Becks' spectre puts blight on Bentley's night

As the Wembley crowd waited only 20 minutes before striking up their first chorus of 'There's only one David Beckham', Bentley must have wondered if the former England captain had bought up a corner of the stadium and filled it with half of Leytonstone.

Unfortunately the truth is more simple.

England — or at least a significant part of it — is still in love with Beckham and the young man from Blackburn who has been pencilled in as his replacement on the right side will not be cut any slack as long as he keeps telling people how good he is.

Bentley, as it happens, is a talented, confident player. Isn't that what we want from our footballers?

The sports psychologists will tell us that it is. So, too, will England coach Fabio Capello.

But those with something to say for themselves walk a very fine line with the English public and last night Bentley discovered that self-promotion is something England fans would prefer their footballers to do with their feet.

Whoever is eventually asked to fill Beckham's boots on a permanent basis is always going to carry the weight of unreasonable expectation and Bentley seemed to struggle a little with the load.

The comparisons are unfair after only Bentley's third cap and the truth is that he improved markedly in the second half when he provided some of the astute passes for which he was picked.

The 23-year-old winger is a super crosser of the ball and not unlike Beckham in the manner in which he can deliver a whipped delivery from a standing position without actually beating his full-back first.

Blackburn manager Mark Hughes has based much of their recent progress on the back of such a devastating weapon.

Nevertheless, it was a display of wayward crossing that prompted the Wembley crowd to deride Capello for denying Beckham his 100th cap and when one poor effort disappeared behind the goal in the 21st minute the England fans voiced their displeasure.

If it bothered Bentley it didn't show and for that he deserves some credit.

He did not hide and as Capello left him on the field deep into the game, the coach began to reap some reward for promoting a young player who upset a few people last summer by choosing not to travel to the European Under 21s Championships in Holland.

Twice in the early stages of the second half Bentley provided opportunities for Wayne Rooney: one a chipped pass that should have led to a goal and another a short range grubber that was perfectly weighted.

It is this intelligent delivery, this ability to vary the range of his passing, that can make Bentley an asset for England.

Sadly, they do not have many players with his vision. Maybe it will just take one moment — a free-kick goal perhaps — to change the direction of public opinion.

It can easily happen and it did for Jermaine Jenas last night.

Though only 18 months older, Jenas has more international experience than Bentley but it took him until his 18th cap to score what could be a pivotal goal in his young career.

A simple goal, but the manner of his contribution was typical of what he has been doing for Tottenham manager Juande Ramos this season.

He is adept at moving onto passes from wide positions and lay-offs from the centre forwards, timing his runs to inflict maximum damage.

A little like United's Paul Scholes, you might say.

Certainly there was something of Scholes' intelligence and sense of timing in the way that Jenas drifted into the penalty area from deep to score the goal after excellent wide play from Joe Cole at a time when Switzerland were having the better of things.

By all accounts, Jenas is selfeffacing enough to deal with such a compliment.