Beckham

[MarcusX]

The documentary series is now available on Netflix in 4 parts.

I can’t be alone here in saying I grew up absolutely idolising this bloke and so this was a must watch for me.

The abuse we received after France 98 was criminal, literally. I’ve no idea how the bloke overcame that. 
 

One take away from that, what a piece of work Hoddle was for his comments. He could have tried to defuse that situation or protected him better.

You can see after that it galvanised the United players and no wonder there was the much talked about rifts in the England camps. Fergie instilled an “us against the world” mindset.

It’s a shame they skimmed over 2002 a bit quick for my liking. I’d have liked to have heard more about the build up to that Argentina game. That Greece free kick has to be one of the best England goals of all time though, pure goosebumps every time I see it.

 

[phantom]

Never really taken to him, I wish he had let his football do the talking rather than trying to live off the red tops coverage of what he was up to off the pitch

Very talented player, which I only really appreciated when watching England games in person, agree with the abuse he took was way over the top, but I'd bet that it made him a much stronger person because of it

Sadly now when I hear the name I just picture Brooklyn living off his dads reputation getting breaks in life he does not deserve

Is there much coverage of his footballing career because I can't waste my time listening to Victoria and others ramble on about his dress sense etc

[Leveller]

I’m not his biggest fan, but it makes me laugh when a guy who was widely insulted as being dim has ended up worth so much! Where did it all go wrong? 

[SecretSam]

8 minutes ago, phantom said:

Never really taken to him, I wish he had let his football do the talking rather than trying to live off the red tops coverage of what he was up to off the pitch

Agreed, and always felt his celebrity status gave him an undeserved reputation on the field. Good player, but not that good. Of that 'class of 92' generation, the truly class player was always Scholes.

[southside]

https://twitter.com/AFC_GLEN/status/1709654896683753913?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1709654896683753913|twgr^d8cd229a59645a92b6feaf3823ce9ef3f8ec535d|twcon^s1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thepoke.com%2F2023%2F10%2F05%2Fdavid-beckham-turned-detective-after-victoria-said-she-was-working-class-and-the-hilarious-payoff-is-just-magnificent%2Fhttps://twitter.com/AFC_GLEN/status/1709654896683753913?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1709654896683753913|twgr^d8cd229a59645a92b6feaf3823ce9ef3f8ec535d|twcon^s1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thepoke.com%2F2023%2F10%2F05%2Fdavid-beckham-turned-detective-after-victoria-said-she-was-working-class-and-the-hilarious-payoff-is-just-magnificent%2F

[Super]

1 minute ago, SecretSam said:

Agreed, and always felt his celebrity status gave him an undeserved reputation on the field. Good player, but not that good. Of that 'class of 92' generation, the truly class player was always Scholes.

Giggs in his prime certainly was.

[Son of Fred]

9 minutes ago, Leveller said:

I’m not his biggest fan, but it makes me laugh when a guy who was widely insulted as being dim has ended up worth so much! Where did it all go wrong? 

Money makes money..

It's not rocket science 

[Port Said Red]

37 minutes ago, Leveller said:

I’m not his biggest fan, but it makes me laugh when a guy who was widely insulted as being dim has ended up worth so much! Where did it all go wrong? 

The thing is, and I think this documentary has already alluded to it (I have watched 1 and half episodes) he may not be "book smart", but he is far from being stupid and is actually very canny. Neville says in the first episode that just being a footballer was never going to be enough for him and he was very quick to work out how to maximise his status. 

It's something you hear said about a lot of entrepreneurs.

Edited October 5, 2023 by Port Said Red

[Enclosure Old Timer]

'He can't kick with his left foot, he can't head a ball, he can't tackle and he doesn't score enough goals, apart from that he's alright, '- George Best on David Beckham.

[phantom]

2 hours ago, Port Said Red said:

The thing is, and I think this documentary has already alluded to it (I have watched 1 and half episodes) he may not be "book smart", but he is far from being stupid and is actually very canny. Neville says in the first episode that just being a footballer was never going to be enough for him and he was very quick to work out how to maximise his status. 

