How good was David Beckham?

Pexbo

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Good enough to have this thread made every few months albeit with a different video.
 

Mike Smalling

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Why would he add Ray Hudson commentating on Messi to clips of Beckham from the mid 90's :lol: ?
 

Champagne Football

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Was never the same player after leaving Utd, he would have been remembered as a much greater player had he stayed at Utd. Probably not far off DeBruyne level in his prime at Utd
 

devilish

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Beckham was a weird one. He wasn't a particularly technical or a pacey player. You won't see him dribble past or outpace three defenders very often. In fact he was more of a right sided midfielder if anything. However his work rate and his passing (especially his crossing) was top notch. He's the best passer I've ever seen in my life. Without him Sir Alex would have probably ditched the 4-4-2 system earlier then he did + he would have needed a better RB (Gaz was great once he hit 27 but he was too rash when he was young).

We were lucky to have some of the finest right wingers football had ever seen. Kanchelskis was like the flash. His pace gave Maldini a mare. Beckham's crossing was mind blowing while Ronaldo was, well, Ronaldo.
 

JJ12

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My favourite player when I first started watching the game. Him and Giggs (being Welsh).

I think he gets underrated nowadays due to his celebrity status weirdly. His technical ability and work rate was phenomenal.
 

lysglimt

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Good footballer with the best set-pieces the premier League has ever seen.

Just checked - Beckham is in a League of his own in goals from freekicks. He scored 18 - no other player has more than 12
 

Champagne Football

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good attempt at a wind up.
Beckham was voted second in the Ballon D'Or in 99, second to only Rivaldo with many feeling Beckham should have won it. Beckham came 4th in 2001 and on 2 other occasions made the top 10 final list.

De Bruyne has never been voted in the top 3, with 9th place his best ever Ballon D'or finish in 2018.

In 98/99 Beckham had 9 goals and 17 assists. De Bruyne last season had 9 goals and 20 assists.

De Bruyne is clearly a better playmaker than Beckham ever was, but Beckham was superior with free kicks, crosses and probably long range belters too. Scholes was a better playmaker than Gerrard and Lampard but it doesn't necessarily mean he was better than them.

People forget how good Beckham was. He turned to shit at Madrid even though he was decent enough there. Similar to how Bale went from phenomenon to bang average after a couple of seasons in Madrid. Arjen Robben being another phenomenon who looked average in Madrid.
 
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Eddy_JukeZ

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He was magnificent.

An unpopular opinion on the cafe, but give me Beckham's best/peak over Scholes' and Giggs'.
 

#07

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Beckham should have won the Ballon d'or in 1998/99. He was tremendous that season. People who think he was only a pretty face are probably too young to have seen him play at his peak.
 

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 in importance to us only to Keane himself, and what he bought to the team and how he enabled us to play (both with his workrate and his passing/crossing) was pretty much irreplaceable.

He was magnificent.

An unpopular opinion on the cafe, but give me Beckham's best/peak over Scholes' and Giggs'.
Giggs definitely. As good as he was he had never had the game-in game-out period of consistent brilliance over a season (or three) that Becks had at his peak. Obviously Giggsy was better both before and after that three season peak though. Scholes I'm not so sure.
 

GDaly95

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There's always a bit of pain associated with looking back at Beckham's best moments in a United shirt. I still really hate how it ended.
 

Judge Red

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You can’t be a better crosser of the ball than Beckham, only as good as.
 

Nou_Camp99

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Giggs Keane Scholes Beckham

Will we ever see a better midfield four in the PL? I doubt it. City's midfield of last few years runs it close tbf but I'd still take the four above. Sublime players. All of them.
 

Tom Cato

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So good they made a movie about the pop-culture slogan, Bend it like Beckham in 2002, that is still the top-grossing movie featuring football as its main component. The movie grossed $76.6 million, a unexpected commercial that even sat well with critics.

There's even a book written ater the movie called Beyond Bend it Like Beckham - the Global Phenomenon of Women's Soccer. You can read the book in its entirety here: Beyond Bend It Like Beckham
 

Bondi77

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Best crosser of a ball I have seen and possibly best dead ball specialist as well.
De Bruyne does remind me of him and both are ultimate team players with exceptional work rates.
 

