be shipped back to the USA and should not be selected again for England.It is time to build for the future and forget the past.

[Bob Whiteoak]

Thank you for the article Martin, absolutely spot on. Capello needs to start building for 2010 now, get the bulk of the U21 squad onto the park and gel them into a team. It is important that he does that and picks a team, not just necessarily the best players.

[rob]

And before we get another one, please let's put this free-kick "expertise" myth to bed. He took simply tons of them over his career. 11 years, 99 games and he still hasn't managed ONE against a top nation, either in a friendly or when it mattered. France, germany, portugal, brazil, denmark, sweden, denmark, turkey, argentina, scotland, the list is simply endless of teams. he went for goal, sometimes several times when other options might have been more productive, and failed to score. To think this was his so-called "speciality" yet he delivered such a dire ratio from it and fluffed it so many times. Compare this to zidane of france who had 1 chance v england in euro 2004 in the final minute and buried it. He didnt need 8 "sighters" like beckham had verses greece back in 1865, his last "stand out" match in an england shirt. And this wasnt even what zidane "did", he had a multitude of other weapons up his sleeve and yet he was still in a different league to beckham at it.

Beckham is a one-man self-perpetuating myth making machine and people,the media,yes even the likes of me,are merely playing to his tune by making much more fuss over him than he is or was ever worthy of.To think we have a young player such as Rooney of genuine world level potential,on a different planet entirely talent-wise to beckham,yet we waste more breath on this 5 tournament flop of a celebrity figure.The jokes on us people.

[Disso]

Beckham has failed to perform on the field at every international tournament he has been to, France 1998 excepted where he suffered an alternative unhappy ending. On the plus side his hair has looked good each time.

The WAG circus, confusion of celebrity with footballing ability and delusions of grandeur (how often do we hear Gerrard, Crouch et al speak reverentially of the 'ability' and 'talent' within the team, having scraped past a nation few of us could pinpoint on a map of the world), owe a lot to Beckham and his leadership of the team. The latter seemed in the main to be self-serving. Beckham should only be picked if he is the best we have on the right, and most likely to be the best option in qualifying for the next WC. On past evidence I would look elsewhere.

[Jason Coray]

DB should have his deserved landmark of 100 caps. The man has been Englands finest servant over the last decade. He has a clean cut image, he is a dedicated family man and most importantly of all in relation to this discussion, he is still the best crosser of a ball from out wide that England have (not to mention free kicks).

On a more cynical note... The Football Assocaition cannot miss the opertunity to generate the finance that merchandise produced and sold on the back of an Englands finest servant reaching 100 caps.

Finally...Arise Sir David.

[Peter, London]

Peter Taylor managed England for what, one game, and with a headline-seeking flourish made David Beckham captain: remember how many laughed at that? When Eriksson took over he deferred, as an uncertain foreigner, to what media hype led him to believe was a native hero, with the player thereafter in a position to influence team selection and tactics and ensure a place for himself. Only years later (thanks to James Lawton of The Independent) did I learn that when England played overseas Beckham and his PR/marketing entourage stayed apart from the rest of the squad. Eriksson was a weak man, and Beckham has a sense of entitlement: what a cocktail.

Beckham serves Beckham, but is helped by the crasser football media headlining everything he does, is thinking of doing, has decided not to do. How many other footballers have wives? have young children? have a parent who has had a heart attack? He is indeed symptomatic of what has happened to football and the coverage that is now a media circus.

[JMR]

He most definitely should there! He has earned the right and should be there on merit! There is no player more passionate about playing for England and he has so much that he can teach younger players, integrity and resilience just to name 2 qualities that many younger players need to learn!

I would love to see him on the bench at lease right up until the end of the 2010 World Cup. I agree he "is sure to have an Indian summer"

[tal shanker]

I think Beckham will be there for the world cup in 2010. He will only be 34 then and is sure to have an indian summer.

Secondly, whilst he wont be playing top level football in the states, he will be fresher than his premiership counterparts, who will no doubt be exhausted and/or injured.

Finally, if you look at the options England currently have on the right i.e. SWP and Lennon, its prety much like for like. In a situation where you need something different, I wouldnt mind having Beckham on the bench.

[Bill]

In the short and medium term Beckham should, I think, be in the squad and on the bench. He can still deliver the best cross/corner/free-kick in the business and why would you not want that option on the bench? After England's next game that should be the position with no more ridiculous talk of him being an automatic first pick. But for the next game I'd play him from the start - just to get the whole bloody thing over and done with. If not, Beckham will be the story every time the squad assembles and he's in it - no change there then!!

[rob]

Im just glad im not David Bentley or any other young pretender to that right-hand side berth.How the hell do you compete against such a well-orchestrated mass campaign like Beckham and his people have launched this week to coincide with Capello arriving in england?Im sorry to say,little respect i had for our football journalists,is now non-existant if they really did "grace" beckham with a "standing ovation".Havent they and their obsession over such a fatally limited and flawed player embarrassed this once great football nation enough over the years?James lawton of the independent and your very own Hugh Mcilvanney are the only serious observeers of this game that continue to have some depth of knowledge and sense of reality over this figure.Beckham and his naffness is exactly what weve become as a nation with our "popstar" and "celebrity" cultural obsession over his time.He mirrored that in our sport perfectly while other serious nations had real players of quality to call upon.Its just,its just tiresome.when,when,WHEN will it finally all end?A 6th tournament falure from him?Please tell me im having another nightmare.Please.

[Rod Wilkinson]

Yes give DB his 100th cap - and make him Captain - he has given a lot for England - it wont have any mjor impact on thr future team selection by Capello - he has plenty of time before the 2010 world cup to get his team together.

[Tracy]

David Beckham should be selected for his 100th cap and many more thereafter - as long as he remains the best right sided midfielder we possess. There is no reason to think he won't still be the best we've got in 2010.

[Declan]

Beckham should not have got even near 99 caps. Sven and McClaren had more than enough evidence to leave him out permanently. Why should Capello start his reign with a token, populist decision? Be brave Fabio and start as you mean to go on - send him back to L.A.

[John]

Beckham is part of England's past, not the future. Capello (unfortunately) has time to blood the players that will be part of that future. Another cap for Beckham would just be a waste of an opportunity to let a younger player get valuable experience. Likewise, Gary Neville, David James, Sol Campbell to name but a few should also be omitted from any future squad and team.

[charles murchison]

DB should only win his 100th cap if Capello seriously thinks DB will be in his 2010-qualified World Cup squad, otherwise not. We wouldn't be having this debate had he not been suspended so often!