OKAY, fair cop. After all, the camera never lies. And there he was, flagrantly showing off his super-toned body by kicking a football on a Brazilian beach. Disgraceful.
And this just a few hours after Shaun Wright-Phillips — David Beckham's likely successor — had set a noble example by emerging from a nightclub with a half-swigged bottle of Jack Daniels stuffed down his trousers.
And what about that shameful ringside appearance at Ricky Hatton's fight in Las Vegas? From where I was standing, Beckham looked stone-cold sober. Outrageous.
A good job that — 5,000 miles away — Ashley Cole was keeping up England standards by vomiting in the back of a Vauxhall Astra.
Then, in mid-December, there was that sleazy trip to a London ice-skating rink with his family. I swear Becks could barely stand up.
Why wasn't he with those international team-mates who were dutifully bussing a hundred bimbos into a £4,000-a-man Christmas cattle party? Has he no honour?
As for the UNICEF trip to Sierra Leone...contemptible ain't too strong a word. Poverty? Uuugh!
That Beckham's diary of squeaky-clean social engagements, charity commitments and harmless TV appearances should be held up as justification for his omission from Fabio Capello's first England squad is bizarre to say the least.
What it does show, of course, is that Becks has not been playing football.
That much is beyond dispute. That not playing football matches for a while means automatic disqualification from England selection is NOT beyond dispute
Wayne Rooney was selected for the first fixture of Germany 2006 having not played a competitive game for six weeks.
Theo Walcott was in a World Cup squad having NEVER played a Premier League game and having gone the best part of five months without any competitive action.
At the time, it was heralded by the majority of observers as a bold move. Inactivity and a waning of a sportsman's powers are not inextricably linked.
Ask Tiger Woods, who often goes nowhere near a golf course for six weeks, then wanders out to crush the world's best under his Nikes.
Capello has watched many games since arriving at Soho Square on January 7. But has he picked Emile Heskey on the basis of four ineffective, goalless performances for Wigan since that date? No.
He has, quite rightly, selected him on the compelling evidence of two commendable displays for England in September.
Beckham's last serious appearance saw him set up the goal that should have sent England to the Euro 2008 finals. After he replaced a hopelessly out-of-depth Wright-Phillips, there was nothing in his performance to suggest his international career was dead in the water.
But now it is. Put there not by a brave, hard-nosed, ruthless decision but by a petty, small-minded, mean-spirited one. Capello knew it would win critical acclaim from pundits who need only the slightest excuse to put the boot into Beckham.
Dropping Michael Owen — who has played less in the last six months than Becks and whose return to action has been spectacularly underwhelming — would have been a genuinely brave decision.
This was Steve McClaren-style gesture politics. Even if you don't believe Beckham was worth a place in a 30-man squad, there is the issue of his 100th cap. Yes, I've heard the arguments. Sentiment should not come into it. Why not? Hell, it's not as if England supporters have had anything else to feel good about.
God forbid we should allow them to have any sort of warm glow for their hundred-quid ticket.
Better they sit there under weeping skies watching Wright-Phillips pirouette himself into the mud while England surrender to the Croats.
‘Every game is crucial, every cap should be hard-earned.'
It's a kickabout against Switzerland, for goodness sake.
It's a friendly, it's an exhibition game, it's another instalment of Wembley repayments, it's a match you spend avoiding injury, it's a game with precious little point.
It's a fixture with so little meaning, I'm surprised David Bentley was not too tired to allow himself to be included in the squad.
Ah, that's right. Lippy kid who can't be arsed turning out for the Under-21s is in at the expense of a great ambassador just one cap short of the century.
Nice touch, Fab.
Personally, I believe that Beckham, no game in two months or not, remains one of the 30 best footballers in this country.
And that is why he should have been in the squad. Period.
But this should also have been about class — the class to allow a loyal subject to reach a significant milestone and to take a deserved bow before a public he has served so well.
Beckham has emptied body and soul for England over 11 long years. To be denied his 100th cap by an Italian with no sense of this country's national pride is just wrong.
