Time for a new leader

John Brewin


England v Azerbaijan - another game for the national side totally overshadowed by David Beckham. This is, of course, a not uncommon phenomena. Memories of the build up to the World Cup of 2002 seem ever linked to the word 'metatarsal'. But at least at the end of all that particular hoo-ha, Beckham actually played a part in England's campaign.

This week's furore has surrounded the circumstances of the England captain missing the arduous trip to the furthest flung corner of the former Soviet bloc. It was a game he would have missed anyway after damaging ribs in a clash with Ben Thatcher in the 2-0 Saturday stroll over Wales at Old Trafford. And there should have ended the story.

But here Beckham's overwhelming self awareness and, for want of a less overused word, petulatance comes into play. Beckham, having already been treated by physio Gary Lewin, and with Owen Hargreaves waiting to replace him, charged Thatcher once more with clear intent and was handed a booking by the Norwegian referee, Terje Hauge.

It was a mindless incident which did much to scar the positive afternoon it had been for Beckham - he had played very well indeed in the second half and scored his first England goal in open play for over two years, a perfect dipping slide-rule chip into the top right-hand corner of the Welsh goal.

A positive side-effect from an England perspective was that Beckham's stupidity had the effect of wiping clean the skipper's disciplinary slate for next year's double-header with Northern Ireland. Time then to put it to rest and forget about it.

But here the Beckham circus rolled into town. Though this time its juggling act was balancing Beckham's great goal and improved performance against a display of hotheadedness unbecoming of a national captain and, in one Sunday paper, a report of alleged infidelity with a beauty therapist.

So front and back pages it was. Again. Denials of the affair, threats of legal action and damning exposes of the beauty therapist have followed in predictable fashion.

The following day, a number columnists decried Beckham's running battle with Thatcher. All of which, it seems, annoyed Beckham and, in response, he chose to claim that the second clash with Thatcher was a 'deliberate' action to win a second yellow, saying: 'I am sure some people think that I have not got the brains to be that clever, but I do have the brains.'

But it seems 'the brains' were not there to keep his mouth shut and risk disciplinary action for bringing the game into disrepute by lifting the lid on an underhand practice of gamesmanship.
Two years ago, former Manchester United team-mate Roy Keane received an additional nine-match ban for admitting malice and intent in a foul that had already seen him banned for three games.

And though Beckham's folly was nowhere near the outrage that Keane perpetrated, the 29-year-old's profile could yet mean that action is taken against him by a governing body. The dread presence of Sepp Blatter is circling already and he may yet be made an example of.

Nor could 'the brains' have been fully functioning when he chose to take on Thatcher for a second time when already injured. Beckham admitted to the Daily Telegraph's Henry Winter that he 'knew straight away I had broken my ribs. I have done it before. I knew I will be out for a few weeks, so I thought, 'Let's get the yellow card out of the way'.'

Charging another player with intent when already sporting broken ribs seems foolhardy to say the least. One wonders what the hierachy at Real Madrid made of a prized asset putting his health at risk in the pursuit of playing more games for his national team. Putting the health of another professional at risk by fouling him deliberately is hardly acceptable either.

And, with yellow cards regularly handed out for far less potentially bruising infringements like time-wasting and kicking the ball away when an opponent has a free-kick, 'the brains' were hardly functioning at the level of a cunning pragmatist.

Nor could admitting to bending the rules when being England captain be said to be an intelligent move. Beckham has long made much of his status as role model - and could hardly be said to be following the examples of whiter than white knights like Billy Wright, Bobby Moore and Gary Lineker in admitting foul play.

But 'the brains' could well end up with credit for one thing; the scandal over his clash with Thatcher is now adorning tabloid front covers while the beauty therapist has receded to the inner pages. Can his latest pronouncement, for him uncharacteristically controversial, have been spouted as a means by which to direct attention away from exposes of his bedroom techniques and body grooming habits?

