Sorry Becks, But England Won't Actually Miss You

I've never hated David Beckham, partly because we hail from the same part of East London and were born in the same hospital, although he did play for Ridgeway Rovers who were the Manchester United of my local Sunday league....

Anyway, no, I've never despised him or been jealous of him. I didn't want to string him up after the World Cup in 1998 after his petulant sending off was blamed for a penalty shoot-out defeat by Argentina, but on the flip side, I didn't want to hug and kiss him or hail him as some sort of football God at any stage either.

I've had a feeling of positive neutrality towards him. He was a quality player in his prime, a focal point of the national side and, at times, our only really creative player.

On the flip side, I've never fallen for the hype. He was never one of the best players in the world, but he was one of the best we had. That's a big difference, as our international record shows.

He has had a fantastic career, the only problem is that career has been a celebrity footballer, not a footballing celebrity, for far too long. He is more famous for being David Beckham than he is for playing football, if that makes sense.

At 35, he would have gone to the World Cup to swagger on to the pitch with ten minutes remaining to pump long, cross field balls on to the head of Peter Crouch, or go all Jonny Wilkinson at free-kicks and corners, milking the cameras for all they are worth.

After all, that was all he could manage at the last World Cup in Germany and that was four years ago when he was, in theory, still somewhere near his physical peak.

Having said all that, I would still have taken him because of this. He would have been a useful substitute in certain situations and his experience would have been a positive influence in helping the younger players in the squad.

But the Achilles injury - it will probably end his career in all seriousness - is not a national disaster because we won't miss him that much.

It's a sad personal blow to a football icon and a fame hungry celebrity and I'm sorry for him on a personal level.

However, the brutal truth is England are no less likely to win football's ultimate prize without Beckham. He's a bit-part figure in a squad which has thankfully moved on from the cult of celebrity which surrounded him.

So let's just hope Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand stay fit, Aaron Lennon, Ashley Cole and Owen Hargreaves get fit before the tournaments starts and everyone else finds some form between now and June. That'll do me!