In this era in which no one truly bothers to stop crosses. He'd be an assist god. His numbers would be like cheating in FM.
Last edited:
How good was David Beckham?
- Thread starter Lord SInister
- Start date
Underrated big time, one of the players who would thrive the way the game is played today, with so much structure in it, I'd even say he'd play CM role more in today's game his passing was spot on and that's what they do today pass pass pass ..
I don't think his short passing and ability to find angles out of pressure was ever as good as you would like in CM. Medium to long range penetrative passing/crossing he is pretty much peerless but if you compare his short passing to the way Scholes would find angles using the outside of his foot to pop balls off around a hard press he is nowhere near that level.
In that team yes with Scholes etc and at that that Time , he was best out wide in a 4-4-2.. system. They don't play that in today's game its all about the possession of the football and tight systems no or hardly any overlap running from the full backs they become inverted etc into more midfielders so he could operate in there in the modern game.. he played CM in 99 cl final in a 4-4-2 and was not very productive.
Watched an old game against Arsenal at Highbury where Beckham partnered Keane in central midfield. Keane was fantastic, especially in the first half, but it was noticeable how comfortable Beckham was at doing the basics and not being too flashy. We played devastating counter attacks and won the game 2-1 (Vieria gave away the ball to Giggs for the second goal like he would do two years later 
) but we also dominated possession for the first 60 minutes and Beckham was a big part of that. I think he could have been a disciplined central midfield player if he played in the modern age.
) but we also dominated possession for the first 60 minutes and Beckham was a big part of that. I think he could have been a disciplined central midfield player if he played in the modern age.Arguably one of the easiest "classic" United players to fit into any sort of modern side or tactical setup today. He could be a TAA style RB, a RWB, a tempo setting CM, a box to box CM, or even a defensive/Valverde style RW.Watched an old game against Arsenal at Highbury where Beckham partnered Keane in central midfield. Keane was fantastic, especially in the first half, but it was noticeable how comfortable Beckham was at doing the basics and not being too flashy. We played devastating counter attacks and won the game 2-1 (Vieria gave away the ball to Giggs for the second goal like he would do two years later
Which really goes to show how valued athleticism and engine are today in many teams, because Becks technically would blow many other counterparts away today as well as having that treasured athleticism so many modern sides want.
Agree with this. Very underrated player due to how his time at the club ended.
He's underrated globally too because of his fame I think. Most football fans and people just think of Beckham the celebrity and maybe the fact that he could take great set pieces/crosses and think that's all he was. Certainly one of those players that you have to go back and watch again to get a far better grasp of how good he really was.
Yeah fair points. The move to the US didn’t help either, even if it did do wonders for the MLS.
Very interesting and fun career he had though. Moved to the MLS at 31, retired at 38. Lived the dream really. Left United too early though.
Agree with most extremely underrated due to his celebrity status. He is no messi or Ronaldo.
However his right foot was a wand his set pieces his passing ability and his work rate was unreal. So many times it was one of his free kicks or crosses that saved both club and country.
Pity he left us so early.
However his right foot was a wand his set pieces his passing ability and his work rate was unreal. So many times it was one of his free kicks or crosses that saved both club and country.
Pity he left us so early.
He did indeed have a lovely wand of a right foot but Alex was right that he got his head turned by Vicky Spice and was never the same. Compared to some of his contemporaries, he seems a bit sad and lonely with his endless tattoos, yachts, commercials and pushing his family into the limelight.
It was weird that he underrated himself or at least allowed that to happen in the Netflix documentary with the narrative that only the Inter game in 1999 swung around his post 1998 World Cup blues after the abuse from the red card. Ignoring that he was consistently brilliant all season, probably his best ever season.
A lot of those ex-United players seem to underrate themselves in the media. At this point I wouldn't blame kids for thinking Gary Neville was your average PL right back and Roy Keane was just some shin kicker cnut that yelled a lot at his teammates, because those two refuse to talk about how good they actually were and so much of the general public hated United so they won't be doing anyone any favors when looking back either.
Seem a lot of our players who came through or played in the 90s are quite grounded and modest about their own abilities back then. However our ex players from end of the 00s like Rio evra berbatov etc aren’t afraid to say how good they were. Maybe it was different upbringings and groundings in those decades.
He’d be a wing back nowadays I reckon, similar to that Alexander tw@t at the dippers.
I remember him playing for Madrid. Great player, great right leg, a fighter, a warrior on the field.
There's a fair few on this site think that about Neville and, even more shockingly, Keane. They probably are kids mind you.
It's all holistic or whatever. Neville, Giggs or Keane playing for Everton wouldn't have had the same impact, maybe 75%, Ferguson and the team gave them them that extra impetus and confidence from winning (most of the time).
It's simple, he was extremely overrated in his days, due to his status and level of praise.
Yet at the same time, many people because of that, underrated him big time as a player and character.
He was a great player that everyone knew his best atributes (mostly him) and he exploded them to the max and when he couldn't, he gave his all anyway in the pitch and had a winner mentality.
Yet at the same time, many people because of that, underrated him big time as a player and character.
He was a great player that everyone knew his best atributes (mostly him) and he exploded them to the max and when he couldn't, he gave his all anyway in the pitch and had a winner mentality.
They wouldn’t have played for Everton… not for long, anyway, before a top club, domestic or foreign, would’ve come for them.
I don't think Beckham was overrated. I think most people knew that he was a World Class player. Those who didn't, massively underrated him due to his celebrity status.
Keane was a force of Nature, he would have the same impact at Accrington Stanley, utterly world class.
Agreed.
Beckham has United in his veins and always will. He would never have left if he wasn't pushed by Fergie. I feel it was Fergie that resented Beckham's fame rather than the fame affecting Beckham's ability to play or focus on games.
Such a great player for us. Those free kicks...
What stands out most from his playing days at Utd was every time we got a free kick 25 to 30 yards out, it was like having a penalty. Never seen anyone with that in his locker. Class player!
I mean, that could literally be said for any player in the history of the game. I was going to say 'bar Messi', but even he didn't really look as good for Argentina as he did for Barcelona. Bar Maradona perhaps.
Top players may start at lesser clubs but they'll quickly be snapped up by a top club which allows them to really shine. That's what happened with Keane when we bought him from Forest, and what would have happened with Neville and Giggs if they'd originally come through the ranks at a smaller club. If it wasn't us it would have been another top club. That's not to say that they would have reached quite the same heights without Fergie, but Giggs and Keane would still have been amongst the best in the world in their positions and Neville would still have been one of the best fullbacks in England.
Beckham's performances definitely dropped in his last couple of seasons here. Still good of course, but not at the same level as what he was 99-01. Obviously you and I have no idea why that was, but Fergie was in a good position to decide so if he thinks it was due to the fame and Victoria then there's a fair chance he was right.
I admired Beckham because his greatness was purely the result of hard work. He wasn't blessed with any great talent technically or athletically, but through sheer graft he became world-class at two things: dead ball delivery (I'll include crossing in that) and workrate. At his peak he'd have been an asset to any team in the world, but I wouldn't put him in the same bracket as Ronaldo, Messi, Zidane etc.
When he became more recognised because of his fame than other players, there was a hipster over-correction to under-rate him.
I didn't mean it as a pun on him, but specially when he was transferred to Madrid (and a bit before that) he was tooted the best player in the world.
It wasn't just his celebrity status, yet of course that status had a lot to do with that.
Floren bought him as the ultimate Galactico of the moment and when we compare in those says what being a Galactico implied (mostly being extremely skillfull and overall with many atributes as a footballer, like Figo, Zizou, R9), Becks also lacked in such department.
Yet I don't agree with some comments above that he didn't have much in the technical department, his strike, crosses and long pases were extraordinary. And in Madrid he knew his place since the beggining, he didn't bought into his own praise and he did what he knew, being a great player comitt to win.
Last edited:
Beckham was a World Class footballer. For a time, he was genuinely one of the best players in the world (98/99 comes to mind). He was an absolute superstar, very much deserving of the 'Galactico' billing and in sharing the stage with the other superstars.
Correct. Typical.
He was amazeballs.
One thing it's fame, achievements and being Iconic, while in the meantime being an excellent world class footballer.
Other is the level of praise and fame Beckam got, it was quite unreal, to a point like it was said before, created an over the top reaction from many fans, seriously underrating his talent as a footballer.
It's not that hard to get, many of us old farts were there, Becks it's a player that in markets like the USA might be named among fellas like Pele, Beckenbauer and such and sometimes even more famous than Maradona.
That was the huge appeal and marketing behind him. Does this appeal, fame, tag must demerit the guys talent? his best years as a pro where he was among the best players in the world? nope, but he certainly wasn't Best or Pele.
Beg to differ, regarding his performances in his last couple of campaigns. The 01-02 was arguably he's best personal season outside of the treble campaign.
He carried us that season. At times he was a one man midfield. His last season wasn't too bad either from what I recall.
The level of fame that Beckham had was immense, agreed. However, that's what happens when you're a young, good looking academy player turned World Class footballer starring for a trophy laden Manchester United. Also, he married a Spice girl. That combination was a pretty rare.
Nobody ever claimed that he was a better footballer than Pele, Beckenbauer, Maradona or Best. Though does that matter where fame is concerned?
Towards the end of his last season, he wasn't first choice. Ole was playing on the right in the big games. Away to Arsenal and home to Real Madrid are the ones that stand out from memory.
KDB isn’t even the best midfielder in city history.
Becks is clear though for the record
But Beckham still performed when he was called upon. His levels didn't drop. SAF just preferred Ole ,in the title run in, due to him being a completely contrasting player.
Ole just offered a new attacking variety that tactically Beckham couldn't.
And this was the real issue with Beckham , he was limited in the roles he could be effective.
Ferguson rarely liked putting Beckham in the centre, even though youth coach Eric Harrison always thought he'd eventually move into a central role for United.
The reason was he was never that good in centre midfield, he played plenty there here and there over the years, and plenty after United days, but he was far more effective from wide positions. Bit like Trent Alexander-Arnold and all the calls to put in midfield these days, when both struggle with tight spaces 1 and 2 touch agile touch and passing. Whereas they're lethal when they get more space in the wing and have a few seconds to look up and pick a long pass. Wide playmaker I guess you'd call it, was by far Beckham's best role.
Oh I agree. I never thought Beckham had the tactical smarts , compared to Keane and Scholes, to play that role for any sustained period.
A clone of him would be a strange player for managers to utilize nowadays.
I can see most of them trying to convert him into some sort of an #8.
Anyhow, with all the justified talk about his crosses and free-kicks,
I feel like his work ethic isn't mentioned enough.
I haven't seen much of him at Real or the national team,
but playing for Utd it was absolutely amazing to watch how committed he was.
I can see most of them trying to convert him into some sort of an #8.
Anyhow, with all the justified talk about his crosses and free-kicks,
I feel like his work ethic isn't mentioned enough.
I haven't seen much of him at Real or the national team,
but playing for Utd it was absolutely amazing to watch how committed he was.