Retiring ungracefully

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There suddenly seems to be lots of ex-England internationals. Emile Heskey, Paul Robinson and Wes Brown have announced their international retirements. Jamie Carragher has re-retired. Paul Scholes nearly ended his exile but didn’t. David James has been dropped for the final time, as of course has David Beckham.

There was a time when England players only retired from international football when they hung up their boots for their clubs. Whether they were picked for the national side was down to the manager, not them.

Some might have ruefully acknowledged that international recognition would not again come their way, but it was hard to imagine players being called up only to reveal they had retired from international football.

This country comes first message is what David Beckham and his media team are trying to convey. He is a humble servant to his international team for whom the honour of a cap will never diminish. Unfortunately the former skipper is the one man who should probably draw a line under his England career. The international football predictions suggested he wouldn’t play for the Three Lions again as soon as he was injured.

Recovering from a serious injury at the age of 35 and marooned in the MLS, the prospects of Beckham significantly contributing to the Euro 2012 qualification campaign and especially the tournament itself appear slim.
Capello was asked about Beckham’s chances of a return and gave a sensible answer. The media is demanding one broom to sweep out the old guard and replace it with new faces and another to protect a fringe player whose effectiveness is palpably steadily reducing.

Beckham – publicly at least – wants to be treated like any other player, which explains why he refused the offer of a patronising celebratory sign-off that would have been incongruous to the current plight of the team.
Capello would have offered a similar response to the one he gave regarding Beckham on questions about James, Ledley King and perhaps Matthew Upson. Beckham is of course not just any player and the manager should have handled it better.

Of course, in this age of astronomical wages it’s not surprising some players are more concerned about helping their sides justify their latest Premier League odds.

The outcry is, as often is the case for England managers, disproportionate to the perceived offence. England fans do not particularly want or expect to see Beckham in the national colours again, which applies in varying degrees to Heskey, Robinson, Carragher and Brown. They really shouldn’t have bothered to tell us they would not play again.