Well?

yes of course

Of course it's right to drop him - as I've said all along, he's f*ckin' useless!

Wonder if he took his ball home

Yes. Clearly our midfield system hasn't been working in a while. We need a DM in there. We shouldn't drop Gerrard or Lampard (dispite his not-do-good WC) and Joey Cole is fast becomming the star. Yes, his freekicks and crosses are second to none - but Gerrard and Lampard can do the same.

no, but his reaction has been impressive- the loss of security could be a good thing. I think his form will (again) be either the best or the second best of all the right sided players, and if so he deserves a place in the squad. however, it is finished for him with mcclaren, unless england start to monumentally f*ck up... which, given the skipper, and the weak group, won't happen.

all the dribbling in the world counts for nothing if there is not something tangible at the end.

now, the best england 4 man midfield is probably one with gerrard roaming from the right and a defensive player of some description- if we go this way I'd like to see johnno back in asap (to provide the width)... I think he will be back soon- too talented to not be in the squad. but... beckham, IMO, should be in the squad based on club form, and currently is still the best specialist right sided player we have.

the combined international careers of swp and lennon so far have (to memory) produced the following:

1 assist (swp for cole), 1 goal (swp on his debut). beckham did more in the world cup (despite his admittedly poor form relative to his form going into the tournament). for me it's worth having him at least on the bench, once we've tired of the tricks and need a goal.

I think it is the right choice but not for reasons of ability and form. I think Beckham would still be a valuable part of the squad.

My reasons for saying yes is that qualifying for Euro 2008 should be a reasonably straight forward task for England with or without Beckham and by the time the tournament is upon us I am not convinced Beckham would be first team material (although only 33 which isn't really that old)

By then I would like to think that players such as Lennon and Sweep would have matured and developed sufficiently to play on the right wing, or that McLaren hos gone down the route of playing someone like Gerrard on the right.

Hence I would prefer to see the next two years spent developing this approach rather than spending the time bringing Beckham in and out of the team and thus missing an opportunity.

Yes Steve was right to drop David Beckham. Besides one player should not be bigger than the national side. I thin kSteve is going to do really well for England. Now lets see how he does with team selection and also style of football as well. At the moment he is doing very well.

McLaren's job as manager (and what Erickson failed to do) is to find a system that works before Euro 2008.

It is not about who is in or who is out. Find the players to fit the system - not the other way round.

It looks very much like the first system he is going to try involves two quick dribbling wingers on the left and right.

Whether this system works is not yet proven. If it is a miserable failure, and England are better served with a Beckham-style right midfielder who crosses from deep, then he should get back in.

As long as he is the best player for this position - not because he is Beckham, and not because of what he did when he was at United.

If he is the best option for the system, then he should be in. If he is not, then he should be out. Simple as that.

18-5 yes! haha! it's insane- effectively what you are saying is that in 2 years time Lennon will be a better player than Beckham.

Beckham will lose nothing with age- his game has never been about pace and Mclaren more than anybody should be able to get him into the form that made him one of the best players in the world and practically put a treble on the goal line for Yorke/Cole and Utd. What began to ruin him was when Ferguson tried to get him to score more and come inside... which he likes doing... but clearly hurts the best part of his game- crossing.

I personally can't believe it and think SWP and lennon are laughable players in comparison- get beckham out wide, first time crosses to Aston, Owen... any player that knows how to attack the ball in the box and you'll have a dangerous england. Lennon! jesus!

that is something else I was thinking- call up ashton (good call) and drop beckham- hilarious!.

although, I get the feeling it could well be gerrard from the right. but... yeah mcclaren is talking nonsense. he wants young players but can still call up neville and leave beckham out.

but of course dribbling always wins. the fact that beckham did more in the world cup than lennon and swp have in their combined international careers means nothing when you can dribble.

I do believe Maclaren just wants to experiment with the right hand side in the hope of finding a viable alternative. Beckham will keep his place in the squad and for me, rightly so on merit.

Of course Beckham had to be dropped if we are to go forward and last night showed us why (even though I will not get carried away because that was a v poor Greece).

It has been argued for ages about Lamps & Gerrard not being able to play in the same team. But I think the problem has always been Lamps, Gerrard & Beckham.

With no Beckham, Lamps & Gerrard look like different players for England, they come out of their shells and are happier to step up and take control rather than hide in Beckham's shadow.

If only Sven would have had the balls to do this long before the World Cup, we just might have had a much better tournament, rather than the very forgettable one we witnessed.

It's the right choice to drop Beckham. Not because he's not good (he is still a great player) but because he probably won't be a man for the team in euro 2008.

Atleast he probably wont be in the starting eleven, but with his experience he could be valuable for the team.

And let's not forget, that guy sure can hit those freekicks, corners and crosses.

I didn't watch the entire game yesterday against Greece because I was watching my Sweden being thrashed by Germany (and they didn't even have Ballack). We lost 3-0 btw (could have been more if the germans would have wanted it).

Of that I saw of the game against Greece I can clearly say that it looked damn good.

Gerrard played better than before and Lampard too. They finally showed what they are capable of.

Play like that in Euro 2008 and I'd be surprised if England doesn't atleast get a medal.

oh so right.

Replacing him with gerrard instead of SWP, Joe Cole or Lennon?.. wrong!!