World Cup 2010 paper view: David Beckham for England manager?

David Beckham looking a bit like a manager. He's got the finger point pretty much nailed. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PA Wire/Press Association Images

Smart, versatile, knowledgeable, articulate and likeable, Roy Hodgson appears to have many qualities that are alien to the Englandnational team. And yet the FA wants him to replace Fabio Capello. Or at least it did, until, according exclusively to the Daily Mail, Mr Hodgson decided to pass up the England job to accept the Liverpool one, the upshot of which, again according to the Mail, is that "England's World Cup crisis has been thrown into further chaos."

Let us hope the FA do not turn to the Sun for a solution. Because over there Shaun Custis is prescribing a dose of David Beckham. "Becks has no coaching badges, no managerial experience and has never courted the job, so on the surface he would seem a high-risk successor," notes the Sun's top spotter before deducing: "But he could be just themagic ingredient to lift our national team out of the doldrums."

Why? Because Diego Maradona seems now to be doing well with Argentina. "Becks cannot, of course, point to any World Cup wins. But he has experienced great highs and lows in his football career, has won the Champions League and league titles and his celebrity status rivals that of Maradona's. He could take every ounce of pressure off these fragile England players who are apparently crippled by fear – and would happily take on the responsibility. His very presence commands instant respect. He knows what makes English footballers tick and what works for them." There you go: sorted.

Guardian: