David Beckham the player

Mr.Ridiculous__

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Seems the perfect day to post this. I am a 24 year old non-Mancunian fan. I never had the chance to watch him play live for United. How good was he? And did his celebrity status mask his qualities as a player?
 

Wumminator

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Very good.

Not as good as the other team players in the midfield at the time.

Ruined his reputation by going to the USA to retire for money and fame when he still could have done it at a massive club.
 

12OunceEpilogue

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Absolutely fantastic. Worked his balls off for 90 minutes and his crossing and set piece delivery was genuinely some of the best of all-time.
 

El Zoido

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Underrated footballer. His celebrity was so big that in a way people forgot that he was actually bloody good at football. You can find a 30 minute video on YouTube of all Beckham’s goals for United and I would recommend watching every minute of it.
 

Lennon7

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People say he was overrated but he wasn’t. Always in control, creative, ridiculously consistent. Exactly what we need on the right now!
 

Yagami

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One of the best I've watched.

Only Ronaldo's 07/08 season trumps Beckham's 98/99 season from an individual pov for me. That season was one of the best individual player seasons I've ever seen.
 

Annihilate Now!

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Second only to Ronaldo as the best player, who was still at an incredibly high level, that we let leave the club.

Should probably have been like Nev, Giggs and Scholes and only ever played here
 

RedFish

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Fantastic player, underrated in some ways. Technically he was blessed, but he lacked the flair or creativity needed be a great playmaker. Scholes and Keane were always first choice in our central midfield. Probably the best crosser from the right I've ever seen.
 

SirAF

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Very good.

Not as good as the other team players in the midfield at the time.

Ruined his reputation by going to the USA to retire for money and fame when he still could have done it at a massive club.


Not at all.
 

Jazz

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Is there anyone like David in football now? To consistently deliver those pinpoint balls? Never mind his brilliant free kicks? I can't think of anyone.

If I were a United player I would invite him down, wine and dine him and take a couple of lessons from him.
 

Stadjer

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Biggest celebrity in football but playing football was his number one priority. Not the Beckham brand but winning games on the field was the most important thing.

That number 7 who came after him has the same mentality.
 

Pexbo

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The best long range passer to ever play the game. Had so much more in his locker too. Genuinely world class and worked his arse off.
 

MadDogg

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Becks had a three year peak (99-01) where he truly was one of the best players in the world. He was second only to Keane in his importance to us during that period. He dropped off a bit after that, but he continued being an excellent player for the remainder of his career both with us and after he left.

Best crosser of the ball the game has ever seen. His huge workrate from the right is one of the main reasons we were able to play such an attacking four man midfield, and gave us a third playmaker along with Keane and Scholesy. Tactically so important to us.
 

Ibi Dreams

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Is there anyone like David in football now? To consistently deliver those pinpoint balls? Never mind his brilliant free kicks? I can't think of anyone.

If I were a United player I would invite him down, wine and dine him and take a couple of lessons from him.
There haven't been many players ever who could do what he did with the ball as consistently as he did it. Probably the best crosser of the ball ever, and his all round passing ability was also extremely good.
 

harms

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Seems the perfect day to post this. I am a 24 year old non-Mancunian fan. I never had the chance to watch him play live for United. How good was he? And did his celebrity status mask his qualities as a player?
Incredible. The best crosser of all-time, but also a fantastic goalscorer, great passer and a true workhorse.
 

Red_toad

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Superb player until he encountered the Posh one. Dead ball and crossing ability was out of this world, worked exceptionally hard on that aspect of the game. Had the pleasure of meeting him outside the ground a few times, always had time for the fans and pre-posh, appeared a good down to earth bloke.
 

harms

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Is there anyone like David in football now? To consistently deliver those pinpoint balls? Never mind his brilliant free kicks? I can't think of anyone.
De Bruyne is the closest one. Probably a bit more creative with his passing, and less threatening with his crosses.
 

GlasgowCeltic

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A superb wide player but also brilliant at playing narrow so the midfield was never outnumbered.

The assumption was he'd end up as a centre midfielder post Keane, obviously Fergie disagreed.
 

AKDevil

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Seems the perfect day to post this. I am a 24 year old non-Mancunian fan. I never had the chance to watch him play live for United. How good was he? And did his celebrity status mask his qualities as a player?
Best right foot in football. Ever. There have been better right footed players but none have had a right foot as consistently good as his. For a certain period, world class. His CV and the clubs he played for in Europe says it all.
 

Red00012

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Send him into Carrington and show half of them how to take a corner effectively.
 

RedB4ndiT

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Would start over Lingard, Young, or any other winger we have even in his current age.
 

ivaldo

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Is there anyone like David in football now? To consistently deliver those pinpoint balls? Never mind his brilliant free kicks? I can't think of anyone.

If I were a United player I would invite him down, wine and dine him and take a couple of lessons from him.
I feel like long passing has gone out of the game a bit. How often do we see players spreading the ball to the opposite wing now? There is a lot more focus on playing through the midfield with short intricate passing.
 

crossy1686

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One of the best players to grace the game in his position. In a time when Galactico's were rife, Beckham even managed to transcend them.

Possibly my favourite player of all time? Him or Scholes. I just wish his United career would have been different. Probably his only regret too.
 

RussellWilson

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Beckham was better footballer than Giggs. Many wont agree I'm sure.
 

el3mel

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Magnificent player, his crosses and shots are always joy to watch, and also looks to be a great character off the pitch.
 

M Utd

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Quality player.

What a midfield we had back then. Keane and Beckham tended to play the right side of midfield. Lots has been written about his set piece ability and rightly so. Lots been said about his work rate and again rightly so. Not many mention his decision making though which was great. Very rarely lost the ball despite playing those Hollywood passes and multiple crosses. Scored some absolute worldies.
Zindane I think said he didn't realise how good he was until he trained and played with him.
After Real and USA he went on to play for AC Milan and PSG - you don't get to add them onto your CV without being a quality player.
 

Raees

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Beckham was better footballer than Giggs. Many wont agree I'm sure.
I’ll probably be in the minority which agrees. I think Giggs had more talent but never quite combined the wisdom he had later on with the peak physical ability he had prior to the hamstrings constantly going.

He basically had multiple careers within a career but never quite hit his peak ever - whereas we saw the best of Beckham and consistently so. His peak was better than Giggs.

Biggest shame with Beckham is that he kind of wasted away the latter part of his career but it can also be said that his style of play just didn’t suit where football was headed during the end of his career. In the modern possession game he might actually have made it as a midfielder or a wing back but not as a orthodox wideman for the very best sides. Giggs was more timeless in that respect - he’d thrive in any era as a winger.
 

The Irish Connection

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As many have said, best crosser ever. Played brilliant today and great to see him get the goal at the stretford end.
 

Stacks

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Very good.

Not as good as the other team players in the midfield at the time.

Ruined his reputation by going to the USA to retire for money and fame when he still could have done it at a massive club.
He was as good if not better than the other players in our midfield and received the accolades to support it. Key player in treble season and CL win
 

GlasgowCeltic

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Beckham is everything you'd want from a midfielder in a 433 in the modern game.

Giggs was capable of more goals than a 442 in the 90s enabled wingers to achieve
 

Volumiza

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One of the most overlooked players when we talk about united greats. He lacked a bit in pace and dribbling but that didn’t matter one bit. His crosses and passes were of such quality that they took opponents out of the game in a flash.

Beckham and Van Nistelrooy were an unbelievable combo.

Beckham was great in front of goal too, some of his goals were screamers. Loved the guy and never stopped running!