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SOCCER365
"I'm Staggered At Beattie's Exclusion"
by Andy Gray
25-03-03
Beatts Saint good enough says Sven
I was absolutely staggered that James Beattie was not included in Sven-Goran Eriksson's squad. What more does the boy have to do? If Emile Heskey, Francis Jeffers or Darius Vassell had scored 20 goals this season they would be clamouring to get them into the side. But for some reason, that's not enough for Beattie.
I can't stress enough how amazed I am with this decision. I can't believe that after one half against Australia he has been discarded, when there's room for Francis Jeffers, Darius Vassell and Emile Heskey.
Beattie must be shaking his head in wonder at this one. He is the top-scoring Englishman in the Premiership - no mean feat at a club like Southampton - and he has consistently shown commitment and been a threat.
This boy could win a game for England.
On the other hand, there's Jeffers and Vassell. I'm a big fan of the way Francis plays but he has just not featured often enough for Arsenal this season, while Vassell is nowhere near international level. Maybe he will be in the future, but at the moment he's just not close.
The one thing I don't understand is why Sven has chosen five central defenders and left out Beattie. Surely he could have lost a player from there, or from the midfield, in order to make room for a striker in form who could actually make a difference.
I'm also pretty surprised that there's no room for Gareth Barry, who plays in the position we now know as 'the problem position', is left-sided and has been in outstanding form this season. And yet he has been left out of the squad yet again.
I think he and Beattie will look back and say that they really could not have done anything more to get into the England squad.
But one player who I was disappointed for ahead of the Australia game has been given his chance and I'm pleased to see John Terry in the squad this time.
England really have an embarrassment of riches in that position and in Terry, Jonathan Woodgate, Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell they have four players who could dominate and impress in that position for the next seven or eight years. That's certainly a very healthy position for England to be in.
I was also pleased to see Jermain Jenas get another chance. I think he is a marvellous talent and I would not be too surprised if he started against Liechtenstein on Saturday.
But that doesn't mean that I think they'll play a weakened side against the minnows to save themselves for the Turkey game. They have not given themselves that luxury. They have to start with the big guns just because they have been so unconvincing in qualification so far.
Sven will be looking for big performances from his big players on Saturday in order to get the three points with the absolute minimum of fuss. And then maybe after 60 minutes, with hopefully three or four goals in the bag, he can say 'thanks Stevie, thanks Michael, thanks David' and bring them off and rest them ahead of the big one on Wednesday.
But for some baffling reason, one man he will be unable to bring on as a replacement will be Beattie.
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