Television Beckham's Netflix documentary

Massive Spanner said:
She's always come across a lot better than him. Great sense of humour. I still love the Ali G interview they did years and years ago (it's referenced in the doc) where she has loads of good quips and he just sort of sits there smiling.

I think he's probably a bit dim, really, admits it himself at times in the doc in fairness. All he cares about is the money and fame and nothing else. Even when he "chased" Victoria it sounds like he basically wanted her because she was the hottest member of the biggest girl group in the world rather than anything meaningful.
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I vaguely remember the Ali G interview from the time, wasn’t that the birth of the “golden balls” moniker?

But yea she definitely has more about her then he does and it was funny (maybe not funny) to see the rug pulled from under the whole ridiculous idea that she pushed him to join this fashion city clubs, when in reality she hated it all and just wanted stability.

I also wondered as I was watching; would SAF be successful in the current era with the amount of player power? His whole MO just doesn’t seem like it would fly these days; especially if he came into the game cold now without being who he is.
 
Massive Spanner said:
She's always come across a lot better than him. Great sense of humour. I still love the Ali G interview they did years and years ago (it's referenced in the doc) where she has loads of good quips and he just sort of sits there smiling.

I think he's probably a bit dim, really, admits it himself at times in the doc in fairness. All he cares about is the money and fame and nothing else. Even when he "chased" Victoria it sounds like he basically wanted her because she was the hottest member of the biggest girl group in the world rather than anything meaningful.
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That's a little harsh. For most of his career he also cared desperately about being as good a footballer as possible. Our last decade would have been a lot less painful if everyone in the squad was as driven as he was.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
That's a little harsh. For most of his career he also cared desperately about being as good a footballer as possible. Our last decade would have been a lot less painful if everyone in the squad was as driven as he was.
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Yeah sorry I should clarify, as a footballer he was clearly impeccable. I meant moreso when it came to his public image and lifestyle.
 
Rado_N said:
I vaguely remember the Ali G interview from the time, wasn’t that the birth of the “golden balls” moniker?

But yea she definitely has more about her then he does and it was funny (maybe not funny) to see the rug pulled from under the whole ridiculous idea that she pushed him to join this fashion city clubs, when in reality she hated it all and just wanted stability.

I also wondered as I was watching; would SAF be successful in the current era with the amount of player power? His whole MO just doesn’t seem like it would fly these days; especially if he came into the game cold now without being who he is.
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Who knows? Fergie would probably want to come into a club and immediately get rid of any player he didn't like, and most modern clubs would tell him to feck off! Ironically as the only big club without a solid DoF and recruitment structure we're probably still the only one that he'd be able to do it at.
 
Massive Spanner said:
Yeah sorry I should clarify, as a footballer he was clearly impeccable. I meant moreso when it came to his public image and lifestyle.
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He was a very committed footballer who only became a massive star due to his looks. He never really had much of a personality but I'm not sure most footballers do. That said, I wish we had a young Becks. Our players can't hold a candle to his mentality on pitch. And to be fair, Victoria got lucky. She was clearly the least talented Spice Girl, which is saying something. Posh and Becks the whole thing was utter cringe.
 
Massive Spanner said:
She's always come across a lot better than him. Great sense of humour. I still love the Ali G interview they did years and years ago (it's referenced in the doc) where she has loads of good quips and he just sort of sits there smiling.

I think he's probably a bit dim, really, admits it himself at times in the doc in fairness. All he cares about is the money and fame and nothing else. Even when he "chased" Victoria it sounds like he basically wanted her because she was the hottest member of the biggest girl group in the world rather than anything meaningful.
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Agreed. And that interview is still gold even today. She def came across as wearing the pants in the relationship and as someone who can take shit and dish it out - which is admirable.

Obligatory link for those who have never seen it:
 
golden_blunder said:
Hmmm hadnt heard of that one before
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They sound similar but actually are quite different. One is a mental health disorder that can be super disruptive and intrusive. The other is a personality disorder which OCD is often confused with. People with OCD don't care about things being neat or in a specific order.

An armchair psychologist might suggest than Beckham developed OCPD because of how controlling his father was. Have no control in your childhood > develop a personality where you are in total control of certain things and controlling them makes you feel good. Obviously it's more complicated than that but it paints a simple picture.
 
Spoony said:
He was a very committed footballer who only became a massive star due to his looks. He never really had much of a personality but I'm not sure most footballers do. That said, I wish we had a young Becks. Our players can't hold a candle to his mentality on pitch. And to be fair, Victoria got lucky. She was clearly the least talented Spice Girl, which is saying something. Posh and Becks the whole thing was utter cringe.
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Definitely helps being basically the best in the world at free kicks and world class at shooting and passing. Makes for a nice highlight reel.

