Beckham Resigns as England's Captain

Aquos76

Breaking news on SSN now. Live Press Conference.

Huggles

Ah poor bloke is bawling

Necronomicon

Yeah just watching it now.

mike65

Just heard it, thats saved McClaren a tricky job he may have bottled. Gerrard or Terry please!

Mike.

Huggles

mike65 wrote:

Just heard it, thats saved McClaren a tricky job he may have bottled. Gerrard or Terry please!

Mike.

think it will be Terry after he was asked to give the 'rousing' speech before teh Portugal game.

Two very worthy candidates though.

Lex Luthor

He's resigning for 2 reasons...

#1: He was gonna get the boot from McClaren anyway and couldn't face the humiliation

#2: Anything for a bit of publicity from Beckham

He's a complete moron...

mike65

I sent this e-mail to fivelive last night (which they read out)

Hi

We will only know if McClaren is made of the right stuff and not a Sven "Mini-Me" when he strips Beckham of the captaincy,
awards it to Gerrard or Terry and tells Goldenballs he has to be happy on the bench.

Mike.

Necronomicon

Good one! It's all hypothetical now, but it would've been interesting to see if McLaren would have taken the captaincy off him.

sprinkles

Lex Luthor wrote:

He's resigning for 2 reasons...

#1: He was gonna get the boot from McClaren anyway and couldn't face the humiliation

#2: Anything for a bit of publicity from Beckham

He's a complete moron...

I don't think he did it for the attention. I think he did it to save face. Moron's a bit harsh

ronbyrne2005

I think he faked that injury as the media pressure was getting to him and he knew he couldnt get them to the semi's

mike65

Ah the conspiracy theories already!

Mike.

zAbbo

He's been great, and calling him a moron is an absolute insult.

This wasn't the way it should have been, The debate on should he have been dropped is mainly down to the no-show from two of the supposed best players in the world. Fact is Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard were lacklustre and had an awful world cup.

Imagine if Gerrard and Lampard were playing to the best of their ability, Beckham wouldn't have had to take the brunt of critisism of the midfield.

He scored one, and set up 2 more.

His form at the start of the season for Real Madrid was amazing, he carried the whole team, at a time when ZiZou couldn't string a pass 5 yards.

I'm not a Beckham fan, but to come on here and call him a moron says a lot about the intellect of some of the posters here.

The man was choking up cause he see's Englands failure as his own, He's scored in 3 successive World Cups, single handedly took England to the WC2002, and captained them for 50 odd games, which was his boyhood dream.

I'd make Rooney, John Terry or Gary Neville captain, someone with some passion. Not a chance for Gerrard or Lampard

mike65

Rooney????????? You were doing well until that point!

Mike.

Anam

Has to be Terry imo.

Rollo Tamasi

Theo Walcott for captain, i wonder when will be the next time he's called up actually.....

Superdub2

Necromomicon wrote:

Good one! It's all hypothetical now, but it would've been interesting to see if McLaren would have taken the captaincy off him.

absolutely would never have happened, hasnt got the balls in my opinion

and Zabbo suggesting Wayne Rooney would be a good captain?? while undoubtedly one of their best players he is not captain material and i think Terry shud get it but i also dont think he has not had a great world cup and that maybe his place at the heart of the defence isnt cast instone

zAbbo

You've to pick someone who is a first name on the team sheet.

Maybe it's too soon for Rooney, but he will eventually become club and country captain.

Terry didnt have a great world cup, but there's no denying his leadership and passion.

casanova_kid

Beckham's captain was a joke from the very beginning. I can't really think of one time when he really inspired England to a performance. Look at the performance of Zidane yesterday or Ballack on Friday and that's what a captaion should do.
Terry is the obvious replacement.

Attractive Nun

Has to be Terry in reality. Of the guaranteed starters, Rooney is too young and temperamental, Neville is too old, and no one else really has the passion that should be associated with a captain. Gerrard would be the other obvious candidate, but he's never really done it for England so I think Terry is your best bet. Fair play Beckham for stepping down, although it was only a matter of time.

