Feck me 
David Beckham vs Trent Alexander-Arnold
- Thread starter Paxi
- Start date
Feck this, Becks was miles better.
How old is TAA? Twenty-one? Ridiculous to even compare him to one of England's all-time greatest players and one of the biggest icons of the modern game, who won everything at club level.
Like seriously, lets check back in when TAA is 30.
Like seriously, lets check back in when TAA is 30.
Looks like the underrating of Beckham in certain sections of the media will never end.
For all the wanking about Alexander-Arnold and his assists (and Robertson’s, for that matter), the sheer volume of hoofs into the box from wide positions of both *’s flanks will inevitably lead to a few goals. How many crosses does Alexander-Arnold average per match? 15-20? Throw in corners and free-kicks (engineered from the free-diving front three of theirs) and he is punting roughly 30 balls a match into the box, some 1,200 per season. 12/13 assists per season from 1,200 crosses works out at roughly 1% conversion rate.
Is it all that impressive considering the sheer volume of hoofs per season?
Is it all that impressive considering the sheer volume of hoofs per season?
He averages two crosses per game. He's joint 8th in Europe's top 5 league's for key passes and joint 6th for assists. Joint 2nd for big chances created in the PL (those are chances with high xG compared to the average). He's also the highest rated full back in all those metrics.
That has got to be untrue. I knew I was going off the high end with my guesstimates but there’s no way he only averages two crosses per match in the Premier League. Anyone with two eyes could tell you differently.
2 crosses is accurate crosses per game, he has 8 inaccurate crosses per game, so in total he attempts 10 crosses per game.
Yes, it's not true. 2 is just successful crosses. He averages 8 inaccurate crosses and 2 accurate crosses per game.
Sorry, my mistake.
Compare him to KDB on crosses. TAA makes 2.3 accurate cross per 90 and 8.5 inaccurate. KDB 2.4 accurate and 7.4 inaccurate. They are the volume crossers of the league.
KDB made 32 big chances this season to TAA's 18! Very impressive.
Compare him to KDB on crosses. TAA makes 2.3 accurate cross per 90 and 8.5 inaccurate. KDB 2.4 accurate and 7.4 inaccurate. They are the volume crossers of the league.
KDB made 32 big chances this season to TAA's 18! Very impressive.
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Also including crosses, free kicks, corners he averages around 17 per 90 mins and 6 of them are accurate. He is a high volume crosser but that shouldn't be a problem. That's their strength, wish we had players who played so many crosses in to dangerous positions. It's not like his crosses are like Valencia's.
Premature as usual. I really rate AA, but this opinion is cringeworthy at best.
I wasn’t too far off with those earlier guesstimates all the same.
Still, 12/13 assists from roughly 700 punts into the box every season isn’t all that magnificent, is it?
In 2027 we can have this conversation. Maybe TAA will going to be (much) better indeed. For example, I believe that Greenwood can be better than Cole and Van Nistelroy. However, right now he is not better than them, alas he is not even better than Rashford or Chicarito.
Maybe they meant he's better than current David Beckham. Which is probably true - after all, the man is 45 now.
Their whole system is based on fullbacks pumping early crosses into the box. Very hard for people to get their head around it.
Bizarre
He can cross and pass the ball better than most PL players even now
People forget how good Becks was. He was unreal in 99.
Anyone saying Trent is anywhere near Beckham needs their head checking. He was world-class and a brilliant team player.
It's weird how Becks has become underrated.
From 99-03 Becks was one of the top 10 players in the world judged by Ballon d'Or. As things stand I doubt TAA will even make top 30 this year. 
Jokes aside, TAA could potentially have made it this year. But he needs to keep this year's form up for half a decade or so before we start even comparing the two.
Jokes aside, TAA could potentially have made it this year. But he needs to keep this year's form up for half a decade or so before we start even comparing the two.
No Beckham=no treble.
Beckham made 23 assists in 1998/99. Including in crucial matches.
Beckham also scored some vital goals and at vital times. Think about being 1-0 down against Spurs on the final day, think about the FA Cup semi final replay, think about the opening day of the season.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is a great player but David Beckham was the best player in Europe in 1999, and robbed of the Ballon d'Or by Barcelona politicking. Fortunately, Becks was given UEFA club footballer of the year for 98-99. When Trent is in the conversation for that kind of honour then you can compare them.
Beckham made 23 assists in 1998/99. Including in crucial matches.