It's something you hear said about a lot of entrepreneurs.

If he had a half decent football agent they would have sorted him a support team to make all the decisions for him 

[Barrs Court Red]

Not only was he a top player, he was global icon.  Some achievement. 

[MarcusX]

3 hours ago, Son of Fred said:

Money makes money..

It's not rocket science 

He didn’t come from money, what he had he earned and…

2 hours ago, Port Said Red said:

The thing is, and I think this documentary has already alluded to it (I have watched 1 and half episodes) he may not be "book smart", but he is far from being stupid and is actually very canny. Neville says in the first episode that just being a footballer was never going to be enough for him and he was very quick to work out how to maximise his status. 

It's something you hear said about a lot of entrepreneurs.

As above, he wasn’t “intelligent” but he was clever. He knew football wasn’t forever and he wanted something else to move into afterwards.

I don’t think he comes across anywhere near as “dim” as it was always made out, although maybe a little naive and a bit stupid in his early days with Victoria (driving hours just to see her for an hour for example, the night before a game)

1 hour ago, Enclosure Old Timer said:

'He can't kick with his left foot, he can't head a ball, he can't tackle and he doesn't score enough goals, apart from that he's alright, '- George Best on David Beckham.

He actually had a good left foot, he says he worked on it all the time as a kid. He could take corners with both feet - I guess when your right is THAT good though, why bother

[Open End Numb Legs]

As a footballer he was very good. I hugged the TV when he scored the free kick v Greece. By all accounts I have read, he is a down to earth, decent bloke.

This self publicising documentary, which I will probably never see, sounds like all his wife's idea. Will she ever smile? Probably not.

[alexukhc]

People say they don’t like him but are covered in black in grey tattoos, he essentially to me as a heavily tattooed young man(38 now) respect a lot he showed cuz you are covered in tattoos doesn’t mean you’re a thug, he was my fave player since Gazza and I bloody hate Man United, he just happened to fall in love with a pop star who at the time was in the best pop group in the country and he was playing for the best club in the country, golden balls, massive player

[Bannerman]

2 hours ago, Enclosure Old Timer said:

'He can't kick with his left foot, he can't head a ball, he can't tackle and he doesn't score enough goals, apart from that he's alright, '- George Best on David Beckham.

Bang on, grossly overrated 

[Rob k]

1 hour ago, Bannerman said:

Bang on, grossly overrated 

Grossly underrated for me, superb player 

[redkev]

Never seen a player single handed drag a team through a game like beckham did against Greece , it wasn’t just the goal he scored ( ironically in front of his beloved Stretford end ) people forget how good his performance was the whole game . 
great player in my eyes 

 

 

 

 

 

[Davefevs]

9 minutes ago, redkev said:

Never seen a player single handed drag a team through a game like beckham did against Greece , it wasn’t just the goal he scored ( ironically in front of his beloved Stretford end ) people forget how good his performance was the whole game . 
great player in my eyes 

 

 

 

 

 

A game in which one player completely blew our shape for Greece to exploit.

[Ciderhead433]

I've just watched the abuse he got over the sending-off, how did he ever put up with that 

[clunes]

It’s a great documentary. Really well made. I forgot about how long the abuse carried on for after 1998. Pathetic really. But anyone that says he is overrated knows nothing about football. He had a better left foot than a lot of right footed players and is one of England’s all time best. It helps that he played in an all-conquering team but he was part of it, not carried by it. 

[Cowshed]

8 hours ago, Super said:

Giggs in his prime certainly was.

Beckham's prime (3yr) ratio of goals and assists at Man Utd was higher than Giggs prime. Beckhams figure of 0.74 is higher than Kevin De Bruyne. 

[Super]

6 hours ago, Cowshed said:

Beckham's prime (3yr) ratio of goals and assists at Man Utd was higher than Giggs prime. Beckhams figure of 0.74 is higher than Kevin De Bruyne. 

