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Get this Beckham!

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    Get this Beckham!

    No way back for Beckham - but Rooney's a fixture

    Paul Wilson
    Sunday October 1, 2006
    The Observer

    JERMAINE PENNANT is closer to a call-up on the England right wing than David Beckham, Steve McClaren has revealed. The England manager has been impressed with Pennant's recent displays for Liverpool and he fits the new criteria of being young, quick and willing to take on defenders, whereas Beckham remains yesterday's man. McClaren has neither seen Beckham nor spoken to him since the last England match.

    'I made my intentions clear from the beginning. I said I am looking to the future and I have not changed my mind,' McClaren said after announcing his squad for the games against Macedonia, on Saturday, and Croatia, a week on Wednesday. 'Steve Gerrard is doing a very good job on the right and, though Aaron Lennon is injured at the moment, we still have Shaun Wright-Phillips and Jermaine Pennant is playing well at Liverpool. He's not in the squad this time but I've been watching him and he's knocking very hard on the door.'

    That door now seems to be closed to Beckham, although McClaren is not officially saying so.

    One player for whom the door will always be open is Wayne Rooney, who has not been in his best form for Manchester United of late but who is regarded by McClaren as an automatic selection.

    'As long as he's fit he's in the team,' McClaren confirmed. 'He needs games, he's not been able to get into any rhythm through injuries and bans, but he's still a great player, someone capable of making a difference at any given moment.' Even so, McClaren was momentarily stumped when asked to name Rooney's last good performance for England. A long pause was followed by an uncertain: 'It's difficult to say.'

    But McClaren intends to keep picking him and trust that the old swagger will eventually return. 'He's still developing, and there are some aspects of his game he needs to control, but I wouldn't want to change anything about him,' McClaren said. 'He has to play like Wayne Rooney. All that competitiveness, the aggression and the will to win, I'd never want to take any of that from him. He's a world-class player and he must have the freedom to play. He's a fantastic player to work with, too. I've already told Terry Venables he's in for a treat when he joins up with the squad. He works hard, he wants to improve and he wants to be the best.'

    England hardly got the best out of Rooney by playing him as a lone striker in the World Cup and, while McClaren is far too diplomatic to admit that was a mistake, he is prepared to say he sees him differently. 'I think his best position is behind a striker, linking the play and being effective in the final third,' McClaren said. 'He's what I call a second striker, though in games he can turn up in different positions.'

    McClaren has distanced himself from the views expressed by his agent, Colin Gordon, on corruption within the English game, stressing that he had no idea Gordon was about to come out with such an outburst and that no discussions on the matter took place in advance. 'His views are his own and I have no further comment to make,' McClaren said, declining to say whether he was about to part company with an agent who, according to Middlesbrough, was banned by them for four years for touting his client to other clubs.

    The affair has embarrassed McClaren, although it also enabled him to issue another curt 'no comment' when asked whether, as a club manager, he had ever been offered a bung. 'I'm not even joining in with that debate,' he said.

    The England women's team qualified for next year's World Cup in China after their 1-1 draw away to France last night. They needed at least a point and, despite conceding a late equaliser, deservedly held on to win their group. They have played in the World Cup only once before, in 1995.

    ---------

    Nice one McClaren!!!

    #2
    I saw David Beckham wandering around in one of his old Man Utd shirts in Dunstable last week. He's let himself go a bit.

    Comment


      #3
      Alexei, do you fancy him or something?
      Vieze Oude Man

      Comment


        #4
        I guess there are always casualties when the management changes, and sports is no different.

        Although given how sh1t you English are at poof ball its surprising you arent calling up those old geezers from 66

        Mailman

        Comment


          #5
          With Stephen Gerrard, Aaron Lennon, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Jermaine Pennant now in front of him, he certainly has dropped down the becking order!

          Comment

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