Great Britan squad

According to The Times, David Beckham has been left out of the Olympic squad and the three overage picks have been Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards.

What are your thoughts?

I know that the FA and Stuart Pearce have said that they're going to take the Olympics seriously and pick on merit, but I think it'd have been nice to see Beckham have a better send off than the one he had for England and considering the role he played in securing the Olympics it's a shame that after all that he won't even get to take part. I'd have picked him because I think there is room for sentiment in this case.

It's likely Micah Richards will find himself in an England squad in the future where as Beckham will never get the chance to have his send off.

So you are at least accepting this is NOT a serious football competition...............

John Cregan wrote:So you are at least accepting this is NOT a serious football competition...............

I don't think it is for the GB team, it means a lot more to other countries who try and take part every Olympics.

It's definately a hard event to get excited about.
Talking of Micah Richards, his absence from Euro 2012 squad was baffling................

Really don't care about the olympics in general, so a watered down competition doesn't move me at all

I think Pearce thought he'd be praised for not picking Beckham because people would see it as a publicity stunt, forgetting that the Olympics just aren't a serious competition for football.

Micah Richards attitude stinks - that's why he was absent from Euro 2012, and should be absent from the Olympics.

And it isn't a serious football competition. I doubt many people could even tell you who won it last time? (I haven't a clue!)

Beckham should have been picked as a true ambassador for English/British football. And those saying that the team should be picked on merit - are we seriously to believe that Giggs and Bellamy are the best players over the age of 23? Giggs has blatantly got the nod due to sentimentality. And Bellamy. Probably charity because they've never played in a big tournament.

Well come the end of the Olympics they still won't have played at a big tournament

Wasn't Brazil? I remember Ronaldinho playing.

And yeah He shouldn't have picked Beckham.

Gareth Bale is out now so the GB squad has pretty much no star names bar possibly Ryan Giggs, and with football tickets still struggling to sell it's not looking good for Pearce and the Olympics.

I can see this being the beginning of the end for Pearce. Naming Beckham in his preliminary squad only to then omit him from the final cut appears downright cruel. I hope what I read yesterday, where it was suggested that this is a pop at the FA after being banished from the England seniors bench, is wrong but probably not.

I agree with ED on Richards and his attitude. Preferring to go on holiday rather than being on his national team's standby list is an act of petulance in itself and I wouldn't be remotely bothered if he never plays for England again. In fact I wouldn't be surprised to see him leaving City within the next couple of years either.

Ryan Giggs however deserves his moment in the sun though I'm not sure any real football fan even cares about this competition? I don't anyway.

Argentina won it last time with a certain Lionel Messi playing. Before that it was Nigeria.

Other countries take it seriously as its a good way of breeding younger players for international football. We've never done it cause of the various FA boards disagreeing.

I think it's a shame for Beckham. He was instrumental in working to get the Olympics and has always been a great ambassador for his sport. He deserves a send off and I think he's more likely to put bums on seats than Richards.

I think not picking Beckham is a mistake , personally i would have selected him over Bellamy or Richards .

This was a opportunity to gather intrest in a Olympic GB football team for future Olympics aswell as this one , like has been said Beckham would have created intrest much more then Bellamy or Richards .

Beer's right, it's valued highly in other countries. In ours it's not because of the problems surrounding Team GB.

In ours its not because we have the WC and Euros.

The big South American teams don't take the Copa America very seriously.