Becks may have been England's Jack Bauer in the past, but his time has long gone and we can do without him

By Darren Lewis

Published 10:50 16/03/10

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During an episode of The Simpsons once, there was a scene shot in a graveyard which featured a headstone that said simply: 'Elvis - Accept it'.

Something tells me we need to do the same with David Beckham's international career.

Because it says something for the monster success of Brand Beckham that, despite him being a fringe player for England and AC Milan, his achilles injury has dominated the news agenda over the last 48 hours.

Don't get me wrong. He has been a magnificent servant for this country, rescuing the nation on several occasions. He has also been for some time the best crosser of the ball - and dead-ball specialist - in the world.

But before Sunday night's terrible injury struck, he was very much a bit-part player for club and country.

Don't believe me? Well consider this: Beckham has made just three Serie A starts for Milan since rejoining them in January and played only 24 minutes for the Italian giants in the second leg of their tie against Manchester United in the Champions League last week.

Those 24 minutes were afforded to him long after Wayne Rooney had put the tie out of Milan's reach, meaning Beckham's foray onto the pitch was solely to give a long, lingering metaphorical bear hug to the fans that backed him on his meteoric rise to stardom.

But other that that? Well I almost tore my non-existent hair out at the blanket coverage yesterday for a player who will be 35 when he returns to the game.

For goodness' sake, even the Prime Minister jumped on the bandwagon for a bit of shameless electioneering by revealing he had written a private letter to the former England captain. So private that he was willing to tell the world about it.

And I nearly screamed when I heard it asked yesterday if the right side of England's midfield is now Capello's achilles heel.

Let's have it right: Beckham would definitely not have been in Fabio Capello's strongest England side for the World Cup.

In fact, Becks himself admitted in the aftermath of that tie that he was facing an uphill struggle to even make Capello's squad.

Particularly with Theo Walcott slowly regaining his form and confidence. Particularly with Shaun Wright-Phillips coming on to make the kind of impact he did against Egypt.

Particularly with both Ashley Young pulling up trees at Aston Villa and his club-mate James Milner proving himself versatile, disciplined and adaptable.

And I haven't even mentioned Joe Cole yet.  Or even the prodigious Adam Johnson (although I accept this World Cup could actually be too soon for him). Or the rejuvenated David Bentley.

So why are we in the media (and I count my own newspaper/website in this) all indulging this footballer whose ship has sailed?

To me it is massively disrespectful to the outstanding players who ARE a shoo-in to go to the World Cup.

The Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard had it right the other day when it was suggested to him in a press conference that England would have no chance at the World Cup if Wayne Rooney gets injured.

Gerrard replied: "So what are the rest of us then? Crap?"

Ditto this situation with Beckham. We (England) are not in footballing crisis, catastrophe or disaster mode. Of course Beckham's injury is sad and you would not wish it upon anyone, let alone the Jack Bauer of our national team over the past 13 years.

But the glass is not half-empty as far as England is concerned. Far from it. Players like Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney have lifted the Champions League.

All of them, along with the likes of John Terry and Frank Lampard, are veterans of two World Cups and - in some cases - three European Championships. Does that experience count for nothing?

Do people really think the likes of Rooney and Gerrard, who have proven themselves to be inspirational leaders of men, will be crying into their pillows between now and South Africa.

No. Because we are nowhere near the England we were when Becks did his metatarsal. Nowhere near as one-dimensional.

Its unlikely we will even play with two wingers at the World Cup. Capello is far more likely to flood the midfield and play Gerrard off Rooney if he doesn't go with the big man up front - i.e., Heskey - that enabled us to be among the highest scorers in qualification for South Africa.

The likes of Walcott may have yet to grasp some of the nuances of the game but he has the pace to get in behind defenders. Beckham doesn't.

And before anyone gives me this nonsense about a stack of other players being either injured or out of form - we are in March. The World Cup is in June.

Add to that the fact that Italy won the World Cup without Paolo Maldini, who had earned a staggering 125 caps - ten more than Beckham.

There are countless other examples of big teams coping without big players at major tournaments. Its hardcore, its brutal, but we can do without him - and we will.

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