David Beckham

I'm sure we've all heard news about his retirement, so a bit surprised not to have seen a thread.

How highly did you rate him as a player?

Feeling old with so many players who I grew up watching, retiring.

 

He was imperious from 1999 to 2001 from what i recall. People often forget how good he was at being a Right midfielder. Best crosser ever too quite possibly. In that 1999 team that won the treble he was possibly the most regular and having a cracking season.

Madrid ruined his reputation slightly, in the sense that he was lumped into the Galacticos and assumed to be brought for his commercial aspect and not his pitch ability. However, anything he lacked compared to Zidane/Ronaldo/Figo he easily made up for in his work rate, in game and training. Those players said so themselves - Beckham was respected by everyone at Madrid, all the superstars, because he worked his ass off there. Just like he did at United. He became what he is because of the hours he spent on the training ground. You can say whatever the hell you want about the commercial aspect of his life, but he was 2x runner up FIFA Player of the Year and won trophies galore. And that was based on his superb right foot and ability to pass and cross the ball.

 

That first quote from Waddle is spot on.