David Beckham, the former England captain, will begin two days of medical tests with Los Angeles Galaxy today before undergoing his second “pre-season” fitness regime in the space of two months. It comes after he was left out of the England squad because he was deemed not to be match-fit.
Beckham has been training with Arsenal, under the auspices of Arsène Wenger, their manager, and Tony Colbert, their fitness coach, for the past month in an attempt to persuade Fabio Capello, the new England manager, that he was ready to win his 100th cap in a friendly against Switzerland on Wednesday. It was, in effect, a training plan based on Arsenal’s pre-season regime and Beckham will now have to go through a similar rigorous fitness campaign with Galaxy.
There is some disappointment in the Beckham camp that he was not told earlier that, however fit he had got himself, Capello would not pick him. The next England match after the Switzerland game, away to France on March 26, is three days before Galaxy’s season starts. It means that he is unlikely to figure in that match, either.
Beckham has been criticised for “sulking” and missing a charity ball — a fund-raising event for child sufferers of cystic fibrosis — on Thursday night after discovering that he was not in Capello’s initial 30-man party to face Switzerland at Wembley. Instead, he flew to Canada on Thursday morning to meet his wife, Victoria, who is on tour with the Spice Girls, before arriving in Los Angeles last night with his three children. Today he is due to report to Galaxy for fitness tests and to meet Ruud Gullit, the new manager, at the Home Depot Centre. Beckham was left in no doubt that Gullit was expecting all players to attend.
Franco Baldini, the England assistant manager, spoke to Beckham on Wednesday and told the midfield player that it would be unfair to pick him ahead of players who were performing every week in the Barclays Premier League. A shocked Beckham claimed that he was fit and asked to speak to Capello. Later on Wednesday, Beckham and Capello did talk (in Spanish) and Beckham was told: “It is not about you being fit, it is about you being match fit.”
Advertisement
Sources close to Beckham say that this was not a “McClaren moment”, referring to a discussion between the player and Steve McClaren, the England head coach at the time, in 2006, when Beckham was dropped from the national squad after the World Cup finals and was also given the impression that his England career was over. The consequence of that was his agreement to join LA Galaxy and move to the United States.
Wenger said yesterday that Beckham had worked well at the Arsenal training ground in London Colney, Hertfordshire. “We gave him the first two weeks exclusively on fitness work with Tony Colbert,” Wenger said. “After that he was with us in and out, but in the third week he was with us a lot. He has worked extremely hard and we were all amazed how good he was. This guy will not give up and will continue to fight.”
There is a clear annoyance within the Beckham camp at the criticism he has received for pulling out of the charity event at the Dorchester Hotel in London on Thursday. He told Galaxy officials on Wednesday that he was not in the England squad and asked permission to attend the gala and return to start pre-season training in Los Angeles on Monday.
However, Gullit ordered him to return for Saturday morning and Beckham decided that he wanted to spend a day with his family before joining his club colleagues. A source close to Beckham said: “It is ridiculous to suggest he was sulking. This is a man who recently went to a former war-zone in Sierra Leone for Unicef and has set up training academies for kids. He did not want to let anyone down, but he is a father and he wanted to see his children before starting training at the Galaxy.”
Sir Alex Ferguson, Beckham’s former manager at Manchester United, supported Capello’s decision. “I am not surprised he has been left out,” Ferguson said. “What Fabio has said is that David is not match fit. He wants players who are and David has not played any football. It is straightforward.”
Advertisement
Sven-G?ran Eriksson, the Manchester City manager and former England head coach, believes that Beckham can return to win his 100th cap. “I think so,” Eriksson said. “He hasn’t played any football matches for a long time now and it’s up to David, I suppose, to show how good he is when the league starts again.”
Micah Richards, the City and England defender, was dismayed at Capello’s decision. “It’s very disappointing, but it’s up to the manager who he picks,” he said. “I’m sure the players would definitely want David to get his 100th cap and he will definitely fight to get back in there. He has a strong enough character to do it.”