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As claimed by the advisor of the England national team coach Steve McClaren, Max Clifford, the strategist does not rule out the possibility of bringing back the former captain and Real Madrid defender David Beckham to the national team.
After the tragic match with Zagreb, where the England national team lost 2-0 to Croatia, many national team fans requested the return of D. Beckham to the team.
"If he is in fantastic form, there is a chance, and that is good for England, which is all that interests S. McClaren," M. Clifford said on "Five Live Sport." - "Steve McClaren doesn't boast by saying: 'Look, David Beckham is playing exceptionally well at the moment. Personally, I don't think if Beckham had played yesterday, he would have changed much, but I am sure all journalists would say that. Therefore, it doesn't matter if someone takes care of public relations: if McClaren wins, he is popular, if he loses, he is dead."
The England national team strategist has not yet included former captain D. Beckham in the team since Sven-Goran Eriksson resigned in August.
M. Clifford, who is an advisor to S. McClaren representing their company "Key Sports," says that the decision not to take D. Beckham to the national team from the beginning seemed wise.
"What he did marked his authority by saying: 'I am no longer Sven's assistant. Now I am the boss,'" said M. Clifford. - "I think many would agree with me that David had a very bad World Cup, as did the whole team."
M. Clifford admits that he has not had the opportunity to spend much time with S. McClaren since the latter became the head coach of the national team. A public relations specialist who helped Football Association secretary Faria Alam sell the love story with Sven-Goran Eriksson hopes that will change now, as the team will play the next 2008 European Championship qualifying matches only in March of the following year.
"In the last few months, I practically haven't met with him because he was extremely busy and had many important matches," said M. Clifford. - "He had to maintain relations with the media - it's a terribly tough job. Now he has a break. We hope that in the next six months we will have the opportunity to teach him a little bit on how to deal with the press and make that minefield a little less explosive."
According to the specialist, S. McClaren has been handling the media well so far: "I think he is doing everything well, especially considering that he only recently started everything. Steve received advice from the FA, about which I have my own opinion.
