Eriksson would axe Beckham

England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson insists he would drop captain David Beckham if the Real Madrid midfielder did not merit a place in the team.

Since the Swede took over in 2001, Beckham, 31, has played every tournament match despite criticism over some of his performances.

Eriksson said: "I have taken David Beckham off before. I will do it again if I think he's not doing the job.

"He doesn't have any favours just because he's the captain." The Swede insisted: "He is treated the same as all the other players in every way - at the dinner table, on the bus, tactically, in training, in a match.

"I'm prepared to do whatever I need to do if I see things are going wrong. I will do whatever is required."

The England captain has not yet hit his peak in Germany and was at fault when Marcus Allback was left unmarked to head home Sweden's first goal in their Group B draw.

Beckham would not be drawn on his form when he addressed a news conference ahead of Sunday's second round match against Ecuador.

There are agendas out there but my agenda is to win the World Cup for this team," he said.

"We're in a very good situation, in the last 16 and very confident going into the game.

"I'm not sitting here to discuss my own form - that's for you guys."

The skipper was backed by centre-half John Terry, who said Beckham's passing had been "fantastic" in the tournament.

"He is doing very well. It does surprise me the criticism he is getting. It's easy to single him out because of his high profile. If the team doesn't play well he gets singled out," said Terry.

Eriksson has already underlined the need for the entire squad to practise defending set-pieces but refused to heap any individual blame on his captain.

"I've not spoken to him about it but I will do," said the England coach.

"If it had to happen, that was the right game for it to happen in. We conceded two bad goals and, if you want to find who is to blame, blame me, please."

Terry said the players had been working on eliminating mistakes at defending wide free-kicks, corners and throw-ins.

"I'm certain it won't happen again, we work on that very much in training," he said.
Beckham, who has been captain for the last five-and-a-half years, may not have hit top form but he has been at the heart of England's progress to the knockout stages.

It was his free-kick that was deflected in to beat Paraguay in the opening group game while his cross fed Peter Crouch to open the scoring against Trinidad and Tobago.

The midfielder said the squad was united despite reports of disagreements over tactics.

"The togetherness of our team can't be stronger - it's impossible. There's always negativity out there but we get on with our game and believe in ourselves," said Beckham.

From : BBC