jimbo said:
If anyone thinks that a better right-sided player has come through since Beckham was dropped you must live on another planet quite frankly. Have you seen his performances for Real Madrid over the last couple of months. He's dragged Madrid up the table.
No one is saying that there is anyone better right now than Beckham, I think people would be foolish to argue that - begs the question why he was dropped really!
No, I think its about long term planning. You dont want to find yourself in a situation where you have ill-prepared players in a major tournament. You have to play player that aren't so good right now as the ones that are about to leave the squad - that's the same in alot of things in life, experience almost always makes you better.
In my mind, Beckham should have been part of that long term planning, by playing and gradually allowing other players to fit into the position in friendlies/2nd half of games, perhaps even doing a little coaching. I still don't understand why no sees him as a good holding midfielder considering his passing ability, lack of previous pace, and fairly good tackling ability (which, like most things his done in his career, he could improve upon).
As for the 'insult' remark, ok that was slightly tabloid, but if I was Bentley I'd feel agrived that McC didn't have the confidence in me to play me against the mighty Estonia.