After all the insanity about David Beckham being left off the Olympic team, we can finally get a look at the full roster that will represent Team Great Britain starting at the end of July.
Stuart Pearce Annouces Team Great Britain Roster
Today was supposed to be about the players representing Team Great Britain at the Olympics. Instead it’s all about David Beckham.
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Of course, the media seems far more interested in focusing on Beckham’s “snub” and nearly every story about the roster is focused on that element. In fact, there are several that mention the players who did make the squad as a mere afterthought. Not us though.
Here’s the roster Stuart Pearce will take to the Olympics:
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Birmingham City), Jason Steele (Middlesbrough)
Defenders: Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Steven Caulker (Tottenham Hotspur), Craig Dawson (West Bromwich Albion)
Micah Richards (Manchester City), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Neil Taylor (Swansea City), James Tomkins (West Ham United)
Midfielders: Joe Allen (Swansea City), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Jack Cork (Southampton), Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), Scott Sinclair (Swansea City)
Forwards: Craig Bellamy (Liverpool), Marvin Sordell (Bolton Wanderers), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea)
The Olympics is a under-23 tournament, but each team is allowed three overage players. Beckham was expected to be one of those, but instead Pearce went with Micah Richards, Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy. Solid choices overall and the type of players that should help make the rest of the team better.
Of course, that’s not the story.
Team Great Britain manager Stuart Pearce has been caught in a white hot spotlight since his decision to leave Beckham off the Olympic team was made public. Instead of being able to talk up his roster in an interview with The Guardian, Pearce was left having to defend his Beckham decision.
“When I was given the opportunity to manage this team, I looked on form, fitness, availability. In that respect I deemed this was the best squad available to take this tournament on. I’ve got a vast amount of respect for David and what he has done in bringing the Olympics to these shores, I have to be comfortable that I’ve made decisions on footballing grounds alone. Not on personality, or who I like as individuals. This is the strongest squad that’s available to me to select.”
Pearce explained he’d seen Beckham play live three times this season and every other LA Galaxy match on DVD. He also has gotten flack for the lack of any players from Northern Ireland and Scotland on the squad, despite the fact his singular job is to try and field a squad that can win the gold medal.
Beckham had made it pretty clear he wanted to be a part of the team and had been heavily involved with both the bid process for London to get the Olympics and in the build-up to the game.
Considering the contentiousness surrounding the decision to field Team Great Britain in the Olympics, the continued complaints and consternation really aren’t a surprise. Stuart Pearce has what basically amounts to an impossible job and any decision he made was likely to upset someone.
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