Capello may be learning English...but he has a long way to go before he understands the English.
F
http://notw.typepad.com/dunn/
And this just a few hours after Shaun Wright-Phillips — David Beckham's likely successor — had set a noble example by emerging from a nightclub with a half-swigged bottle of Jack Daniels stuffed down his trousers.
And what about that shameful ringside appearance at Ricky Hatton's fight in Las Vegas? From where I was standing, Beckham looked stone-cold sober. Outrageous.
A good job that — 5,000 miles away — Ashley Cole was keeping up England standards by vomiting in the back of a Vauxhall Astra.
Then, in mid-December, there was that sleazy trip to a London ice-skating rink with his family. I swear Becks could barely stand up.
Why wasn't he with those international team-mates who were dutifully bussing a hundred bimbos into a £4,000-a-man Christmas cattle party? Has he no honour?
As for the UNICEF trip to Sierra Leone...contemptible ain't too strong a word. Poverty? Uuugh!
That Beckham's diary of squeaky-clean social engagements, charity commitments and harmless TV appearances should be held up as justification for his omission from Fabio Capello's first England squad is bizarre to say the least.
What it does show, of course, is that Becks has not been playing football.
That much is beyond dispute. That not playing football matches for a while means automatic disqualification from England selection is NOT beyond dispute
Wayne Rooney was selected for the first fixture of Germany 2006 having not played a competitive game for six weeks.
Theo Walcott was in a World Cup squad having NEVER played a Premier League game and having gone the best part of five months without any competitive action.
At the time, it was heralded by the majority of observers as a bold move. Inactivity and a waning of a sportsman's powers are not inextricably linked.
Ask Tiger Woods, who often goes nowhere near a golf course for six weeks, then wanders out to crush the world's best under his Nikes.
Capello has watched many games since arriving at Soho Square on January 7. But has he picked Emile Heskey on the basis of four ineffective, goalless performances for Wigan since that date? No.
He has, quite rightly, selected him on the compelling evidence of two commendable displays for England in September.
Beckham's last serious appearance saw him set up the goal that should have sent England to the Euro 2008 finals. After he replaced a hopelessly out-of-depth Wright-Phillips, there was nothing in his performance to suggest his international career was dead in the water.
But now it is. Put there not by a brave, hard-nosed, ruthless decision but by a petty, small-minded, mean-spirited one. Capello knew it would win critical acclaim from pundits who need only the slightest excuse to put the boot into Beckham.
Dropping Michael Owen — who has played less in the last six months than Becks and whose return to action has been spectacularly underwhelming — would have been a genuinely brave decision.
This was Steve McClaren-style gesture politics. Even if you don't believe Beckham was worth a place in a 30-man squad, there is the issue of his 100th cap. Yes, I've heard the arguments. Sentiment should not come into it. Why not? Hell, it's not as if England supporters have had anything else to feel good about.
God forbid we should allow them to have any sort of warm glow for their hundred-quid ticket.
Better they sit there under weeping skies watching Wright-Phillips pirouette himself into the mud while England surrender to the Croats.
‘Every game is crucial, every cap should be hard-earned.'
It's a kickabout against Switzerland, for goodness sake.
It's a friendly, it's an exhibition game, it's another instalment of Wembley repayments, it's a match you spend avoiding injury, it's a game with precious little point.
It's a fixture with so little meaning, I'm surprised David Bentley was not too tired to allow himself to be included in the squad.
Ah, that's right. Lippy kid who can't be arsed turning out for the Under-21s is in at the expense of a great ambassador just one cap short of the century.
Nice touch, Fab.
Personally, I believe that Beckham, no game in two months or not, remains one of the 30 best footballers in this country.
And that is why he should have been in the squad. Period.
But this should also have been about class — the class to allow a loyal subject to reach a significant milestone and to take a deserved bow before a public he has served so well.
Beckham has emptied body and soul for England over 11 long years. To be denied his 100th cap by an Italian with no sense of this country's national pride is just wrong.
Capello may be learning English...but he has a long way to go before he understands the English.
F
http://notw.typepad.com/dunn/
