Capello's home movie makes for pleasurable viewing

While Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was probably charging us for her porn collection again, David Beckham was becoming England’s greatest capped outfield player as he came on at half time against Slovakia last night.

Much has been made of whether he is worthy of taking the accolade from the late, great Bobby Moore which is something I don’t quite understand.

The marking of the landmark has seen usual crop of “Beckham-bashers” crawl out from under their stones to slate him just because he wasn’t as good as Moore.

Many are quick to criticise the former skipper for not guiding the great crop of underachievers to anything more than a World Cup quarter final.

The man has always given his all for his country whether it has come off or not.

People need to remember that Moore’s legacy is not under threat by this achievement and should give well deserved credit to Beckham.

Any player who can make that amount of appearances for their country are well worth being applauded. His passing and dead ball ability as well as his role as an ambassador for the game make him England’s most outstanding footballer in recent years.

Beckham was still showing his undoubted class against the Slovaks by providing a perfectly chipped cross to set up the “crazy” cranium of Wayne Rooney to nod in England’s second.

You’ve got to ask yourself how many of the current crop will now go on beat his record?

Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole are all well on their way to take Beckham’s new title.

Records are there to be broken and Beck’s undoubted mental strength and determination to fight for his place in the England squad has paid dividends.

But his introduction for the second period was only part of a very good night for England.

Fabio Capello again proved he has got the team playing with more fluidity and focus.

Gone have the rigid days of Sven’s unshakable 4-4-2 as we now finally look to be adapting to modern world football.

The players look to have an understanding of what is being asked of them by playing in different formations and systems.

Many of the current midfield and forward line are able to offer Capello a choice of playing them in more than one position which is resulting in a more flexible, interchangeable, aesthetically pleasing England.

While the excellent Rooney became the big daddy, the likes of Gerrard and Lampard both looked more comfortable in an England shirt. Aaron Lennon’s pace was an asset, as was the astute performance of Glenn Johnson at right back.

Although there are still some concerns that better teams than Slovakia may be able to get at us. At times the back four is being made to look extremely vulnerable by our forward thinking midfield.

Plus there’s the mini striking crisis, with Darren Bent now linking up with the squad due to Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole’s enforced withdrawals and Peter Crouch’s severed hip.

But the signs look promising. Next up is the Ukraine on Wednesday with victory imperative to World Cup qualification.

Let’s just hope the players don’t over exert themselves by watching any of Jacqui Smith’s personal favourites on the hotel’s pay per view the night before the game.