England's World Cup campaign collapsed because the players were jealous of the 'superstar' status of David Beckham, according to 'super agent' Pini Zahavi. It was "jealousy" of David Beckham that caused Frank Lampard to shoot 25 times without scoring during the World Cup. According to Zahavi, "jealousy" wrecked the equilibrium of the England squad, while the Swede also erred by prolonging the Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard central-midfield partnership and only selecting four strikers."There was a big problem of jealousy inside the team. It's something that nobody has talked about before," Zahavi told Yedioth Ahronoth, an Israeli newspaper. "If Eriksson would ever tell the whole story, and I've talked about it with him a lot, everybody would understand what was going on inside the England dressing room.
"A lot of the players didn't like the way Beckham was treated as a superstar. They felt that he didn't deserve the status he had compared with what he was able to do on the pitch." Zahavi's comments have been transferred to the backpages of all of Friday's newspapers, a reflection not just of the news void that an international week inevitably brings, but also of the influence agents carry in the modern era. While Zahavi is considered to be a confidant of Erikkson, The Times justifies splashing his quotes across its own backpage by describing him as 'the influential Israeli agent of Rio Ferdinand.'
Although undoubtedly correct, Zahavi's withering assessment that "Lampard and Gerrard can't play together" appears to be based on the evidence available to anyone who watched England in action rather this season, rather than the echo of an internal disclosure. Eriksson, after all, remained steadfast in his belief that the pair could dovetail.
The Swede's successor, Steve McClaren, has shown no inclination to terminate the partnerhip, although Gerrard is expected to line-up on the right of midfield in Tel Aviv. In the words of Zahavi, "a football earthquake" will erupt if England are beaten, and "the press will drink McClaren's blood and he will be finished."
"They'll finish him once and for all. For England and McClaren it is a case of 'To be or not to be'."