Beckham also scored some vital goals and at vital times. Think about being 1-0 down against Spurs on the final day, think about the FA Cup semi final replay, think about the opening day of the season.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is a great player but David Beckham was the best player in Europe in 1999, and robbed of the Ballon d'Or by Barcelona politicking. Fortunately, Becks was given UEFA club footballer of the year for 98-99. When Trent is in the conversation for that kind of honour then you can compare them.
It’s just an attempt to get clicks and responses by saying something which is so obviously flawed that everyone will then reply pointing out the flaws. How do people not get how the internet works currently?
The bolded part applies to both players so weird to follow up your opinion with that argument.
Anyone comparing these two is just out to create controversy on Twitter. There's literally zero point in trying to compare a player in the beginning of his career playing a different position than Beckham, to Beckham.
Why are we comparing a defender with a midfielder?
I feel Beckham is sorely underrated as a footballer outside of United fans (I don't really know how Madrid rate him, but I'd assume they think highly of him?)
He seems to be remembered as someone who could cross a ball and take a free kick, but he was so much more than that. It seems to be forgotten how hard he worked, and even though he wasn't the quickest, he just never stopped going. Tough as old boots too, mentally and physically. To bounce back from the backlash he received from France 98 to have arguably his best season of his career was amazing. Scored crucial goals in the biggest moments, and not just from dead balls. He was a great striker of the ball from open play, and his passing was excellent.
Trent is quality, I've no issue with how highly he is being rated. Beckham being underrated and misremembered is the issue.
He seems to be remembered as someone who could cross a ball and take a free kick, but he was so much more than that. It seems to be forgotten how hard he worked, and even though he wasn't the quickest, he just never stopped going. Tough as old boots too, mentally and physically. To bounce back from the backlash he received from France 98 to have arguably his best season of his career was amazing. Scored crucial goals in the biggest moments, and not just from dead balls. He was a great striker of the ball from open play, and his passing was excellent.
Trent is quality, I've no issue with how highly he is being rated. Beckham being underrated and misremembered is the issue.
And this is why I don’t understand why so many people on here give journalists their time.
What a random argument to start at the bookend of the season.
Hated - Adored - Never Ignored.
What a random argument to start at the bookend of the season.
Hated - Adored - Never Ignored.
Seeing stuff like this is a reminder that fans and “pundits” and “journalist” (seriously these “journalists” are insufferable entitled fecker with 0 knowledge of football) have memory span of a goldfish
His longevity actually might play against him in this respect. I was 10 when he moved from United to Real - he never really stood out in their Galacticos team and once he moved to LA Galaxy, we only saw him play in patches for AC Milan and PSG when he was well past 30. The image I feel quite a few people of my age or a few years younger have on Beckham is that he was a global star because of his looks who was also decent at football; you'd have to really educate yourself and dive into his United years to appreciate how great he actually was for you guys.
I think that's where the underrating could come from. I doubt people who've watched him from the beginning of his career until the end would underrate him, but could be wrong.
Difficult to compare a right winger (who arguably would have been better suited to be a central midfielder in a midfield 3) who has finished his career and a right back (who is arguably better suited to be a midfielder) who is just starting his
Anyway both deliver amazing crosses and Id have hated to be a left back facing both of them as becks can kill you with the delivery from deep and trent can murder you on the overlap
would have loved to play as a center forward with them in the team though!
Anyway both deliver amazing crosses and Id have hated to be a left back facing both of them as becks can kill you with the delivery from deep and trent can murder you on the overlap
would have loved to play as a center forward with them in the team though!
Trents hardly a defender
It's a silly statement and undermines Beckham's decade's worth of operating and thriving at the top level in the European game.
Or by Rivaldo being in a different league to everybody else. And politicking is more likely to influence the destination of the UEFA award rather than the journalist equivalent.
Didn't take long for Birminghams retirement of Jude Bellingham's 22 to be topped. What kind of question is this? What's next? Eric Cantona vs Todd Cantwell?
I reckon Becks actually did more defending than Trent
This is not even a debate. No need to get worked up about it.
Eric Cantona v Andre The Giant
What absolute nonsense
Do you really believe that? You don't think the wining, dining, schmoozing and access for journalists has no impact on how they vote for the Ballon d'or?
The award is not for the best player but for the best season. We eliminated Barcelona from the Champions League in the group stages. Rivaldo did brilliantly domestically but Beckham was the key cog to us dominating at home and abroad in 1998-99. He should have won the Ballon d'or, the UEFA award was a consolation prize.