Beckham offers support to Eriksson

David Beckham has given his support to under-pressure England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.

The Swede's future is in doubt after an affair with a Football Association secretary but England captain Beckham said on Thursday: "As far as I'm concerned he's been a great man to me and a great man to the rest of the (England) players."

"Every one of the players respects him as a manager and what he's done for the team and what he's done for the country."

Speaking after his club Real Madrid beat J-League team JEF United Ichihara 3-1 in Tokyo on Thursday, Beckham was asked for his opinion of his manager's current problems.

"That's for other people to decide, but as far as I'm concerned, he's a great England manager. I've enjoyed working with him and hopefully I can carry on working with him."

Beckham is no stranger to media intrusion himself, though, and he added a note of realism to his comments, saying: "At the end of the day we love playing under him and if people decide otherwise then so be it."

"But my comments and I know the rest of the players' comments will be that he's a great manager and we love working with him."

"But we'll have to see. There's always going to be criticism and sometimes you have to take the rough with the smooth, and when you come through it you're a stronger person."

"But that's how our country is. I've said it before, you come through some tough stages in your life and career, it makes you a stronger person."

Beckham said he had not spoken to Eriksson since his vacation.

"I spoke to him when I was on holiday, but that was it."

After the game with JEF in hot and humid conditions, Beckham deflected criticism of Real Madrid's tough schedule on their tour to Japan by saying it was good preparation for the upcoming season.

"As I said, it's good to come to Japan not because of the fans, the way they are to me and all the players, but (because) the climate is very tough and to have a good workout like that in this climate is good for the players."

As for Japan, he said he wouldn't rule out playing there toward the end of his career: "Maybe. You never know. At the end of my career, you never know what might happen."

"I never say never, but I'm a Real Madrid player and I enjoy playing for this team and in the country (Spain), so we'll see."

Real Madrid will play Ossie Ardiles's Tokyo Verdy 1969 on Sunday before heading back to Spain on Monday.