London: Sven-Goran Eriksson has backed England captain David Beckham to put his club concerns at Real Madrid to one side in time for the World Cup finals.
Beckham, 30, has another season left on his contract with the Spanish giants and the former Manchester United midfielder has said he wants to begin discussions on a new deal soon.
However, his future at Real is less certain following the recent departure of club president Florentino Perez, the man behind Beckham's move to the Bernabeu three years ago.
"In general it's better that these things are solved before a World Cup, whether a player moves between clubs or stays at the same club," Eriksson said.
"But David Beckham can handle all sorts of problems and pressures and I don't think he will be worried about that playing in the World Cup."
Another midfield worry for Eriksson ahead of the finals in Germany in June and July concerns the identity of the 'holding' player.
Eriksson believes that, long-term, either Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard will move into that position.
But the Swede, who will quit following the World Cup after a series of unflattering newspaper revelations, has not ruled out the possibility of employing Michael Carrick in a defensive role in Germany - even if it means dropping Liverpool skipper Gerrard or Chelsea mainstay Lampard.
"Gerrard and Lampard are two extremely intelligent football players who, in the future when they lose a little bit of energy, could play extremely well as sitting midfielders. I'm sure about that."
However, Eriksson added: "Maybe in some games I would pick Carrick ahead of Lampard or Gerrard in order to have a real sitting midfielder. In some games we will meet a team with two strikers and a player like (France's Zinedine) Zidane behind them and you have to think about what to do."
Despite Carrick's composed 'holding' display during England's 2-1 friendly win over Uruguay last week, Eriksson's midfield four for the World Cup opener against Paraguay is likely to consist of Beckham, Joe Cole, Gerrard and Lampard.
Eriksson's main concern is at left-back, where there is little cover if Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge fail to overcome their current injury problems.
Comments
0 comment