Taylor tribute to Beckham

Peter Taylor has paid tribute to former England captain David Beckham.

Peter Taylor, the man who first handed David Beckham the England captaincy, has paid tribute to the midfielder after his decision to relinquish the honour.

Beckham was named England captain by Taylor in November 2000, when the new Crystal Palace boss took charge for a friendly against Italy.

Upon Sven Goran Eriksson's appointment as Three Lions coach, the Swede kept faith with Beckham as the national team's skipper.

The Real Madrid midfielder led the team at three major tournaments, but has decided to hand over the job after England's World Cup exit to Portugal.

Taylor has eulogised over Beckham's leadership qualities and feels it must have been a tough decision for the 31-year-old to reach.

"Where I'm quite sad about it is I think he was an excellent captain for six years," Taylor told Sky Sports News.

"He played ever so well for England and has done very well for us.

"I know how proud he was to be captain and he must have thought long and hard about it."

The former England Under-21 coach also believes that Beckham is strong enough to handle the recent criticism which has come his way.

Taylor added: "Listening to your programme about all the criticism, I think with David that one of the reasons why I wanted him to be captain at that time was I thought he handled things like that so well and I think he does.

"When people have had a pop at him, he's got stronger and stronger and he's been a terrific leader."