MisterAnarchy

zabbo wrote:

His form at the start of the season for Real Madrid was amazing, he carried the whole team, at a time when ZiZou couldn't string a pass 5 yards.

He single handedly took England to the WC2002

You are talking waffle.
Beckhams form has been very patchy for Real this season,he had a good spell of a few months but after that he has been very poor.
To say he carried the whole team is tantamount to insanity.
Likewise for him single handedly taking England to WC 2002.
He scored a free kick ,one of about 10 he took that day.
If he hadnt scored England would still have been in a play off.

casanova_kid

There is the option of making Gerrard the captain, giving him a free role and building the team around him, like they do at liverpool, but I doubt that McClaren would be inventive enough for that.

el rabitos

what a shock, terry and lampard have a bad world cup and makelle is in the semi final " :eek: "

theres only one man that should be captain, he's young, scores goals, is a leader, and is already captain of a big club. i'll give u a hint, it rhymes with lampard.

Vokes

zabbo wrote:

He's been great, and calling him a moron is an absolute insult.

This wasn't the way it should have been, The debate on should he have been dropped is mainly down to the no-show from two of the supposed best players in the world. Fact is Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard were lacklustre and had an awful world cup.

Imagine if Gerrard and Lampard were playing to the best of their ability, Beckham wouldn't have had to take the brunt of critisism of the midfield.

He scored one, and set up 2 more.

His form at the start of the season for Real Madrid was amazing, he carried the whole team, at a time when ZiZou couldn't string a pass 5 yards.

I'm not a Beckham fan, but to come on here and call him a moron says a lot about the intellect of some of the posters here.

The man was choking up cause he see's Englands failure as his own, He's scored in 3 successive World Cups, single handedly took England to the WC2002, and captained them for 50 odd games, which was his boyhood dream.

I'd make Rooney, John Terry or Gary Neville captain, someone with some passion. Not a chance for Gerrard or Lampard

Well said zabbo.


Anyways, I reckon there's a good chance Beckham will keep his place under McLaren.

Lex Luthor

zabbo wrote:

He's been great, and calling him a moron is an absolute insult.

This wasn't the way it should have been, The debate on should he have been dropped is mainly down to the no-show from two of the supposed best players in the world. Fact is Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard were lacklustre and had an awful world cup.

Imagine if Gerrard and Lampard were playing to the best of their ability, Beckham wouldn't have had to take the brunt of critisism of the midfield.

He scored one, and set up 2 more.

His form at the start of the season for Real Madrid was amazing, he carried the whole team, at a time when ZiZou couldn't string a pass 5 yards.

I'm not a Beckham fan, but to come on here and call him a moron says a lot about the intellect of some of the posters here.

The man was choking up cause he see's Englands failure as his own, He's scored in 3 successive World Cups, single handedly took England to the WC2002, and captained them for 50 odd games, which was his boyhood dream.

I'd make Rooney, John Terry or Gary Neville captain, someone with some passion. Not a chance for Gerrard or Lampard

I agree that Lampard & Gerrard had a terrible WC, but Beckham has to be always in the spotlight. He craves attention and at the end of the day, he has to announce this in front of the media when he could have done it in private. He is not captain material....the band should go to Terry, full stop. I'm a Gerrard fan but he's not England captain material either.

I didn't see the full press conference....what were his reasons?

No doubt he has to spend more time promoting his after shave that england captain would have got in the way.....;)

therecklessone

MisterAnarchy wrote:

Likewise for him single handedly taking England to WC 2002.
He scored a free kick ,one of about 10 he took that day.
If he hadnt scored England would still have been in a play off.

Close enough, he'd taken seven before the goal and none had caued the Greek keeper significant trouble. Took the ball from Sheringham's hands as well (Teddy wanted to take it).

Gangsta

Ah he was a rubbish captain, I never saw him inspire anything into those headless chickens.

A little off topic but does anyone think McClaren will the exact same as Sven??

PHB

Lampard or Gerrard being captain is a joke, first off Lampard isn't the chelsea captain, Terry is.
Secondly, I firmly believe Carragher would be Liverpool captain if Liverpool weren't desperate to keep Gerrard.