Davìd Moyéz

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I'm worried that TAA will go on and steal Beckham's title of best ever crosser. Would be painful for me as a Beckham fan if anyone surpassed him but a Scouser would be unbearable.
 

Josh 76

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There's always a bit of pain associated with looking back at Beckham's best moments in a United shirt. I still really hate how it ended.
Beckham was on the decline when he was sold.
I'm not saying he was crap. Just saying he set his standards so high, he was on the way down. Plus all the off field stuff and clashes with Fergie didn't help.
Who knows, if Beckham wasn't sold, Ronaldo may have never been brought.
 

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Beckham was a very good player.

Had he had fast acceleration and pace, would have been a GOAT, IMO.
 

pacifictheme

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Giggs Keane Scholes Beckham

Will we ever see a better midfield four in the PL? I doubt it. City's midfield of last few years runs it close tbf but I'd still take the four above. Sublime players. All of them.
Perfect balance as well.
 

Beachryan

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Always will be underrated due to his success and life off the pitch.

Selling him was a mistake, will never understand Fergie on that. For all the issues, his dedication to the club, work rate and on field performances never wavered. Just because Ronnie happened to become the best player in the world cant ret con it as a good decision.

Nice to see some of those early days - people forget how he could create that yard of space with skill and touch.

Agree with the De Bruyne comparisons, pretty similar in terms of effectiveness.
 

Buster15

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By any standards, David Beckham was a world class midfielder.
He was a driving force behind many of Manchester United best performances and those of England as well.

He had a few basic limitations such as lack of pace and a poor tackler.

But his skill sets were outstanding and he had few bad games.

A terrific player who worked extremely hard to continually improve.

Brilliant player.
 

crossy1686

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Best crosser/set-piece taker I've ever seen. Beckham was a big game player, he always turned up when you needed him to. The amount of goals from midfield he got in big moments was priceless, he was also the person who was supplying most of our iconic goals ever. Beckham was absolutely brilliant, has there been a better right sided midfielder since?
 

Inigo Montoya

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By any standards, David Beckham was a world class midfielder.
He was a driving force behind many of Manchester United best performances and those of England as well.

He had a few basic limitations such as lack of pace and a poor tackler.

But his skill sets were outstanding and he had few bad games.

A terrific player who worked extremely hard to continually improve.

Brilliant player.
Best crosser/set-piece taker I've ever seen. Beckham was a big game player, he always turned up when you needed him to. The amount of goals from midfield he got in big moments was priceless, he was also the person who was supplying most of our iconic goals ever. Beckham was absolutely brilliant, has there been a better right sided midfielder since?
These posts sum up Becks perfectly. I'd only add what Patrick Barclay once said; Beckham's ability to pick out a player with his crossing was better than having someone dribble past 3 players.

But we had that on the other flank with Giggs so it was a fantastic balance
 

VeevaVee

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Aside from being one of if not the best at kicking a ball ever, which is massive considering a lot of professional footballers are surprisingly shit at it, he made things happen on the reg and when it came to football he got his head down. He showed how you can have a lot going on off the pitch but properly give your all when it comes to training and playing.
 

OverratedOpinion

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He was the second best player in one of the best midfields of all time. Said many times before but he is underappreciated due to his fame off the pitch overshadowing his ability on it.
 

HaliRed

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So consistently top level for United...

I've been watching the 2000 Premier League Goals series on MUTV lately, and it is ridiculous how involved he was with our goals during his time with us.

Van Nistelrooy, Cole, Yorke...I honestly can't see them having become the legends they are without Beckham ricochet'ing the ball off their heads into the net.

His defensive work rate is severely underrated as well. Also never backed down from a fight on the field.
 

Gehrman

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Best crosser/set-piece taker I've ever seen. Beckham was a big game player, he always turned up when you needed him to. The amount of goals from midfield he got in big moments was priceless, he was also the person who was supplying most of our iconic goals ever. Beckham was absolutely brilliant, has there been a better right sided midfielder since?
Figo?