England Players Jealous of Beckham?

Filed in archive England on March 23, 2007

So called "super-agent" Pini Zahavi has claimed that the reason for England's dismal World Cup was jealousy of David Beckham.

The problem in the World Cup was that the players gave only 30% of their ability," said Zahavi. "That was because there was a big problem of jealousy inside the team. It's something that nobody else has talked about before but the fact is a lot of the players didn't like the status of David Beckham in the team. They were jealous of Beckham. They haven't talked about it but this was the thing that failed the team in Germany.

Which would explain why Steve Mac was so keen to get rid of him...

But who is Zahavi's source for this juicy bit of gossip/insight into England's problems? Step forward Mr. Sven Goran Eriksson. Which is weird because Sven did more than anyone in the entire world to promote the cult of Beckham, even more than the one dimensional right midfielder himself. But apparently Zahavi's claim is consistent "with what at least one player has said in private."

Zahavi also has a terrifying prediction for Steve McClaren. Brace yourself for this one:

He [McClaren] knows if England stumbles in Israel it will be an earthquake in football ... If that happens they will drink his blood and finish him.

Is that in the small print of McClaren's FA contract?