If there's one thing that Beckham, his wife and entourage have become good at in the last six or seven years it's playing the media. The last thing they want is another alleged Beckham bedroom conquest developing a media profile.

The last one is currently adorning British screens in a reality show. Rebecca Loos' latest front page appearance came after she had masturbated a boar on Five's 'The Farm', all of which must be highly embarrassing for the Beckhams.

Beckham's influence as a player has diminished in such a way that he has perhaps become better at the fame game than the football game.

It would have been unthinkable just three years ago that Manchester United would have cashed him in such a vital player in both merchandising and footballing terms yet Sir Alex Ferguson finally became fed up of the constant attention to Beckham's off-field affairs rather than his deeds on the pitch, which in his last season at United, were having a far less positive influence on the team's fortunes.

His storming start to his Real Madrid career has faded as the short-sightedness of the galacticos approach became clear to all and his shortcomings as a central midfielder became exposed. And for England, the talismanic figure that swept England to the Far East with that free-kick against Greece in 2001 looks to be a hero of days gone by.

Euro 2004 saw him play as pallidly as he had at the World Cup, with recovery from serious injury no longer an excuse. The explanation used by an increasingly defensive Beckham was excessive weight training and, more tellingly, that for the first time off-field matters had affected his performances.

A brave manager may well have taken the decision to hand the armband to another player to either provoke a positive reaction or even take the pressure off a struggling talent.

But Eriksson is not that manager - he operates his own galactico approach in never dropping star names - take the example of an experiment of a three-man strike force against the Welsh.

His lack of decisiveness may have paid off this time - largely thanks to the adaptability of Wayne Rooney, the young man who has superceded Beckham as the talisman - but the formation adopted seemed almost custom-made for the suffering Michael Owen while also avoiding the dropping of Jermain Defoe after his match-winning performance in Poland.

However, even Eriksson seems on the edge of addressing a point of increasing debate after promising to discuss the Thatcher affair with his captain after the return from Baku. And while considering what action he may take, there may be greater issues to consider other than an indiscreet admission of guilt.

Beckham's influence on the England dressing-room is on the wane. It was Gary Neville who was credited with lifting spirits after the heartbreak of losing to France at Euro 2004. Beckham previously inspired by being the best player - now Rooney is the man. His Saturday showing silenced the calls for Shaun Wright-Phillips for the moment but the City right-winger has youth on his side.

Rumours of resentment of preferential treatment for Beckham and his wife at England training camps are rife as are tales of undue influence on team selection.

The absence of the current captain, for either one game or the additional ban he may receive for his admission of gamesmanship, could have given Eriksson the chance to roadtest his next long term onfield leader.

Owen's candidacy should be disregarded despite his leading of the team in Azerbaijan - he should no longer be guaranteed a place and striker captains rarely succeed - a lesson that should have been learned from the failings of Alan Shearer as an inspiring figure.

That leaves four other candidates. Sol Campbell is a first-choice defender though perhaps a little quiet and Gary Neville is similarly a fixture yet his clashes with the media may create problems. Steven Gerrard has grown into an inspirational captain for his club though injuries have hindered his England career.

The fourth? None other than Rio Ferdinand, back from his ban and looking back to his imperious best for his club, and on the evidence of John Hartson's Saturday no-show, his country too.

He seems to be the dauphin to Roy Keane at Manchester United judging on the recent Champions League game with Fenerbahce in which the Londoner was given the armband ahead of regular stand-ins Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville.

And one man who seems to share Ferguson's opinion of Ferdinand is none other than Sven Goran Eriksson who last week said: 'I'm sure that Rio Ferdinand is a leader. He talks and that is always important.'

And maybe David Beckham would do well to heed the Swede's further comments on the subject: 'A captain must be a player who the others are prepared to listen to. If they're not, then everything is wrong. He must be a team player, not someone who always thinks about himself.'

Issue an apology as he might have done in an attempt to end the affair, Beckham cannot be said to have fulfilled his own coach's criteria for a suitable captain.