Right decision, its not a bloody charity tournament its the Olympics being held in London - its a massive event.
Quite simply Beckham is nowhere near the best 18 players eligible for this tournament and has not been for quite some time.
Giggs is still playing the CL and the Premiership, Beckham and his dopey missus decided to ride the celebrity gravy train to LA and depart top-class European football for the woeful MLS.
So the man who put everything into winning us the Olympics deserves nothing? I believe he is the right man to be there he has the passion required to drive the team on.
Foolish, smacks of a personal issue to me, how Micah Richards and Bellamy got the vote ahead of him is beyond me, Giggs I get. Beckham has been an ambassador for the Olympics, and I have no doubt his contribution due to his world fame helped us secure it, plus, his participation would have shifted slow selling football tickets with football fans from all over the world wanting to see him play, I somehow dont see Bellamy having the same affect. No its not a charity event, but its not as inmportant as a Euro or World Cup, shot themselves in the foot with this one IMO.
Not a serious competition at all. Meaningless to any football fan. However, gave us a chance as a nation to show off our national icon and say goodbye to someone who has worn the England shirt with pride nand honour. Couldn't give a stuff if he isn't his old self, matters not one jot. He is Brittania, and I for one feel Pearce should be sent to the Tower. God, Harry, England, Beckham and St George.
Thought he could have been a member of the team, still a very decent crosser of a ball. And his commitment to the cause is 100 percent. Is Bellamy not Welsh, along with Giggs. Not sure about Richards as well, cannot get a regular spot at Man city. The sulky attitude of Bellamy is hardly what you need in the dressing room is it. Football ability? hard to say, but thought the bloke deserved this for all the work he has put in.
Looks like it is tickets they need to shift not shirts, according to the news last night there are 1.2 million football tickets still unsold for the olympics
It's a real shame. It would have been the perfect way to bow out - The Olympics Games which he helped bring to this country, with him captaining the side on home soil.
No he's not the most competitive player anymore, but just his presence as a last minute sub gives every person in the stadium a lift.
How Bellamy is in the squad I do not know. Surely there are better options?
I would have taken Becks, still playing competitive football and a nice way to finish his international career. He still has something to offer so why leave him out? Richards and Giggs I can understand as both are good players and will add a lot to the team.
Football is a sideshow at the Olympics, doubt there will ever be another GB team in it, Bellamy is an idiot, Beckham has been a great ambassador for this country and a positive role model for football, even with all his wealth. Deserved this swansong. Pearce is an absolute moron, remember him screaming like a lunatic at the Valley from the sidelines at all his players, they looked at him with contempt. Good luck selling those 1 million tickets and good luck getting people remotely interested in the GB team now.
I really can't see why people think he should be in the squad. He is simply not good enough. No-one else in any other event gets picked on sentiment. Kmum just beat me re Seb Coe! Also suggestions he should light the torch are ridiculous. This would be a great insult to people like Steve Redgrave, Kelly Holmes, Mathew Pinsent, DaleY Thompson etc.
Hey, well done Nug, at last, a voice of reason. The football is a side show, Stuart Pearce is not picking the GB team on his own, it will be a well balanced squad and team representing all four nations to avoid pissing the Scots, Welsh & Irish off. Beckham will be with Seb Coe in the hospitality areas meeting and greeting and getting bums into the expensive box's.
Real shame this, I wouldve liked to see him in the squad. Guess the cash he can raise by being involved in the corporate side of things is worth a bit more
Would any other major nation NOT pick their sporting icon in the same circumstances?
Spain ? France ? Germany ?
You know they would.
It will be interesting to see, all the coutries you mention will be playing, to be honest I think the norm for these countries is to blood the youngsters and of course we have the added problem of fielding a team made up of 4 x countries not one
Only in Britain would we moan about not picking someone who would make us less likely to win the tournament. Whilst the South Americans take it very seriously, people seem more interested in picking big names than thinking about how we can get the best out of it. The majority clearly see Olympic football as a waste of time, but why not try and make it a useful exercise? Otherwise what's the point in entering?
We can give youngsters experience for the future, not use it as a means of saying goodbye to Beckham. Loved him as a player for his commitment and skill, but it would speak volumes of everything wrong with our national setup if we were to pick him for sentimental reasons rather than footballing ones.
Whilst it's obvious that Giggs and Bellamy aren't the best over-23 players available, they must be willing to play, and are playing better football than Beckham in a stronger league.
