David Beckham's legacy

[Renegade]

I honestly think Beckham gets underrated as a player a lot of the time, mainly because of his celebrity status. The guy was a very very good player in his prime, and around the time of the Greece game with "that" free kick, he was the only reason we qualified. But for some reason people forget his footballing abilities because of his off the pitch stuff, 'n I think that's wrong. He was a great player, 'n as shown by recent England matches he played in, he can still do what's needed.

[therockbox]

FUCK YOU. IAN EDWARDS!

Seriously. People who claim Beckham is not worthy of legendary status are douchebags who are clutching at straws.

[SeanDMan]

I think in terms of relating him to North American athletes, I think his closest comparison would be a Peter Forsberg/Eric Lindros comparison. He's a player who has some elite skill and is very good when he wants to be, but struggles with attitude, motivation, and injuries have killed his legacy. In terms of general skill I think he's more Eric Lindros, namely a guy who can look great in spurts and break open games, but who isn't consistently awesome enough to carry a bad team to victory. Beckham has had the benefit of some good teams and was never rape the league good like Lindros was on the LOD in the early nineties, so I think he might even be a step below that, but in terms of his effect on team morale, chemistry, and his questionable motivations, I think Lindros and Beckham have a lot in common.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I'd compare him to Laurent Fignon in cycling, or Fritz Strobl in downhill skiing, or David Gourley in crown bowls, or Nathan Robertson in badminton, or David Cal in canoeing.

[Jam]

I've never really rated Beckham at any point in his career, although there may be some biased in that because I'm anti everything Man United. I can only remember him putting in one good performance for England, the one against Greece where he played a crucial part in us qualifying. Other than that his time for England, especially as captain, he very rarely lived up to any expectations. He should of retired for England when he stepped down as captain, especially as he's given up playing competitive club football, leaving the door open for players like Wright-Phillips, Bentley, Lennon and Milner to be given a chance to step up. I know he don't pick the team, but Becks is smart enough to know that if it does go pear shaped for England, he'll be one of the first to get called up for his experience

Skill wise, I think the only great attribute that he has is to kick the ball. That sounds good enough, and I'll admit that for a midfielder the ability to produce killer long balls and deadly set pieces can be critical at such a high level, however Beckham is someone who has played right wing, and as a winger he lacked the pace to get past defenders to truly open things up nor did he rarely take defenders on. I'll admit his tackling has improved, and the last few games I'd of played him in the middle for England before considering playing him on the right, allowing him to dictate the play

Long term, Beckham will probably be remembered as a man who helped to revolutionize the MLS and if he does that then fair play to him. I don't think he'll be remembered in a negative light due to him enhancing the games reputation. I think that he'll get a lot of recognistion with the England game arranged against France next year so he can win his 100th cap. As captain for England, he'll never be up there with a Tony Adams or a Bobby Moore, but more of a marketing ploy by the FA to get kids to buy the shirts

[Hajjhowe]

When all is said and done David Beckham will be remembered as the most high profile (but nowhere near the best) of the outstanding batch of kids that Alex Ferguson brought through in the early 90's. A player who introduced himself to the footballing public by scoring from the halfway line against Wimbledon, who got sent of for kicking an Argentinian in 1998 and who scored a free kick in injury time againt Greece so England qualified for.

He is lauded as a style icon because his wife dresses him and because he cannot be lauded for his football abilities. He can hit a mean cross (just don't expect him to go past his man before he does it) and take a good free kick (but he's not the only player who's ever done that) and he runs about like a dafty. He was too petulant to properly play in his best position (right midfield) and ended up screwing up the tactics of the teams he played for by always coming inside because he wanted to play as a centre midfielder (which he wasn't good enough to do).

He is a pretty boy poser with a talentless wife. As a footballer he will be remembered as, at best, marginally better than good but with very little natural ability. Natural ability is not his only barrier to greatness though. Take someone like his former Man Utd colleague Roy Keane. Keane will arguably go down as a great, not because of his natural ability, but because of his work ethic (which Beckham has) and his winning attitude and ability to drag his team up by the bootlaces when the chips are down (which Beckham doesn't have).

Beckham has not wasted his potential - he has been marketed to more than maximise the limited potential he has, but his football career will be a footnote when they talk about the style icon who married a Spice Girl and got paid an inordinate amount of money to be a good footballer in a piss poor league.

Fair play to him - I wish I had his money, but at least I am a more talented footballer than he is.

