With all the talk thats going on about Beckham's mid summer MLS debut, its easy to forget that his allegiance still will be to jolly old England...but from the way Steve McClaren is handling the soon to be expat, its almost as though Beckham's being exiled.
Despite how forcefully Beckham has come back, helping Real Madrid into the top of La Liga, McClaren is foolish to refuse Beckham entrance - especially when he takes the riddled with injury Michael Owen into the England B squad, to disallow a player with the amount of Becks' talent is a waste of English talent and a disservice to the English altogether.
Perhaps this is a good example of the dangers of allowing an athlete's personality and celebrity status precede their athletic abilities, or lack thereof. Certainly there have been points in Beckham's recent performances that have lent themselves quite readily into the thinking that Beckham's time had passed and that the MLS may have been the only league to take Beckham and pay him as much as they are (despite that much of it is coming from external ad contracts). Still, its undeniable that Beckham has garnered the admiration of even his stiffest of critics and that he has performed to a degree that warrants such praise.
Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello has made a complete 180 since Beckham was benched. Capello recently stated that Beckham is in the "best form of his life".
"I told David the other day that I thought he has never been in such good form either mentally or physically and he agreed with me."
"I can't understand how a player who is playing so well can be left out of any national side," said Capello.
So why the stubborn stance by McClaren? Maybe McClaren is tired of the Beckham brand distracting the other players and fans and press alike. Its no secret that the WAGS during last summer's World Cup were a distraction to the players game and more print was devoted to what the WAGS were saying, wearing, and buying, than how their footballer husbands were playing. There are many possibilities for his decision but they cannot possibly be based on the one issue that should matter: if Beckham is capable of playing up to national league standards, and to play for the good of the national team. If that was what McClaren was basing his decision on, there would no question of Beckham's return. Its too bad that McClaren has allowed Beckham's brand to precede his professional capabilities because that, in some ways, makes him exactly what he probably hates - someone who sees more of the celebrity than the athlete.
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