Come on Becks........Get Fit Please!

Former Member

Looks like the optomism may have been premature <IMG SRC="frown.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">

David Beckham could be sent home from the World Cup without kicking a ball as he struggles to regain full fitness.
The England captain had been expected to recover from a broken foot in time to face Sweden on 2 June.

But coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has revealed that Beckham may not even be fit for the second game with Argentina.
And Eriksson is now contemplating a World Cup without his captain and star player.
And England fitness coach Ivan Carminati revealed that Beckham is highly unlikely to make the Sweden game.

"If Beckham and Dyer can't play football in training by Thursday or Friday, we will have to make a new decision" said Eriksson.

Come on lads, you can do this......

<IMG SRC="smile.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">

Former Member

Oh dear, not going to qualify for the second phase then.........

Former Member

I'm starting to get really tired of whole Beckham hysteria. Is he a very good player? Yes. Would England be the worse without him? Certainly? Can England (or any team) win the tournament on the merits of one player? No!

No team can hope to go far if all its strengths, all its chances lay on one man. Sure, the chances of winning would improve with Beckham in the squad, but if people are saying Beckham is absolutely essential for England to win, then there is no much hope for the team whether he's in or out. No squad can function on one man. Frankly I think it's a bit of an insult on the rest of the players. They must feel like they're nothing buy space fillers, put there to make up the team of David Beckham + 10 others.

Former Member

I disagree, to win the world cup, Beckham must be fit <IMG SRC="wink.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">

In much the same way he was neccessary to secure automatic qualification <IMG SRC="smile.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">

He is our best player, you need your best player to win something like the world cup.

Former Member

Originally posted by Aladdin:
<STRONG>I'm starting to get really tired of whole Beckham hysteria. Is he a very good player? Yes. Would England be the worse without him? Certainly? Can England (or any team) win the tournament on the merits of one player? No!.</STRONG>

Would France have won in '98, without Zidane?

I think you underestimate the psychological factors too...

Former Member

It's difficult to say what would have happened to France without Zidane. I believe they were capable of winning it even without him. Arsenal lost Pires for the last crucial games but they kept on winning, because the team was not built around one man and they had other quality players. Beckham is the best player in the England squad, but there is a lot of quality left even if he cannot make it!

All I'm saying is that it's irresponsible to say we can't win the World Cup without him. The other players might be thinking they might as well fuck off to the beach and miss the games, for all they seem to count.

[Edited as my spelling lets me down again]

[ 27-05-2002: Message edited by: Aladdin ]

Former Member

Originally posted by Aladdin:
<STRONG>It's difficult to say what would have happened to France without Zidane. I believe they were capable of winning it even without him. </STRONG>

If you ignore the fact that he scored twice in the final...

I'm not saying that England are hopeless without Beckham - except that he provides chances for the strikers and we don't have to rely on long-ball from defence as we did against Cameroon. Some players though are talismen and have the presence to carry a team. England has three - Beckham, Gerrard and Owen. We have already lost one, we cannot afford to lose a second - esp. as Owen has a weak hamstring...