For me, England captains,
Ashley Cole, leads by example, determined, and is possibly, probably, the best player in the world at his position.
Carragher for me would be a great captain, should be playing ahead of Terry.


But for me, the best option is,
Neville for 2 more years until after the Euros.
Rooney takes over after then, he'll probably be United's captain by then anyway.

Chucky the tree

Where the hell are people getting rooney from? I hgave never seen him encourage his players, never seen him rally the team or give talk in a huddle.

All he does is shout abuse at his team mates when they get a pass to him wrong. I think he'd be a brutal captian.


Edit: ashley cole would be even worse. He doesnt seem to have any passion at all. All he cares about is his paycheck and celebratity lifestyle.

Rikand

Chucky the tree wrote:

Where the hell are people getting rooney from? I hgave never seen him encourage his players, never seen him rally the team or give talk in a huddle.

All he does is shout abuse at his team mates when they get a pass to him wrong. I think he'd be a brutal captian.


Edit: ashley cole would be even worse. He doesnt seem to have any passion at all. All he cares about is his paycheck and celebratity lifestyle.

Not to mention Rooneys temperment. You cannot even possibly think of giving him a captaincy until he sorts that out and who knows when that will be!

PHB

I hgave never seen him encourage his players, never seen him rally the team or give talk in a huddle.

I think you should watch United, not only does he lead by example, he leads on the pitch. He is a natural leader, and I will wager any amount of money on him being England captain by the time he is 25.

As for these comments,

All he does is shout abuse at his team mates when they get a pass to him wrong.

Not to mention Rooneys temperment. You cannot even possibly think of giving him a captaincy until he sorts that out and who knows when that will be!

Two words: Roy Keane

Lemlin

PHB wrote:

Carragher for me would be a great captain, should be playing ahead of Terry.

And what of Ferdinand? Most people, myself included, would think you should have Rio at the end of that sentence and not John Terry.

Two words: Roy Keane

Keane was mature though. Rooney isn't. People just talk about Rooney because he is England's best player. That doesn't make him a good captain though.

PHB

Most people, myself included, would think you should have Rio at the end of that sentence and not John Terry.

Perhaps they should look at Terry's preformances at this World Cup, or for England as a whole. For Chelsea, he has Makelele, for England, he has nobody, and is not the player he is for Chelsea.

Lemlin

PHB wrote:

Perhaps they should look at Terry's preformances at this World Cup, or for England as a whole. For Chelsea, he has Makelele, for England, he has nobody, and is not the player he is for Chelsea.

And perhaps you should watch the clearances he made off the line. At least two I think.

Are you talking about John Terry or Lampard here? Because if we were talking about Lampard I'm sure you'd be using the same excuse. Can the entire Chelsea team not function without Makele then? They did alright this year when he was injured for a while.

I wouldn't play as well for England if I was Terry either TBH. At Chelsea, I'd have Carvalho or Gallas beside me, for England he has Rio

Terry is a top class defender. England's best. And you'll find few who'll say different.

PHB

Ah circular arugements, clever.

And you'll find few who'll say different.

Pre-WC you were right, but people are slowly changing their tune. See Ivan Helguera

samb

Beckham should not have been captain and his captaincy probably caused huge resentment and frustration within the squad. It also made it difficult for Sven to substitute him when Lennon clearly posed more of a threat at times. Beckham has no leadership qualities and I believe his captaincy + no thought out plan prevented an excellent squad from seriously challenging for the world cup.
But who is to blame?
I think that Beckham is not to blame. From the start he was a poor choice for captaincy but it would have been difficult for him to admit this to others and even himself, so he tried and the longer he was captain the more pressure there was on him (which I think he suffered under instead of thriving like Gerard and Terry do). He had an execllent season with Real Madrid and can contribute greatly to a team, I just think that he could not handle to pressure and therefore played badly for England. When England play again, I bet Beckham will play much better without being captain.
The blaim is Sven's alone IMO, he was clueless at man managment, tactics.