Looks like it is tickets they need to shift not shirts, according to the news last night there are 1.2 million football tickets still unsold for the olympics
Exactly my point further up the thread, this is not as important as a Euro or WC squad, so putting Beckham in would have shifted tickets, and also for the effort he put in towards us gaining the Olympics in the first place he deserves his spot, the Lord Coe argument is redundant, Beckham is still a professional Footballer, Lord Coe is not a competing athlete.
Only in Britain would we moan about not picking someone who would make us less likely to win the tournament. Whilst the South Americans take it very seriously, people seem more interested in picking big names than thinking about how we can get the best out of it. The majority clearly see Olympic football as a waste of time, but why not try and make it a useful exercise? Otherwise what's the point in entering?
We can give youngsters experience for the future, not use it as a means of saying goodbye to Beckham. Loved him as a player for his commitment and skill, but it would speak volumes of everything wrong with our national setup if we were to pick him for sentimental reasons rather than footballing ones.
Whilst it's obvious that Giggs and Bellamy aren't the best over-23 players available, they must be willing to play, and are playing better football than Beckham in a stronger league.
Completely agree.
It just shows the power of the Beckham PR machine that he has people believing that he "deserves" a spot in the Olympic squad despite not having played a proper international match for three years and has not played a full season in a proper league since he left Madrid in 2007!!!
Sorry, but what exactly has Beckham done to "deserve" a place in the Olympic squad as some sort of right? I must be missing something here.
Last I checked he was a very good player who had not really done that much in an England shirt at all to get properly excited about, the best he could manage was a trio of quarter-final apperances in major competitions - not exactly Iniesta or Zidane like is it?
As for the Bellamy selection, probably worth remembering that this is a BRITISH team and I for one think its great that players like Giggs and Bellamy are getting a shot at playing in a major tournament for the first and only time in their careers.
David Beckham might be a very nice chap but he has done very nicely indeed out of English football, I don't see why he deserves a parting gift any more than a whole bunch of deserving players at the end of their careers.
After the huge let down of the last WC and Euros this is a unique chance to experience a British team playing in a proper competition, places in the squad should absolutely not be handed out because someone feels they deserve one.
Comments
Quite simply Beckham is nowhere near the best 18 players eligible for this tournament and has not been for quite some time.
Giggs is still playing the CL and the Premiership, Beckham and his dopey missus decided to ride the celebrity gravy train to LA and depart top-class European football for the woeful MLS.
That has now bitten him on the arse.
God, Harry, England, Beckham and St George.
Is Bellamy not Welsh, along with Giggs. Not sure about Richards as well, cannot get a regular spot at Man city.
The sulky attitude of Bellamy is hardly what you need in the dressing room is it.
Football ability? hard to say, but thought the bloke deserved this for all the work he has put in.
No he's not the most competitive player anymore, but just his presence as a last minute sub gives every person in the stadium a lift.
I would have taken Becks, still playing competitive football and a nice way to finish his international career. He still has something to offer so why leave him out? Richards and Giggs I can understand as both are good players and will add a lot to the team.
Foolish.
The football is a side show, Stuart Pearce is not picking the GB team on his own, it will be a well balanced squad and team representing all four nations to avoid pissing the Scots, Welsh & Irish off.
Beckham will be with Seb Coe in the hospitality areas meeting and greeting and getting bums into the expensive box's.
Spain ? France ? Germany ?
You know they would.
We can give youngsters experience for the future, not use it as a means of saying goodbye to Beckham. Loved him as a player for his commitment and skill, but it would speak volumes of everything wrong with our national setup if we were to pick him for sentimental reasons rather than footballing ones.
Whilst it's obvious that Giggs and Bellamy aren't the best over-23 players available, they must be willing to play, and are playing better football than Beckham in a stronger league.
It just shows the power of the Beckham PR machine that he has people believing that he "deserves" a spot in the Olympic squad despite not having played a proper international match for three years and has not played a full season in a proper league since he left Madrid in 2007!!!
Sorry, but what exactly has Beckham done to "deserve" a place in the Olympic squad as some sort of right? I must be missing something here.
Last I checked he was a very good player who had not really done that much in an England shirt at all to get properly excited about, the best he could manage was a trio of quarter-final apperances in major competitions - not exactly Iniesta or Zidane like is it?
As for the Bellamy selection, probably worth remembering that this is a BRITISH team and I for one think its great that players like Giggs and Bellamy are getting a shot at playing in a major tournament for the first and only time in their careers.
David Beckham might be a very nice chap but he has done very nicely indeed out of English football, I don't see why he deserves a parting gift any more than a whole bunch of deserving players at the end of their careers.
After the huge let down of the last WC and Euros this is a unique chance to experience a British team playing in a proper competition, places in the squad should absolutely not be handed out because someone feels they deserve one.