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THAT'S it now. David Beckham must be consigned to the international scrapheap.

The emotion surrounding Beckham's 100th cap has finally been satiated and his performance proved once and for all that his capacity to contribute anything of a telling note in an England shirt is at an all-time low.

Let him earn millions in America and pursue other interests outside the game but never let him pull on an England shirt again.

In the first half against France, Beckham spent more time as a right-back than he did as the deadly winger able to panic opponents with a cross into their six-yard box.

No, Beckham's time is up and now he's become a footballing centurion he should be allowed to retire gracefully having served his country in a distinguished fashion. But, at 33 in May, his legs, along perhaps with his desire, have gone.

Beckham is not the only problem for the new man at the helm.

Fabio Capello's tactics, even in a friendly, must be questioned.

Why on earth did Wayne Rooney spend much of the opening 45 minutes wandering around like a lost soul in attack?

Rooney plays like a lion for Manchester United but put him in an England shirt and he becomes ordinary.

Now, given that you don't become a bad player overnight, why oh why do England coaches seem to create problems where there are none? Why do they ask players to do jobs they are not familiar with at club level?

Until this giant anomaly is sorted once and for all, England will remain a disjointed team in the international wilderness.

Rooney had little support from Steven Gerrard and England looked like a team incapable of creating any attacking threat.

There was no urgency throughout the England line-up and okay, yes it was a friendly, but really that is no excuse.

Then there is the ever thorny problem of the goalkeeper. David James was not cute enough to realise that Nicolas Anelka had the speed of thought and the physical pace to bypass the England defence so he was forced to bring him down for the spot-kick.

The farce over the captaincy is also beginning to mask problems on the pitch. There was nothing wrong with John Terry as captain so why bother changing it?

Capello is lucky he is not English.

If Steve McClaren had made the half-time changes he did, he would have been lambasted by fans and pundits alike.

Taking off Rooney, Gerrard, and Joe Cole and reverting to a 4- 4-2 just proved that England do not possess the players to make Capello's favoured system work.

There were too many negatives in a disappointing performance yet again and the fans must long for the day when the coach will make up his mind and give players a role and a system they feel most comfortable with.

9:07am Thursday 27th March 2008

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