Stuart Pearce is in the middle of trying to prepare Great Britain for the first football tournament in years and already he finds himself under scrutiny. The former England player has hit the headlines this week with the news he has decided to leave David Beckham out of his 23 man squad for the upcoming games.
Stuart Pearce was entitled to to choose three over aged players for his British squad but all the indications are that Becks has not be given one of the slots in a decision which divides opinions. There are those that believe Beckham deserves his place in the squad given his standing in the game along with the fact he was a major part of the team that secured the games for London in 2005. Others meanwhile will point to the fact that Beckham is long past his best and plying his trade at a poor level for the LA Galaxy in the American MLS.
The idea of a British team has always been a controversial one with the home nations outside of England giving strong opposition to their players joining the squad. Those calls have fallen on deaf ears though with the vast majority of players eager to play on the big stage in what is set to be a unique challenge for Pearce and his team of coaches.
The pressure is very much on Stuart Pearce as we head into the tournament with the nation expecting a good performance from the young team of players. The England Under 21 Manager has chose to take Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards to the tournament as his over age players and those selections are sure to come under scrutiny with Beckham on the sidelines.
If the Great Britain team can perform well that will be a major boost for the career of Stuart Pearce who has been working for the FA for some time now and at some stage is surely going to be eager to get back into a club job. Likewise a poor performance from Team GB will see his coaching credentials called into question making it a fascinating tournament for the Manager in a unique situation.