I think Beckham has bravely made the decision that he has regreted not making much earlier.

sprinkles

PHB wrote:

Lampard or Gerrard being captain is a joke, first off Lampard isn't the chelsea captain, Terry is.
Secondly, I firmly believe Carragher would be Liverpool captain if Liverpool weren't desperate to keep Gerrard.

For me, England captains,
Ashley Cole, leads by example, determined, and is possibly, probably, the best player in the world at his position.
Carragher for me would be a great captain, should be playing ahead of Terry.


But for me, the best option is,
Neville for 2 more years until after the Euros.
Rooney takes over after then, he'll probably be United's captain by then anyway.

Disagree.

Using your logic, how can carragher be captain if he's not even liverpool captain, his england team mate Gerrard is.

Also do you really expect fergie (or his predesessor) to strip neville of the armband and hand it to rooney int he next 2 years. I seriously doubt it. I can't see rooney getting the captains armband until he gets a bit more control on his temperment. He's done really well this season to curb it but he needs to learn how to lead by example.

As was already said, he's not the one taking the team talks etc.....Terry did that. I don't particulary like Terry and I think he's completely over rated but he'd be the best choice for captain as the players respect him and he's been a very good captain for chelsea. Second would be G.Neville

iregk

PHB some of your comments are absolutely priceless. Carragher england captian? Jamie has shown me and a few liverpool fan mates of mine agree that he hasn't got it at international level. Terry had an ok world cup, nothing brilliant, although he was class against Portugal but so did the entire team have an average world cup.

Rooney, captain? For a short while I was taking you somewhat serious before that comment.

I also find the comments regarding Makalele pretty funny here also. He is surely the worlds greatest player no? I mean, he single handedly pushed his midfield partner to runner up in world and european player of the year awards despite being according to most extremely limited and average. Also whilst doing this he again pulls the whool over our eyes and has us convinced that his captain is one of the best defenders in the world. Surely these two feets make him one of the greatest players in the world and I'm sure the fact that he manages to keep everyone's attention elsewhere is one of the greatest achievment in the history of the game?

redspider

There is too much emphasis placed on being 'The Captain' of England and indeed most teams. The practical reality is that on the pitch there are many ego's and players that can direct and lead. Most cute managers would dilute any powers that a captain thinks he has! He is the one that can talk to the ref when asked to do so, but thats it. If I was managing today, I'd rotate the captain's armband frequently. Leaders are needed in every area of the pitch, in midfield, in defence, the Goalie has to be the main man in the penalty box, and up front, etc.

Beckham lived HIS dream but he was living in a Roy of the Rovers dreamworld, being captain for England and wanting to lift a cup. He would have been much better to forget about the it and concentrated on playing the game. And he had that role for far too long. It suited him and Sven, but not England as a football team.

redspider

PiE

Based on the WC performances, there have been no stand-out obvious replacements. Terry has been slightly shown up by the lack of protection the English midfield offered him, but would still make an excellent captain. On the otherhand, I reckon Gerrard would up his game were he made captain, he's the kind of player who thrives on being the center of attention. Not too sure how well he'd cope with the constant media bullsh*t the new captain will eventually be subjected to, it'll be a different world to what he has to deal with at Liverpool.

BaZmO*

Ah they should give it to Owen Hargreaves. If I know the English press the way I think I know the English press, they'd love that!

Unearthly

I think it's a possitive move overall. It completely destroys that aura of invincibility he had over the England team about not being dropped.

Can't really understand why he wasnts to continue playing. If he was going to resign from capataincy, he should of cut off all ties. Give the England setup a fresh start.

John Terry for captain for me. Captain of the best team in the English league and integral part of England and Chelsea.

casanova_kid

BaZmO* wrote:

Ah they should give it to Owen Hargreaves. If I know the English press the way I think I know the English press, they'd love that!

In fairness, Owen Hargreave's performance was probably the best bit of leadership i saw out of that England team all world cup.

Unearthly

Yep, always the player who was pointed at when a performance went wrong before.

I'm actually glad he did very well. Outperformed Gerrard and Lampard for the whole tournement.

