[Mighty T.A.L.]

McClaren to face sack if comeback of Beckham fails

David Beckham will be named today in Steve McClaren's England squad for a comeback after 10 months in the international wilderness. The England manager has made the decision to bring Beckham back into the fold to lend experience to his depleted squad for their Euro 2008 qualifier in Estonia on 6 June.

Not only will Beckham be back in the squad but he also has a chance of starting either the friendly against Brazil on Friday or the match in Tallinn in his familiar position on the right side of midfield. Aaron Lennon is the man most likely to have to adapt and he looks set to start on the left side of midfield - where McClaren picked him to start last night for an England B international against Albania at Turf Moor.

Having told Beckham in August that he was moving "in a new direction", McClaren has drastically realigned himself. The senior England players are understood to have been prepared for Beckham's return even though there is not a consensus among the coaching staff that it is the right move. While the merits of the decision will be debated, the Football Association could not have wished for a more widely anticipated return for England to the rebuilt Wembley Stadium.

McClaren will announce his squad this lunchtime and hold a press conference in the North-east in which he will explain his reasons for picking Beckham again. There is no doubt that if the experiment fails, and England do not take three points in Estonia, it will be McClaren who pays with his job. And even if Beckham's return coincides with two England victories there is no certainty that he will be in the next squad to face Israel at Wembley on 8 September. He is due to play at home for the Los Angeles Galaxy against the Colorado Rapids that day.

The Major League Soccer season ends in November which, should Beckham still have a chance of playing at Euro 2008, would make a loan back to a Premiership side a tempting option.

McClaren will have noticed yesterday that the prospect of a return for Beckham was given a mixed reception among the radio phone-ins and television pundits. Calls for the reinstatement of Beckham were first raised by sections of the England support after the defeat to Croatia although most supporters would agree that he is not likely to be the cure for all the team's problems.

While the decision may be regarded in some quarters as a serious U-turn by McClaren, the England manager has reasoned that the players who have been brought in since Beckham's last cap have not excelled. Tottenham's Lennon, by far the most exciting right-wing prospect, has been restricted by a knee injury, since the World Cup. Shaun Wright-Phillips has not established himself as a fixture in the Chelsea team although he has ended the season well. On the basis of form, Beckham is simply the better bet.

Having failed to persuade Paul Scholes to come out of international retirement, Beckham would seem to be the next best option for McClaren. The midfielder's impact on Real Madrid's renaissance this season is a matter of some debate: he has played three of the club's past 10 league matches although his performance against Recreativo Huelva at the weekend, which Real won 3-2 in the last minute, has seen him hailed in Spain as the club's saviour. Real are second to Barcelona on goal difference with three games to play.

The 32-year-old will be officially told the news this morning and will play for Real Madrid against Deportivo La Coruña this evening as the Spanish title race goes down to the wire. The England squad meet on Monday although the FA has given no details yet of its schedule for the week leading up to the match at Wembley.

What McClaren will be able to rely upon is Beckham's loyalty and no hint of the disillusionment that the former England captain felt at being cut by the new manager when he took over in August. While the custom for Beckham when he was captain was to give a pre-match press conference the day before England games, he is not expected to have any more contact with the media than would be expected of any member of the squad.

As the anticipation around Beckham's call-up gathered yesterday, the Real manager Fabio Capello said that he believed the player deserved his place in the England squad. Having told Beckham in January that he would not play for Real again in the aftermath of his £128m deal with the LA Galaxy, Capello is well placed to discuss the merits of recalling the player.

"I don't understand how a player of this level isn't always in the international squad," the Italian said. "I spoke to Beckham about it and he told me that he still doesn't know if he's in or not. We are all waiting to find out but he going to have to wait a little longer. I think David has never been as good as he is right now both physically and mentally and I've told him so.

"This international week comes at a bad time for us. It means we are going to be without Beckham for about 15 days if he's called up but we will just have to deal with it," Capello added.

Source: The Independent