Posh might have been the least talented singer and/or dancer but her post-Spice Girl career is definitely the biggest.
 
Snow said:
They sound similar but actually are quite different. One is a mental health disorder that can be super disruptive and intrusive. The other is a personality disorder which OCD is often confused with. People with OCD don't care about things being neat or in a specific order.

An armchair psychologist might suggest than Beckham developed OCPD because of how controlling his father was. Have no control in your childhood > develop a personality where you are in total control of certain things and controlling them makes you feel good. Obviously it's more complicated than that but it paints a simple picture.
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I’m not sure where you’re getting your information from here but it’s a bit all over the place. In terms of the traits experienced by the individual there’s very little difference between OCD the condition and OCPD. If anything, there’s more person to person variation between people with the same diagnosis then there is between the two diagnoses. The important difference is that one is a potentially treatable mental illness, while a personality disorder can’t be ‘cured’. Only managed or (sometimes) grown out of, as the person with the PD matures.
 
Just watching this - so much nostalgia.

Also remembering what an amazing player he was. Those crosses and passes - nothing like it.
 
Solius said:
Beckham didn't win the free-kick for his goal against Greece. IIRC it was Sheringham jumping for a header but the defender climbed all over him.

In the documentary it shows him dribbling past a few players and being fouled, followed by the free-kick. So it's look he won it and scored it.

It's a tiny detail but makes you question what else they've changed. Also there's no need to edit it that way, it's already an incredible moment and a magnificent goal that took balls.
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Think they also made it seem like Beckham scored the winner against Spurs on the final day in 99.
 
Those scenes in the 99 treble season final - bought tears to my eyes. It was such a euphoric moment.
 
JB7 said:
I kept pausing it and saying exactly this to my Mrs. It was a really bizarre turn for it to take given he came out of World Cup 98 and went on to have the best season of his career, where he could easily have won the Ballon d'Or. And that first game surely had everything they wanted for the dramatic narrative, one of Leicester goals came from him losing a 50:50, our first goal was a Beckham shot that deflected in off Sheringham and then him scoring a 90th minute freekick equaliser with the commentator shouting "BECKHAM'S BACK". I know that Netflix like to move things around for effect but that season, and that period in his life, didn't need it, it was already its own story which if you'd written in literature would have been rejected as ridiculous.
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You need to bear in mind that we as United fans know much of this stuff, but there's a lot of folks out there that don't, all they know is he's a famous footie player married to a Spice Girl, the Netflix thing is aimed more at them
 
Red in STL said:
You need to bear in mind that we as United fans know much of this stuff, but there's a lot of folks out there that don't, all they know is he's a famous footie player married to a Spice Girl, the Netflix thing is aimed more at them
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Not even that it seems. I ve talked to several women at the office who watched it and said they had no idea he was famous or good, just that he was a footie player and good looking and married to Posh Spice. I wouldn't be surprised if that is the prevalent belief in the US since especially when he played European footie wasn't as accessible state side I believe.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I’m not sure where you’re getting your information from here but it’s a bit all over the place. In terms of the traits experienced by the individual there’s very little difference between OCD the condition and OCPD. If anything, there’s more person to person variation between people with the same diagnosis then there is between the two diagnoses. The important difference is that one is a potentially treatable mental illness, while a personality disorder can’t be ‘cured’. Only managed or (sometimes) grown out of, as the person with the PD matures.
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I don't know where you get that from. The case of OCD that I am most intimate with shares nothing with OCPD in terms of traits.

Both can be possibly treated, with great difficulty. OCD treatment is very recent thing.
 
Redplane said:
Not even that it seems. I ve talked to several women at the office who watched it and said they had no idea he was famous or good, just that he was a footie player and good looking and married to Posh Spice. I wouldn't be surprised if that is the prevalent belief in the US since especially when he played European footie wasn't as accessible state side I believe.
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That’s quite a stretch. MLS did offer him huge record breaking contract back then, and he was global phenomenon in terms of his worldwide celebrities status, and even Hollywood A list celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Jim Carey held him welcoming party. You don’t get all that if you are just a good looking nobody married to Posh Spice there.
 
