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Agbonlahor and Neville continue feud over Beckham behaviour on England duty

talksport.com, 17 November 2022, 10:26
Gabby Agbonlahor and Phil Neville's feud over David Beckham's behaviour on England duty has escalated.

It all began when talkSPORT co-host and Aston Villa legend Agbonlahor used Beckham as an example to describe his experience of an unfriendlier culture on Three Lions duty.

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According to Agbonlahor, the former captain 'didn't speak to anyone' and 'closed his diary in disgust' on one occasion when Phil Jagielka tried to spark up a conversation.

Beckham is now co-owner of MLS franchise Inter Miami and the club's manager, his former Manchester United teammate Phil Neville, sprung to his defence.

Taking to Twitter, Neville described Agbonlahor's story as 'bull****', and the talkSPORT host swiftly responded: "We get it Phil! Have ya boss' back! You didn't play for England after 2007? Before I started going into England squads! Maybe concentrate on winning a few games in the MLS and get off Twitter."

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Agbonlahor was back in the talkSPORT Breakfast studio to explain his position on Thursday - and he doubled down on his criticism of Neville.

"I wasn't having a go at Beckham," Agbonlahor said.

"I was just stating facts that he sat in the middle of his canteen, sat writing in his diary and didn't really want to speak to some players.

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"Maybe it was different with the Man United players or the superstar players.

"But the mediocre players, maybe he didn't want to speak to them. That's not a story I'm going to make up. Phil wasn't there.

"I understand Beckham's his boss at Inter Miami but Beckham doesn't need Phil to protect him.

"Let's be honest, he wouldn't be in a job if it wasn't for his mate Beckham. He would be coaching in the Conference. So pipe down."

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In response to that, Neville - who made 59 appearances in a Three Lions shirt - tweeted an image of three caps, presumably a dig at the number of appearances Agbonlahor made for England.

But the ex-Villa forward's claims were backed up by former England full-back Danny Mills, who played alongside Beckham at the 2002 World Cup.

Mills told talkSPORT: "There was a little bit of that. It was all about who you knew.

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"You go back to the times when smart phones were only just coming into play, there was no social media, internet was only just coming into it.

"You knew the players from your club. You went out with them, you had a drink with them. They were your mates. So you sat with them.

"I used to sit with Nigel Martyn. We were roommates at Leeds, we used to go away with England.

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"Becks was a bit different. I won't deny that. He had a lot of power and he could basically do what he wanted, when he wanted.

"Maybe that got a little bit worse, especially after 2002, when he became a global superstar.

"But that's always been the way. You stuck with your teammates. Unfortunately for Gabby he was playing for a small team who didn't have many players there!"

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Mills added: "I asked Becks to sign a book, bearing in mind I did all his running for him in 2002.

"I thought he would sign it to me personally and write a nice little message. It was, 'To Danny, best wishes…'

"He was a superstar and I think it got worse as time went on. He was the first media superstar and people were maybe a little intimidated by him."

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