I think nobody would have really stuck there neck out when football betting that David Beckham would have returned to the England camp. I wouldn’t have bet that he would have ever returned after being left out by Steve McClaren when he took over.

So, is it looking to build a stronger side or just a lack of options? Its’ no secret that McClaren hasn’t found the right recipe so far for some sort of success but is he now forced to look back rather than forward because of this lack of strength in depth?

We’ve blogged about this before and it’s a situation that seems to be affecting England team sports. With the amount of football being played in this country, it’s hard to see why we can’t achieve a solid squad where places are competed for in a much fiercer way and when one of our super stars is injured, you can think to yourself, ah well, never mind, we’ve got so and so to come on as a replacement.

So there seems to be a two -pronged problem : lack of strength in depth and the injuries that our top players seem to be consistently suffering from.

You can bet that Brazilian and Italian football, Australian and Kiwi rugby and Australian cricket replacements will all plug any hole as strongly as the player that left it.