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RedRonaldo said:
That’s quite a stretch. MLS did offer him huge contract back then, and he was global phenomenon in terms of his worldwide celebrities status.
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Don't think so. Not in the US anyway. MLS isn't nearly as popular as some people think. I often hear they know he spends a lot of time in America hanging out with celebs but have no idea he played here. Messi is arguably the first player in the MLS where I feel even a lot of non footie people are aware of him. Beckham peaked in a time when footie wasn't nearly as popular here as it is now. And those places where it was before - like an LA - are bubble markets with a large contingent of Spanish speakers who I think by default are traditionally more likely to be invested in footie on this side of the pond.
 
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Redplane said:
Don't think so. Not in the US anyway. MLS isn't nearly as popular as some people think. I often hear they know he spends a lot of time in America hanging out with celebs but have no idea he played here. Messi is arguably the first player in the MLS where I feel even a lot of non footie people are aware of him. Beckham peaked in a time when footie wasn't nearly as popular here as it is now.
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Can’t speak for US as I never live there, but he was probably most famous person in the entire world outside US. I was in Australia during late 90s and 2000s, and he was very popular there, even they don’t watch football.
 
RedRonaldo said:
Can’t speak for US as I never live there, but he was probably most famous person in the entire world outside US. I was in Australia during late 90s and 2000s, and he was very popular there, even they don’t watch football.
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Yeah I think besides a lesser interest in footie, no country probably has as many global stars so it's easy for someone like that to drown in the sea, or for it to just not be that special. I think that is less the case in other countries, like an Australia. It's no wonder people like him go on so many talk shows etc when they arrive because otherwise people just won't care for long. Hell look at Prince Harry leading a relatively anonymous life here compared to what it was like in England (relatively speaking). Add it to the pile of other famous people.

I also think the attention span in this country is very very limited. Something or someone can easily become big news for a moment, sure. But then something else comes along and people forget or stop caring. Characters like our former POTUS know that the only way to stay relevant is to get yourself in the news constantly. It is a very sick and disposable society in that regard.

Anyhoo..didn't mean to start writing a thesis but you get the pt.
 
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Snow said:
I don't know where you get that from. The case of OCD that I am most intimate with shares nothing with OCPD in terms of traits.

Both can be possibly treated, with great difficulty. OCD treatment is very recent thing.
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Well there you go. You’re assuming the one case you know represents everyone’s experience. Read the next sentence in my post after the one you bolded.

OCD treatment has been around for decades. Usually a combination of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy +/- high dose SSRI’s.
 
The reaction to him shaving his head was way over the top eh?

Times have changed for the better in that regard.
 
Redplane said:
Don't think so. Not in the US anyway. MLS isn't nearly as popular as some people think. I often hear they know he spends a lot of time in America hanging out with celebs but have no idea he played here. Messi is arguably the first player in the MLS where I feel even a lot of non footie people are aware of him. Beckham peaked in a time when footie wasn't nearly as popular here as it is now. And those places where it was before - like an LA - are bubble markets with a large contingent of Spanish speakers who I think by default are traditionally more likely to be invested in footie on this side of the pond.
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I'm not so sure about that, the Hispanic population are generally footie mad and most of them would know exactly who he was,, that was and still is a sizeable proportion of the US population especially in California
 
Really enjoyed this show.

I never paid much attention to the trash tabloid side to Beckham's life, so it was interesting in that regard.

Fergie was one of a kind, ruthless and controlling. But Fergie had, and still has players respect. Beckham still clearly holds Fergie in high regard.

I don't know why but i assumed Becks was older when he left for Madrid, and shocked he didn't win more trophies there given the team they had. The Madrid stint seemed awful for them as a family, and the LA Galaxy move still for me seems bizarre given how poor that league was at that time. Dreadful place for a player of Beckham's quality to be, but clearly there was more to the move than football.

The public and press abuse following the 98 World cup is sickening. The national press in particular should be ashamed, it was beyond a witch hunt. Yes he got sent off for a silly mistake, but that was so early in the game. It wasn't the sole reason England went out, it went to Penalties and England are guilty of two of the worst penalties in the history of the game, but that is NEVER mentioned.

They dug Hoddle out in the show, playing only snippets of his press conferences but he could have been wiser in his words for sure. People forget Hoddle was a very young England manager at the time and probably, looking back out of his depth at that level. A good manager protects his players though and Hoddle to some degree just left the door open for the press to attack, which they did and then some. Shocking from Hoddle, shocking from those around him and shocking from the FA.
 
Genuinely don't know if I can be arsed watching the rest of it, fell asleep during the 3rd one and didn't realise I'd missed half of it, so I turned it off anyway. Once you get past the Utd nostalgia and notice all the deliberate misediting and other little bits, I think it's hard to take any of it seriously.

