David Bentley thinks he should be playing in Euro 2008
David Bentley’s withdrawal from the England U-21 squad is understandable, and I think there’s a very good reason why Bentley walked out.
Simply put, he has his eyes on Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. Bentley knows that he has an outside chance of making the Euro 2008 squad, but he can only do that by excelling for Blackburn next season. However, come 2010, Bentley will either be at a club bigger than Blackburn (making the progress to the senior England side easier) or would be an established squad member for England - at least that how the theory goes.
Stuart Pearce is quite justified in feeling angry at Bentley, especially since he’s withdrawn so late - but there’s not much he can do about it. Mark Hughes has come out and defended his player, as is expected, but for Hughes it’s always going to be a good decision to give one of his star players a rest during the summers.
Personally, I don’t think Bentley’s withdrawal will change things too much - the U-21 side has plenty of quality in it to push through and win without Bentley’s contribution (although his presence would definitely have made things a bit easier).
What’s more interesting, at this point, is David Bentley’s future at Blackburn. He’s an ambitious kid and definitely sees himself as a future England star. How long before he reaches the conclusion that he needs to move to a bigger club to make his spot in the national team more certain?
So here’s the question for today: Will Bentley leave Blackburn this summer? And if he does, what is his most likely destination?
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Ahmed - Bentley is playing a dangerous game. He could well go the same way as Chris Sutton, who refused a call-up for an England ‘B’ match, and was never seen in the squad again…
Hugo - big risks mean big rewards.
Bentley’s advantage is his versatility and he could very well come into the squad the way Dyer always pops up - ready to play as a second striker, attacking midfielder or on both wings.
Don’t think Dyer will make the 2010 WC.
Bentley’s presence would have greatly improved England’s chances, and would have been an excellent opportunity for him to show off his talents.
I can’t see him going anywhere right now in the premiership. Ironically Arsenal could really do with a wideman of his quality, but I don’t think he’ll return. If he really wants to improve, I think he should move abroad.
Bentley confirms what I’ve said - heh.
I understand bentlys reasons but the timing is awful
not that big of a deal. Ashley Young is a top quality replacement. And if Dyer and Downing can cement places in the senior squad there is no reason why Bentley can’t. UTV!
Bentley will be a loss, but no one really cares about the U21 side
Agreed, Dan. TBH,if he wasn’t going to play he should have said so earlier
“Ironically Arsenal could really do with a wideman of his quality, but I don’t think he’ll return.”
Duh, of course not! He’s not a Frenchman or an Ivorian.
hughly overrated he has no chance of making the 2008 competition.he should have gone with the u21s showed what he could do and hope to get picked up by a better club!
Think he’s done himself a lot of harm - not least with the fans. It’s his job to play football and why he gets paid big bucks. In private business if he did something like this he would be in deep water - and deservedly so. Shown himself to be stupid and selfish.
Fortunately Ed, this isn’t a private business and players are not contractually obliged to play for England. Despite the patriotic nonsense that Pearce is blurting out, he has every right to withdraw from the squad, although i do agree that he should have made himself unavailable for selection in the first place. Still, he’s not breaking any rules. And we are fortunate to live in a time when a player can refuse to play for his country without fear of facing the firing squad. Given his performances this year im sure he will make the full England aquad soon.
The guy is a dick, why wouldnt you play for your country when asked?
I for one am pissed he didnt show for the U21, someone said no-one cares about them, i do! its the future of this country.
Bentley is an idiot for his timing, and for everything else.
Terry can play 60 or more games a year and play WC, whats Bentleys excuse?
tts, your completely right.
i agree the timing was wrong (although there maybe something behind the scenes that we may not know of) many england players suffered cramps and fatigue throughout the tournament and england wer literally on their last legs against holland.
bentley i feel made a correct decision regardless of how people look at it. he was selected for the brazil friendly and he probably felt it was time to represent england at senior level.
also bentley has to play for blackburn in the intertoto cup ahead of a long season
and pearce? wot kind of a manager is he? he had no right to go open and slag bentley off. some of his remarks were over the top
if anyone is the real culprit its agbonlahor and not bentley
Why is Agbonlahor the culprit? He didn’t get called up in the first place….did he? And I just think that Bentley thinks he is too good for the U21s, which he isn’t, he might just have a commitment/ego problem.
And in truth I don’t think there are many teams better than Blackburn that would want him….he’s not a top 4 player, and Tottenham wouldn’t buy him, maybe Everton would be the only possibilty?
Richard, the most games Terry has played for Chelsea in a season is 53. That was in 2004-5 when there wasn’t a World Cup or European Championships to play before the next season.
David Bentley played 51 games for Blackburn last season, was expected to play 5 or more games for the U-21s in the space of a couple of weeks, and then report back to Rovers less than a fortnight later for pre-season training and an Intertoto match.
But don’t let the facts get in the way of slagging off a Blackburn player.
conor what teams do u call top 4 as everton is 4th at the moment and usualy they are mid table. Most peeps problems come from him being a Blackburn player, and why would he want to go to spurs lol, they are a team that usualy end up near Blackburn in the table so if he wanted to go to a better team spurs wouldnt be the one