New England chief Fabio Capello wants everyone to know this is a new day in England. When the national team suits for its friendly against Switzerland, there won’t be a familiar face on the sidelines—David Beckham’s. It turns out the Italian won’t be asking Beckham back onto the squad, even as his former Real Madrid player looks for his 100th game in an England uniform. Of course, Capello’s blaming MLS for not preparing him for the trials for international duty, but… well, actually we’ve got nothing. When the man’s right, he’s right.

David Beckham looks as though he will have to wait for his 100th England cap after Fabio Capello told his inner circle that he intends to leave the former Real Madrid midfielder out of his first squad to face Switzerland at Wembley on Wednesday week. Capello names his 22-man squad on Saturday and Beckham is not expected to be on the list.

It is the close season for Beckham’s club side, Los Angeles Galaxy, and Capello has also expressed serious doubts about the standard of Major League Soccer but insists that he is not closing the door on the former England captain’s international career. Indeed, he still sees Beckham playing a role in his attempt to qualify for the 2010 World Cup

We know why Capello’s not asking Becks back on the team—he’s spending too much time with Snoop Dogg making songs and teaching his sons a bit about the beautiful game. Spending that much time with Snoop can only lead to enough weed inhalation that his teammates would catch contact just standing next to him. And one thing Fabio Capello doesn’t need is a smoked-up English team playing lazier soccer than it did last year.

Capello ready to leave Beckham out of squad [Guardian UK]
Image [slam.canoe.ca]