Final Wembley fling for Becks would not ease Mac's problems

The England coach will not make a final decision until after this evening's B international at Burnley, but he is said to be seriously tempted, and not because he suddenly sees the Real Madrid winger as a solution to all his problems.

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Next Friday's encounter with Brazil will be England's first appearance at the new Wembley and McClaren goes there as a man under immense pressure.

He suffered unprecedented abuse from supporters in Barcelona in March and then stormed out of the press conference that followed that less-than-convincing victory against Andorra.

After just nine games and nine months in charge, his job and reputation are on the line. Defeat by the mighty Brazil will not destroy him but a failure to win in Estonia five days later certainly would.

Not that Estonia should pose England any problems when, in their five European Championship qualifying games so far, they have conceded 10 goals without scoring once.

There can only be one reason why McClaren is now ready to go back on a decision that remains to his credit — why recalling a player he quite rightly dropped last August could only be regarded as the desperate measure of a desperate man.

McClaren cannot possibly be thinking of Beckham beyond June 6, after which Beckham knows that he is finished as a first-class footballer.

Real Madrid's late push for Spanish league glory is the 32-year-old's last hurrah before he drifts into semi-retirement with a hugely lucrative move to Los Angeles Galaxy.

But Beckham can offer protection at a time when McClaren clearly feels he needs it most. All eyes, after all, will move away from a chastened England coach and on to the former darling of the English game.

Wembley would provide the perfect stage for Beckham to say a final farewell, and it would be perfect for brand Beckham too.

As much has already been discussed along the Football Association's corridors of power as they wrestle with their decision to appoint McClaren in the first place.

They do not relish the prospect of hearing their highest-paid employee booed by 90,000 England fans, nor do they want to replace him before the Euro 2008 campaign has run its course.

It would amount to an admission from FA chief executive Brian Barwick and his colleagues that they got it wrong last summer.

If McClaren does turn to Beckham as a short-term saviour, he will not struggle to make a case for his inclusion in the England squad.

Beckham might have only appeared in three of Real Madrid's last 10 games but his form has been decent, certainly when compared to Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Amid talk of the need for experience, Beckham is a player with a point to prove — a player who will plant crosses on the head of Peter Crouch and at the feet of Michael Owen until those tired legs finally give out.

The concern, however, is the long-term impact it could have and it is a concern that has apparently been expressed by McClaren's assistant, Terry Venables.

When it comes to those autumn meetings with Russia, Croatia and Israel — the games which will ultimately determine if England reach next year's tournament in Austria and Switzerland — it will not be Beckham they turn to for the role on the right wing. It will again be Lennon or Wright-Phillips.

As Venables and others would no doubt argue, what is the point in bringing back Beckham for two games when the serious business does not start until September? If anything, McClaren could end up harming his own credibility.

His start in international management has been difficult but he has at least shown the strength to make some tough calls.

Omitting Beckham from his first squad put a major mark down and said he would not indulge England's star players in the manner Sven Goran Eriksson so often did.

The mystery that then surrounded Frank Lampard's appearance in the stands in Barcelona turned into a public relations disaster for McClaren and the FA. But, if anyone ever dares admit it, the England coach deserves some respect for dropping him, too.

Name Beckham on Saturday, though, and he will look weaker than Eriksson ever did.