My point was Scholes wasn't the only class player from that generation.

[Port Said Red]

Finished this last night, I really enjoyed it. It certainly wasn't a hagiography, neither he and his team mates, friends or family shied away from pointing out his mistakes especially over the affair, quite how they got through that with the press basically begging them to split I don't know.

What got left on the cutting room floor is probably equally interesting though. For me one of the disappointments was that Beckham found time to say he didn't get along with Quiroz at Manchester United, but didn't acknowledge (or recognise?) that he probably extended his career and made him an even better player, by moving him into a deeper role to accommodate Figo at Real Madrid. 

I think anyone who considers he wasn't a top class player need only listen to the way the Galatico's talked about him, they recognised him as one of their own.

[City oz]

19 hours ago, MarcusX said:

The documentary series is now available on Netflix in 4 parts.

I can’t be alone here in saying I grew up absolutely idolising this bloke and so this was a must watch for me.

The abuse we received after France 98 was criminal, literally. I’ve no idea how the bloke overcame that. 
 

One take away from that, what a piece of work Hoddle was for his comments. He could have tried to defuse that situation or protected him better.

You can see after that it galvanised the United players and no wonder there was the much talked about rifts in the England camps. Fergie instilled an “us against the world” mindset.

It’s a shame they skimmed over 2002 a bit quick for my liking. I’d have liked to have heard more about the build up to that Argentina game. That Greece free kick has to be one of the best England goals of all time though, pure goosebumps every time I see it.

 

Conways goals at Rotherham this week gave me more goosebumps than whatever Mr. Becham ever did.

[phantom]

10 hours ago, Davefevs said:

A game in which one player completely blew our shape for Greece to exploit.

Exactly this, people only really remember his amazing last ditch free kick and him running around a lot

Many glaze over the fact that his total lack of positional discipline that day created numerous problems for us 

[Welcome To The Jungle]

I adored Beckham as a kid. I even had the duvet set. Believed him to be the best player in the world. Now that was never true, but I think the soap opera that he created has slightly fogged our memories of him as a player in both directions. Some above posts talk about how overrated he was, and others how underrated he was. 

For me, you have to listen to those he played with, and against. Almost everyone points out how good he was to play with, how hard he trained, how professional he was, and what a good leader he was. 

For me, a deserved England great

 

[Cowshed]

13 minutes ago, phantom said:

Exactly this, people only really remember his amazing last ditch free kick and him running around a lot

Many glaze over the fact that his total lack of positional discipline that day created numerous problems for us 

Many might also want to consider England's 4-4-2 was starved of possession as Gerrard and Scholes were dire and overloaded, Scholes got booked leading to England's ball winning capability being? Beckham moved across the midfield because England got overloaded and outplayed.

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

31 minutes ago, phantom said:

Exactly this, people only really remember his amazing last ditch free kick and him running around a lot

Many glaze over the fact that his total lack of positional discipline that day created numerous problems for us 

This reminds me a bit of that line from Blackadder 4 when they’re talking about the football match in No Man’s Land and Rowan Atkinson complains “I was never offside!”.  The Beckham free kick was sublime.  I’m astonished that anyone can even remember what went on before that.  

[2015]

I liked Beckham, thought he was a good player and the stick he got in 98 not at all fair. Wasn't a red card in honesty. For me the only truly world class player for me out of the class of 92 was Paul Scholes, not only that he was the only likeable one whilst playing for Man United as well.

Ferguson rightly did not want the showbiz life to get in the way of Manchester United's success, and by 2003 he'd got the best out of Beckham, and moved him on... Replaced him with Cristiano Ronaldo. Have to say, that was a genius move in the long run from Alex Ferguson.

It's sad we live in a shallow world where your looks take you to a place of huge celebrity status, which is what happened with Beckham. He was the right face, at the right time really.

Edited October 6, 2023 by 2015

[exAtyeoMax]

I remember having to pray for his foot?