Beckham and Eriksson enjoyed a close relationship when the Swede was boss

Former England boss Sven Goran Eriksson says he would have handled ending David Beckham's international career in a different manner to Fabio Capello.

Current coach Capello has been widely criticised for saying in a TV interview that 115-cap Beckham was "probably too old" to continue without informing him.

But Eriksson said speaking to players personally about big decisions which affect them is a key part of the job.

"You have to do that to show respect," he told BBC Radio 5 live.

Capello's decision to end Beckham's England career was revealed ahead of Wednesday night's friendly win over Hungary, prompting the LA Galaxy midfielder's agent to release a statement confirming the Los Angeles-based player's desire to carry on playing for England.

It was confirmed by the Football Association on Sunday that Capello's assistant, Franco Baldini, had phoned Beckham to tell him that Capello had suggested his England career was over in the interview.

But former AC Milan and Real Madrid manager Capello - whose general communication with many of his squad and prospective players is being now brought into question - did not call.

Asked how he informed players of his decisions when he was in charge, Eriksson, who led England to two World Cup quarter-finals in 2002 and 2006, told the Sportsweek programme that speaking to them personally was very important.

David Beckham deserves all the respect you can give to him Sven Goran Eriksson

"If it's a player with 20 to 50 caps or more, then yes, absolutely," he said. "I did it many times. David Seaman was one of them.

"From my point of view, I would do it because I want to show respect to the players - especially those who have done a lot of good things for England in the past.

"David Beckham deserves all the respect you can give to him."

Following England's 2-1 victory over Hungary at Wembley on Wednesday, Capello hinted Beckham - who is just 10 short of Peter Shilton's record for the most England caps - could be given a farewell outing in a friendly match against France.

The confusion over Beckham's future was the third recent example of a breakdown in communication between Capello and his players.

On Sunday, he was embarrassed when Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson and Manchester United defender Wes Brown announced they were quitting England duty just 24 hours after they had been named in the squad for the Hungary game.

And shortly after the World Cup, Paul Scholes revealed he might have considered Capello's request to come out of international retirement if he - rather than Baldini - had phoned him directly.

Eriksson, who managed England between 2001 and 2006, told 5 live he did think Capello is a good manager: "There are no doubts about that. He has got good results wherever he has been before."

But he added: "Of course, it is important to have a good relationship with the FA, the fans, the players and the press. It is more difficult if you don't have a good luck with these people.

"But I think he will be successful."

The Football Association's managing director of Club England, Adrian Bevington, played down the controversy surrounding Beckham and Capello.

"Fabio was asked one question is the midst of about 200 this week at the end of one TV interview and decided to communicate that he didn't envisage picking David in the future," he told Sportsweek on Sunday.

"Clearly that is big news in the world we live in.

"We are all aware that Franco Baldini, who generally tends to deal with player liaison, spoke with David personally.

"I am also aware there has been quite a lot of contact with David and his advisors and I am confident that, if he hasn't already, Fabio will be making contact with David sometime this weekend.

"Styles and decisions that were praised before the World Cup are now clearly be viewed differently, and being heavily criticised. This is always the way after a disappointing World Cup."

He added: "We are fully aware that we are in a difficult situation there is a lot of pressure around.

"Our job is to support Fabio as best we can. He's a very experienced manager who has his own style of working and maybe we can help him on one or two things. Maybe now is the time to ensure we're improving how we communicate between the manager and players."

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