One country, two players, same decision

but one was right and the other wrong.

So much talk about the position of two England captains this last week. The current cricket captain who should have been brought back into the team and the previous football captain who shouldn’t.

Michael Vaughan showed with his hundred yesterday that it was correct for him to get straight back into the England side after an 18 month absence from the test arena. But all week we’ve been hearing from a lot of (inferior) ex-players and pundits who all along haven’t exactly been great fans of of Vaughan even when he was smashing the vaunted Australia attack all round their grounds and out captained them for the Ashes in 2005.

Yes he wasn’t great in the World Cup, but then who exactly was? Ah but it’s not right for him to come straight in without proving his form and replace a good player. Well the assumption was that “good player” would be Strauss who got one half century in the winter debacle and hasn’t done much since but slash at wide ones. He just hasn’t been the same as the man who took his chance when replacing Vaughan a few years back since being overlooked for the captaincy in Australia.

Vaughan is a class act, always has been even long before finally chosen for England though he should really be opening with Cook – left hand & right hand opening pair.

Well the other decision made is the complete opposite. Dropping Beckham was the first and really only decent thing McClaren has done since lucking into the England manager’s job.

He was a disgrace at the World Cup, more interested in his place, gaining 100 caps and his “celeb” status than the team – those tears when resigning the captaincy where tears for himself. Whereas Vaughan was only out of the team because of injury Beckham was out because he wasn’t and still isn’t up to it. Past his best for a number of years now only given cap after cap because of his close relationship with the star struck Svennis.

Oh he’s playing great for Madrid, best he’s ever been in Spain. Well we’ve heard that before and what was the result with three lions on his chest. Poncing about with aimless long balls, inability to get past opposing defenders and looking knackered before half time. The Madrid manager, Capello, talking him up after dropping him for signing for the MLS which Beckham only did because said manager never picked him and didn’t really want him around.

It’s a pathetic move proving the England managers credentials as a McClown, a desperate attempt to deflect the attention of his own inabilities with the circus that follows Beckham and his bint, hoping that the return will save his job or give him a ready made excuse to use.

A spineless act bowing to pressure from the media, who keep telling us pace is king, it kills, it’s what’s needed especially in the international game then call for this knackered old donkey and idiot fans who complained about Beckham’s automatic place in the starting XI during the previous four years but scream for him as soon as things don’t go well.

The choice in midfield shouldn’t be about who between Gerrard, Lumapalrd or Beckham should play. We should look past those that fail time after time in their countries shirt just because they’ve got big names in the game.

But that would involve thinking and a bit of backbone and management so not something that’s likely to happen with the current McClown or any yes man the FA replace him with in the near future.

One choice was picking one of the best players available the other choice is a backward step.