There's Your Karma, Ripe As Peaches

From comrades to "go kill yourself." I know I can feel the love.

Seriously though, while it's not Beckham's fault that he can't stay healthy, I don't know get why people expected so much out of the guy. It's exciting to have him in the league but he hasn't been able to stay healthy with England or Real Madrid and he's in his 30s. He's here to retire and make free kicks, not be the Messiah.

But for England, good luck babe :) Looks dicey!

Was anyone really expecting Beckham to make soccer a major sport in the US? If that were really the intent, shouldn't the drive have been to import someone who does more than one thing, and preferably isn't past his prime? And even then, one player can't do it alone. I always assumed it was more about selling tickets to Galaxy games than anything else.

And no matter your feelings on England's chances versus a paper sack, I'm afraid they are still better off than the US team.

Now, is it just me or does it actually look like Beckham's breakdancing in the last two photos on the left side of the montage up there? I almost expect him to start spinning around on his back.

Hey Goldie, it's about time to change that icon, buddy :)

The biggest annoyance I have with Beckham is people pointing to YOUR BOYS as the reason why he's a godsend. Arguing with these people is like talking to a brick wall. They just don't understand the laundry list of issues with the English squad, the problems that Beckham presents for it or the true nature of his skills. And if you know the game and (simultaneously) have your head out of your ass, it's pretty obvious to you. But I guess as long as ESPN is spoon-feeding them their thoughts and opinions, we'll just have to deal with it.

the casual american fan is entirely too impatient to deal with this bullshit. true beckham's played about 30 minutes and made the rest of MLS look like grade schoolers but that's not enough, especially not after this injury and the long off-season. and then what if england makes the euros?? MLS better hope and pray they flame out or he'll spend next season the same as he did this one.

That sodding bastard is always sobbing.

Don't know which newspaper headline made me laugh more today's "David Beckham blow for England" or yesterday's "England think ahead with Jermaine Jenas recall".

Now with a speed merchant down the right infront of Micah Richards, instead of the Donkey Ponce, it'll reduce by one the areas that'll have me abusing McClown and his muppets about next week.

What is amazing about all of this is that Ginger has been planning for months with Becks in the game pla and now that he's out, they won't know what to do. It would take them another 8 months to plan for Israel and Russia now and we'd still look like clowns on the pitch.

When I saw ol' Golden Balls go down and stay down I was estatic, not because he was injured but because McClown would not be picking the bugger to the England side and he will be giving other younger talent a shot (he called up Young & Bentley). I've always maintained the Three Lions are a quality side and we have the youngsters to fill the gap cause by injuries. But f--k face McClown sees it fit to piss it all away by given starts to people who don't deserve it (Fat Frank, Ferdinand, Golden Balls) over who do (SWP, Carragher)....why the bloody hell do we have friendlies?!?!

And now the cherry on top, McClown has gone and called up Heskey...

I just read that this morning. It's so goddamn unbelievable and yet, it's exactly the type of thing we should've expected. Fucking clown.

In David Beckham's defense, while everybody is right that he is a player of diminishing skill, he is a top-tier deliverer of the ball and is still the best free kick specialist in the world. In a recent article, I equated him to Shaquille O'Neal on the Miami Heat. While he is a shell of his former self, he still attracts attention and has to be marked.

How many effective attacks has England had in recent international play that didn't go through Beckham. Not many. Granted I think a lot of the problem is that McClaren doesn't know how to play Gerrard and Lampard together. Plus with Michael Owen on the shelf and Alan Smith sucking there isn't a lot of quality upfront with their strikers.

McClaren and the style of play is the real problem. In my opinion, England should fire McClaren and install Mark Hughes from Blackburn. The Rovers may be trying to set football back about 50 years with their rough style of play........but it works (see their 14 match unbeaten streak). They physically brutalized a sleek, continental side in Manchester City over the weekend. Plus if you have watched the last two games they played against Arsenal, they won in the FA Cup quarters and drew at Ewood Park (that being said they dominated the second half and should have had more than the Dunn goal which was admittedly a Lehmann error). England needs to rough up teams with more pace which is what Mark Hughes and his tactics are so effective at doing.

You're preaching to the choir, Trevor. Thanks for finally catching up.