bunce2806

2 ways to look at this:

Quite a few good reasons to leave him out: Slowing pace - to the point that he's not contributing all that much when not taking freekicks, corners, etc.  Not as match fit as Premier League players (even though he's been training hard), and there are already enough experienced players to guide the new guys and steady the team (Ferdinand, Owen, Gerrard, etc).

But on the other hand I personally would have selected Becks, maybe as a sub.  He's still a good player who can inspire the team by example.  Also perhaps more importantly, dangerous for a new manager to make a lot of fans hate him for leaving a star, even a fading star, hanging on 99 caps.