Anam

iregk wrote:

PHB some of your comments are absolutely priceless. Carragher england captian? Jamie has shown me and a few liverpool fan mates of mine agree that he hasn't got it at international level. Terry had an ok world cup, nothing brilliant, although he was class against Portugal but so did the entire team have an average world cup.

Rooney, captain? For a short while I was taking you somewhat serious before that comment.

I also find the comments regarding Makalele pretty funny here also. He is surely the worlds greatest player no? I mean, he single handedly pushed his midfield partner to runner up in world and european player of the year awards despite being according to most extremely limited and average. Also whilst doing this he again pulls the whool over our eyes and has us convinced that his captain is one of the best defenders in the world. Surely these two feets make him one of the greatest players in the world and I'm sure the fact that he manages to keep everyone's attention elsewhere is one of the greatest achievment in the history of the game?

Spot on with all of that.


Terry for Chelsea is the best defender in the world,no one performed at the level they are capable of for England at the world cup so i dont think you can single him out.


I think McClaren will choose Terry as he will have seen him in the premiership a lot and will know how great a captain he is.Gerrard would be a decent choice too but I think he often goes missing in games,which is not what you want from a captain.

PHB

how can carragher be captain if he's not even liverpool captain, his england team mate Gerrard is.

PHB
I firmly believe Carragher would be Liverpool captain if Liverpool weren't desperate to keep Gerrard.

While Terry earned his captaincy in the way he plays, Gerrard earned it by saying he wanted to leave Liverpool.

Also do you really expect fergie (or his predesessor) to strip neville of the armband and hand it to rooney int he next 2 years.

Neville is now 31, he will have 2 more years in him at a United level.

I don't particulary like Terry and I think he's completely over rated but he'd be the best choice for captain as the players respect him and he's been a very good captain for chelsea.

I think Terry would also be the best captain if he deserved his place in the team, which I don't think he does.

Rooney, captain? For a short while I was taking you somewhat serious before that comment.

In a couple of years time

Surely these two feets make him one of the greatest players in the world and I'm sure the fact that he manages to keep everyone's attention elsewhere is one of the greatest achievment in the history of the game?

Yeh I think it is. He isn't noticed by the media, but I'll give you one guess to who the Chelsea team picked as their player of the year. Also, have a look at Real Madrid during Makelele's years, and post-Makelele.

casanova_kid

I think Terry is the logical and obvious choice for captain and he is a great leader, excellent defender and probably the first name on the team sheet. Any top central defender will struggle a little bit without a holding midfielder in front of him and Terry's performances were better when Hargreaves was there, so I don't buy into this Makalele crap that PHB is spouting.
Despite Terry's obvious credentials I think England could benefit more if they gave the captainct to a player they could build the team around, namely Gerrard or Rooney(though I would have doubts about his age,temperament). These two are world class players, but they have to be built into a system like Gerrard is at Liverpool, or Zidane is with France and Ballack with Germany. The best captain I've ever seen is keane at Manchester United and Ireland and that's cause everything went through him and he controlled everthing on the pitch and I think if you build a system around your captain, you can benefit the most.

astrofool

Neville was appointed Utd. captain because he'd only have to have it for a couple of years, before being able to pass it on as he plays a lesser role in the team, and not face being stripped of it. Then Rooney will get it.

I'd say Rooney will be England captain in a few years time, and is the reason why Gerrard and Carragher will be passed over, as they will be playing for England for a long time yet.

RedPlanet

Rooney as captain?
I doubt it very much.
Personally i believe he'll have a comparatively short career.
There's a fatso inside Rooney trying to get out.
Not unlike Ronaldo (Brazil), or Britney Spears even.

You heard it here first!

PHB

Not unlike Ronaldo (Brazil),

If Rooney has a career anywhere near the levels of Ronaldo, he'll be the best purchase Fergie has ever made

iregk

I was going to say there is a Gasgoine in Rooney just waiting to come out. Not a Ronaldo...

RedPlanet

iregk wrote:

I was going to say there is a Gasgoine in Rooney just waiting to come out. Not a Ronaldo...

ok ok i take it back, not like Ronaldo.
I'll stick with the Britney comparison.