It is what it is, brand Beckham following up the whole Qatar thing with a bit of sportswashing of their own and promoting brand Beckham to a newer audience that will keep the brand going and maybe improve the following and reach of his MLS franchise.
 
Redplane said:
Don't think so. Not in the US anyway. MLS isn't nearly as popular as some people think. I often hear they know he spends a lot of time in America hanging out with celebs but have no idea he played here. Messi is arguably the first player in the MLS where I feel even a lot of non footie people are aware of him. Beckham peaked in a time when footie wasn't nearly as popular here as it is now. And those places where it was before - like an LA - are bubble markets with a large contingent of Spanish speakers who I think by default are traditionally more likely to be invested in footie on this side of the pond.
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The bolded kind of go hand in hand, if Beckham hadn't moved to the MLS, it wouldn't have gained as much traction over the past few years. He was the first massive name to make the move and took a big fansbase following along with him. Now he went to the MLS, he obviously plays part of Inter Miami and the Adidas link helped get Messi to make the move. Beckham paved the way to the likes of Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Zlatan etc to make the move and make it look an attractive place to play.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Well there you go. You’re assuming the one case you know represents everyone’s experience. Read the next sentence in my post after the one you bolded.

OCD treatment has been around for decades. Usually a combination of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy +/- high dose SSRI’s.
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The treatment you refer to has a history of not working for people with OCD. Cognitive behavioral therapy has especially been shown not to work for people with OCD. Same with the medication to a lesser extent but that's more complicated as SRRI and SNRI's are used to treat a whole host of things and people with OCD have more things to treat.

The treatment I refer to is different. It's a form of exposure therapy. It comes from Norway (Bergen treatment) and has only been implemented so far in a couple neighboring countries. It's been done here in Iceland to great success but so far there's only one clinic that have it on offer.

Don't know why the psychiatric community is so slow to adapt because the treatment has been published and peer reviewed for several years now. Maybe it's a sign of how few people specialize in this area of mental health?
 
Snow said:
The treatment you refer to has a history of not working for people with OCD. Cognitive behavioral therapy has especially been shown not to work for people with OCD. Same with the medication to a lesser extent but that's more complicated as SRRI and SNRI's are used to treat a whole host of things and people with OCD have more things to treat.

The treatment I refer to is different. It's a form of exposure therapy. It comes from Norway (Bergen treatment) and has only been implemented so far in a couple neighboring countries. It's been done here in Iceland to great success but so far there's only one clinic that have it on offer.

Don't know why the psychiatric community is so slow to adapt because the treatment has been published and peer reviewed for several years now. Maybe it's a sign of how few people specialize in this area of mental health?
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There’s good evidence behind CBT and SSRI’s. I haven’t heard about this Norwegian treatment you mention. Exposure therapy is a form of CBT though.
 
They make it seem like it was constant drama and he was never settled. Maybe that was true, or maybe it was just because that’s the interesting parts worth talking about, or likely just making the documentary more dramatic. But then I suppose it was a bit of a whirlwind life at that point.

They definitely played down how much Beckham went after the media attention and that’s ultimately what Fergie hated. They made it seem as though the celebrity factor entirely came to him rather than him chasing it, aside from a brief mention of him wanting a career after football.

Hard to argue as it’s played out so well for him, but you can see why Fergie didn’t like it, as he only wanted us to be a footballing machine.

Even as a kid I thought the price he was sold for was way too little. Hearing the Real Madrid boss say they tripled their revenue only confirms that. Never been good at selling have we? The most marketable player in the world at the time and in his prime.

Also laughed at him saying he was born to be a Real Madrid player with a smugness, contrasted by Beckham’s constant adoration of United and not wanting to leave.
 
There was a moment where he was talking about posh watching him at Old Trafford but they showed a clip of him scoring against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge
 
I was suprised there was nothing about the metatarsal injury before the 2002 world cup. That was a big talking point leading up to it
 
The flashbacks of United is the only interesting aspect for me. I didn't realize how bad it was when England turned on him. I felt proud of the way everyone looked after him. I don't remember exactly what Keane said but it was something to do with Becks having people who were willing to physically fight for him. The way Sir Alex kept calling him Son made me tear up a couple times. Sir Alex really was the Father of our club and we'll never get another like him.
 
How to say you had an affair without saying you had an affair.

Really calculated and ultimately strange way of handling that bit.
 
Marwood said:
How to say you had an affair without saying you had an affair.

Really calculated and ultimately strange way of handling that bit.
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I think they'd have happily not included it, but had to as the press would have gone wild with it again. He knows he did it, it was clear to see in the manner he addressed it and brushed it aside.
 
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