Edited November 20, 2007 by Hajjhowe

[Guest muddatrucker]

One of the best free-kickers in the world and a very good player, but thats about it football wise, he's just very famous because he's got what little girls who read magazines define as the perfect life.

[Grounded Wingman]

When all is said and done David Beckham will be remembered as the most high profile (but nowhere near the best) of the outstanding batch of kids that Alex Ferguson brought through in the early 90's. A player who introduced himself to the footballing public by scoring from the halfway line against Wimbledon, who got sent of for kicking an Argentinian in 1998 and who scored a free kick in injury time againt Greece so England qualified for.

He is lauded as a style icon because his wife dresses him and because he cannot be lauded for his football abilities. He can hit a mean cross (just don't expect him to go past his man before he does it) and take a good free kick (but he's not the only player who's ever done that) and he runs about like a dafty. He was too petulant to properly play in his best position (right midfield) and ended up screwing up the tactics of the teams he played for by always coming inside because he wanted to play as a centre midfielder (which he wasn't good enough to do).

He is a pretty boy poser with a talentless wife. As a footballer he will be remembered as, at best, marginally better than good but with very little natural ability. Natural ability is not his only barrier to greatness though. Take someone like his former Man Utd colleague Roy Keane. Keane will arguably go down as a great, not because of his natural ability, but because of his work ethic (which Beckham has) and his winning attitude and ability to drag his team up by the bootlaces when the chips are down (which Beckham doesn't have).

Beckham has not wasted his potential - he has been marketed to more than maximise the limited potential he has, but his football career will be a footnote when they talk about the style icon who married a Spice Girl and got paid an inordinate amount of money to be a good footballer in a piss poor league.

Fair play to him - I wish I had his money, but at least I am a more talented footballer than he is.

How many international caps do you have btw?

[The Kraig]

Great, but not legendary. Whoever the fuck Chris Webber is, that's a Beckham.

[Face Turn!~]

Beckham is a good player who can be great when he wants to be. I.E His last comeback to England before getting injured, Beckham performed well and proved that he was still worthy of being played. The same can be said for Wednesday; sure Beckham didn't light the world on fire (although he countless times ran back and covered for the slacking defence), but he was able to pitch that cross perfectally to Crouch, which, if our defence was any better, could of got England Qualified.

The only problem is, Beckham's fame hurts him. A few stand out moments based on his Free Kicking and Crossing Ability and his marriage to Victoria put him under the spotlight from not just the football fans, but all the media aswell. He suddenly became extremely marketable to the point where he had been previously named the 'face of football', and for a good to great player its your own double edged sword. People expected a lot more from Beckham because he is seen as this 'great player' and he was such a Big player that Sven refused to drop him from games, whether or not he was on form or not.

A football player's legacy shouldn't be judged on how fast he can run or how many tricks the guy could do, and it shouldn't always have to matter about the amount of goals a player has scored. It should be judged by the contribution he made to his club and country. Whether you admit it or not, Beckham provided England and Man U with the best balls from the right wing on a regular basis, it was finishing them off where they, especially England, always failed at. He had a great Free Kick, which admittedly could be underwhelming at times, but he would always score them when they were most needed. He's saved us from failure on a number of occasions, and while his goal count isn't overly impressive, the amount of goals that have come from his creativity and preciseness is outstanding.

[supergrass]

Did anyone see his interview on Inside Sport last night? He tends to always come across very well. A genius he's not, but you can tell he still has a passion for what he's doing - in particular when it comes to England, which has certainly been lacking in the squad from what I can tell.

In terms of his overall game he was never the best all rounder. But people who say he could "just take a free-kick" underestimate him and those who say he could just "cross a ball" underestimate just what a gift that is. There are players who spent their whole careers working down the wings just to try and get a chance to put the ball in. Beckham could, and still can, cross past and around people and find his man from anywhere on the pitch.

A lot of people who I spoke to post-Croatia claimed he had "only come on and gave the ball the Crouch to score". Which to me is exactly why he will be remembered and why he's still got a future. Even he only plays one ball, he can play it right and make the difference. This has been true of Beckham his whole career.

Maybe not legendary, time will tell. Certainly a great.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

THIS: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bz5A8oGlgDQ is Beckham's legacy.

(It's only telling that it was in a qualifier to get to the World Cup and not in a World Cup final).

[The Third Dukes]

Magical. Simply magical goal.

I would add to his legacy the Man U rally against Bayern. His 2 corners were well-placed enough to trigger the goal-scoring opportunities, and that team was a special team.