Sam Wallace: One day David Beckham will see the sanity in Stuart Pearce's Olympics decision

 

Psycho's gone rogue. The figurative klaxon will have gone off at the Football Association yesterday with terrifying abruptness, alerting Wembley that their forgotten man – who once briefly held every one of the FA's major coaching jobs – had given them one hell of a problem.

The decision by Stuart Pearce – sadly rarely Psycho these days, even to his friends – not to pick David Beckham for Team GB was a brave one. It will have caused discomfort at the FA and within the British Olympic Association. But it was the right one.

No one could doubt that the 37-year-old has contributed much to the 2012 bid and the endless torch relays and events that have followed it. Just as he pulled out all the stops for the FA's failed 2018 World Cup bid. Good on him, and that contribution will never be forgotten. Certainly not by a sizeable part of the English public who love him.

The trouble with sport, however, is that it only honours one debt and that is to ability. From the moment Pearce decided he wanted to pick the best squad available to him then Beckham was never going to be in. He is not currently among the three best players aged over 23 available; he is not even among the best aged over 33. His loyalty to the country's sporting causes is commendable but nothing can or should guarantee you a place in a squad. The argument that the Olympics are not a major football tournament and, as such, allowances should be made has weight to it. But clearly that is not how Pearce sees it.

The Team GB coach has left himself open to criticism by selecting Micah Richards, who declined to go on stand-by with Roy Hodgson's Euro 2012 squad. It was a mistake but one feels that Richards has already served his punishment with the knowledge that he would have gone in place of the injured Gary Cahill. As a footballer there is no argument: he deserves his place on merit.

To give Pearce his due, he went to Los Angeles to watch Beckham play for the LA Galaxy, in May, a 1-0 defeat by New York Red Bulls. At that point, Galaxy had won three of 11 games, including five defeats in the MLS. They also went out of the Open Cup to a lower league side. Recently they have turned their form around with three successive wins.

Despite being part of an MLS Cup-winning team last season, Pearce was clearly not impressed with Beckham. The nature of international football is that, to a great extent, it has to be a snapshot of a player's form at the moment when the squad is selected.

Once again, you have to consider the wisdom of Beckham going to America five years ago. Although he played again for England, his international career might have lasted longer had he still been in Europe. But that is a different story. Given what we know about Beckham, the next exciting chapter for him will be just around the corner. In time, he will come to see that Pearce, from a football perspective, made the call his conscience told him to.

 



Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Caption competition
Caption competition
News in pictures
World news in pictures
Sport blogs

iBet: Back Spain to shut out Tahiti

The spread betting firms are very slow about pricing up this game and you can understand why. All th...

by Gareth Purnell

iBet: Look To The Lady In The Prince Of Wales

The Prince of Wales Stakes today is regarded by many as the No1 race of the Royal Ascot meeting and ...

by Gareth Purnell

iBet: Favourites have a good record in the Coventry stakes

Today’s St James Palace looks a cracker and there has been sustained money for Dawn Approach since t...

by Gareth Purnell

       
 

Day In a Page

Babies behind bars: A Palestinian fertility doctor has become an unlikely hero by helping women conceive – even though their husbands are in jail

Babies behind bars

A Palestinian fertility doctor has become an unlikely hero by helping women conceive – even though their husbands are in jail
Sonic youth: The high-pitched sound alarm for under 25s

Sonic youth: The high-pitched sound alarm

Is Mosquito, the alarm only under-25s can hear, a blessing or a bane?
The art of living in small spaces: Architects are learning how to make less, more

The art of living in small spaces

Space in cities at a premium so architects are learning how to make less, more...
Special report: The story of Sir Mervyn King's reign at the Bank

The story of Sir Mervyn King's reign at the Bank

After four 'nice' years as Governor of Bank of England, things turned decisively nasty
Zombie nation: Our enduring fascination with a world full of death and destruction

Zombie nation: Our fascination with death and destruction

A new season of shows on Radio 4 is inspired by dark tales of future dystopias. Meanwhile, zombies are marauding in the multiplexes...
Martin Stephen: 'Ofsted says comprehensives are failing the most able but teaching bright children isn't rocket science'

'Teaching bright children isn't rocket science'

It doesn't take a selective system to nurture the best minds, says a former head of St Paul's boys' school.
The retail empires strike back: Can new technology lure us back to the high street?

Can technology lure us back to the high street?

The high street has been bruised and battered by online firms but in-store technology is helping to enliven the retail experience...
The 10 Best new smartphones

The 10 Best new smartphones

Photos, films, music, apps and browsing - the latest mobiles can do it all
Jenson Button: Downbeat driver cannot wait to put season behind him

Jenson Button: Downbeat driver cannot wait to put season behind him

McLaren man admits 'failed gamble' with car has left him pinning hopes on 2014 campaign
James Lawton: Firmer fist will be required to win Champions Trophy final battle with stouter foe

James Lawton

Firmer fist will be required to win Champions Trophy final battle with stouter foe
'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong': The true effect of the badger cull

The true effect of the badger cull

'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong'
Theatre review: Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's The Cripple of Inishmaan

First night: The Cripple of Inishmaan

Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's comedy
Girls Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

After 103 years, organisation changes oath to welcome 'all girls, of all faiths, and none'
Steve Tongue: Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago

Steve Tongue

Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago
Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Bradley Wiggins' exit

Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Wiggins' exit

Sky's lead rider says he is in fantastic form for the Tour and happy pecking order debate is over