David Beckham has revealed that he was not surprised to have been dropped from the England squad by Fabio Capello and admits a call-up would have been “unfair” on his team-mates.
Though former England captain Beckham has been training with Arsenal, he has not had a competitive game with his club Los Angeles Galaxy since the end of last year.
It is the second time the midfielder has been dropped by Capello after he was also left on the sidelines during their time together at Real Madrid.
And Beckham has admitted he “half expected” to suffer the same fate he experienced at the Bernabeu a year ago.
“It’s always disappointing when you’re not included in an England squad,” he told Sky Sports News. “The thing is I half expected it because I know what Fabio Capello is like as a manager and if he thinks you’re not fit and ready to play then you won’t be in the team.
“I totally respect that and totally understand that. There are a lot of Premiership players who have played 15 games in the last two months and I haven’t played a game since December – so to be called into the squad was probably unfair.”
Beckham has been criticised for interrupting his recent spell of training with Arsenal to travel to Africa and South America.
But the former Manchester United player denies that those were a mistake.
“I’d done everything I could to make myself available, I worked hard for a month with Arsenal,” Beckham insisted.
“I did go to Sierra Leone and Brazil, but those trips were only four days long and for the rest of the month I was training very hard.
“It’s simply down to not playing any games, the manager explained that, and I wish him and the rest of the players good luck for the first game.
“I think he’s a great appointment and he’s going to be good for the English game.”
