Beckham Must Bow to Time and Pass the Baton

David Beckham was the last man to leave the pitch, and this time it may have been a final curtain call. Losing to France will have given Fabio Capello a very clear idea of the problems he faces if he is to fulfill the hopes invested in him by England, and he could well be on the brink of concluding that radical measures are required. If so, we have probably seen the last of Beckham, whose contribution to the match may have been no worse than anyone else's but was certainly never threatening to swing the result England's way.

The last time Beckham ran out for England in the Stade de France it was to play in central midfield under a floundering Kevin Keegan who, only weeks away from his own departure, left the 20-year-old Michael Owen on the bench. That match, in September 2000, was also a friendly and England were losing 1-0 when Owen came on to produce a brilliant late equalizer, thus dimming the lights on the party at which France, who had just added the European title to their world championship, were saying farewell to a handful of their great stars.

Last night's party was supposed to be in celebration of Beckham's century and he occupied his natural berth on the right wing. He was in the action early on, missing a tackle on Claude Makelele in the second minute and chasing deep into his own half to dispossess Florent Malouda. Three minutes later his dipping right-wing cross forced Lilian Thuram to head the ball away for a corner at the near post, and his early combinations with Wes Brown looked reasonably assured, if slightly labored. With a quarter of an hour gone he raced in as Ashley Cole hit a low, hard cross from the left across the face of the goal but he narrowly failed to reach the ball after Grégory Coupet had stretched himself to make a deflection.

What England lacked was pace, particularly on Beckham's flank. Their ball retention was better than it had been against Switzerland but a lack of thrust was evident whenever they approached the home goal. France made their most effective progress down their own right, where François Clerc and Franck Ribéry were counterattacking with real speed, stretching the defenders in a way Beckham and Brown were failing to match. It was the urgency of Clerc's pass to Nicolas Anelka after half an hour that forced David James into the last-ditch challenge which persuaded the referee to award a penalty converted with alacrity by Ribéry.

Despite having allowed England an abundance of possession, France deserved their half-time lead for their superior incisiveness. Seven minutes before the interval, and in the middle of a lengthy period of anonymity, Beckham got himself booked for a scruffy challenge on Ribéry, his opposite number, whose pace and zest were attracting comparisons that could only be unflattering to the former England captain.

He had done nothing particularly wrong, apart from collecting the yellow card, but he had not managed to suppress the feeling that the men now in charge of England might do better to put their faith in the youthful promise of David Bentley, Theo Walcott or Aaron Lennon. That, of course, was the general sentiment when the squad returned from the World Cup in Germany almost two years ago. With eight of the starting line-up from the quarter-final against Portugal also on the field for the opening whistle last night, there was an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu.

Beckham survived into the second half, probably grateful to see Peter Crouch replacing Wayne Rooney as a more promising target for his crosses, one of which was immediately headed over Coupet's bar by the Liverpool man. The arrival of Owen alongside Crouch and Stewart Downing on the left in place of a very disappointing Joe Cole gave England a more conventional look, with two wingers and two strikers of contrasting qualities, but the rearrangement left Owen Hargreaves and Gareth Barry looking short of imagination as they were suddenly thrust into a more creative role.

Capello was being given an unwelcome vision of the flaws that prevented England from achieving their ambitions during Sven-Goran Eriksson's era. The sluggishness, the tentativeness and the lack of zip must have disconcerted the new manager, who had urged his team not to be afraid to take risks. Only Downing, with two clever reverse passes to release Ashley Cole into space on the left, showed signs of answering that particular call.

Beckham got a respectable hand as he left the field after 64 minutes, having failed to make a persuasive case for his right to continue as a first-choice player into the qualifying games for the 2010 World Cup. Throughout the second half a spectator ignorant of the recent history of these two teams would have been in no doubt about which of them is heading to an international tournament in a few weeks' time.

Essentially England had done nothing to dispel the ghosts of past failures. On a night that offered the opportunity for freedom of expression, too many familiar faces and too many familiar failings in the basic structure and attitude of their play will have had Capello and his assistants wondering if they can really change a set of bad habits that continue to resurface at the slightest opportunity. Last night the available material looked distinctly unpromising.