A lesson for David Beckham

Sven-Goran Eriksson, England?s head coach, said on Thursday night that he would be advising David Beckham that ?silence is golden?. The Real Madrid and England midfielder has been lambasted this week for publicly admitting that he deliberately got himself booked against Wales last Saturday so as to engineer a suspension while injured.

The FA said on Friday it had written to Beckham ?asking for his observations? on the events at last weekend?s match against Wales and his subsequent comments.

Following England?s Beckham-less victory in Azerbaijan, Eriksson returned to his Soho Square office with one of the most important items in his in-tray being the Beckham furore. The Swede, who has already talked to Beckham once to accept his apology, insisted that the midfielder would not be stripped of the captain?s armband but he did promise to tell the player not to be so honest in future public utterances.

?David should think next time that talking is silver, silence is golden,? said Eriksson. ?He should be quiet and don?t say it.? Eriksson added that he felt the matter would be closed after talking to Beckham again, yet he is aware that disciplinary action is still possible.

The problem the FA now have is that their chairman, Geoff Thompson, appeared to forgive Beckham on Wednesday by saying that he should retain the captaincy. Thompson?s supportive stance was not shared by all at Soho Square and the chairman was spotted having a frank exchange of views with David Dein and Dave Richards, two senior FA officials, at the ground in Baku on Wednesday.

Having privately indicated there was ?no thirst for blood? over Beckham, the FA insisted on Thursday that they were still considering their position on the Real Madrid midfielder. ?We will have to reflect on David?s strong apology and Sven?s conversations with him,? said the Soho Square spokesman, Adrian Bevington. ?Sven will advise us of his views and then, if there is something further to say on this subject, it will be formed by the FA collectively and from Sven.?

Eriksson added: ?I don?t know if Fifa and the FA want to do something or not. For me, it?s finished. I?ve spoken to him and he?s apologised. He said more or less he was sorry for the problem he?d created and was surprised by the big reaction.?

Eriksson clearly does not find anything wrong with using up a yellow card, simply in admitting it. ?Of course I wouldn?t like to see it [that tackle on Wales? Ben Thatcher] again but more or less everything is ok, but I don?t talk [about it]. Football has always been like that. How many times have you seen a player taking a yellow card because he doesn?t want to play the next game?

?Maybe you could put in a rule, to say that if it?s obvious a player wants to get himself a yellow card the ban should be for the next game, but the yellow card still stands in the game afterwards. It?s hard to prove intent but that might be one answer.?

Eriksson stressed that Beckham had been acting strategically. ?He thought about England and what was best for England. Whether what he did was right or wrong is another question.?

The fuss surprised Eriksson. ?It was like the third World War had gone off,? said the Swede, who is aware of the media?s ravenous interest in Beckham. ?Whatever he?s doing, he has people around him all the time, press and cameramen. He?s probably the most famous football player ever, in all the world. I remember the 2002 World Cup in Japan. It was absolutely incredible. It is because he is a good football player but also has charisma.

This global celebrity causes Soho Square a problem as they ponder punishing Beckham.