Beckham at Madrid was most definitely not his prime. This isn’t bias either, I think he peaked between 1999-2001 and got lost in his celebrity afterwards.
Once he started to believe he was a central midfielder and needed to move inside, he wasn’t anywhere near as effective. Beckham at his best worked like hell on the right and delivered great crosses. By sticking rigidly to the right, he freed up Giggs to wander on the left.
he way I see it is he was in his mid 30s when he came back, yes he wasn’t spectacular but that wasn’t what I was trying to say. I meant that he stepped up his game from the relatively low level (sorry Americans) of MLS- where he had dropped the ball on his career, to be able to play to a high standard in Europe.
I think the age he came back to Europe is the same age Gerrard is now he’s leaving for MLS, you’ve got to respect that.
I can’t really remember his performance against us, but we were trouncing them way before he came on. God I miss that United. He almost scored a cracking volley though didn’t he?
If I remember that tie correctly, the whole of AC Milan didn’t look like they could cope with top level football anymore. There’s not much sense in judging a player (or a team) solely off of a game and a half IMO.
when we need extra support in the middle. Most notably he started the 99 champions league final from centre mid - but this most mostly because Keane and Scholes were suspended.
He more often played centrally for England. For a number of years he was by far the best England player and was moved centrally to help the team when they lacked real quality down the middle.
Yeah I agree with you I didn’t phrase it correctly really, what I meant was he is another player am glad I saw in his prime (Man Utd title winning years) and think it’s sad when people say he is overrated or just an occasionally good player. He could change games and had so much to offer several teams with different mechanics, this pass wasn’t a one-off.
Beckham didn’t “believe” he was a CM for Madrid, he was placed there initially but he moved out right the next season and was there most of the time especially as Figo began to decline.
Becks was MOTM in the 2004 Clasico.
Peak Beckham may have been 1999-2001 but ask any Madrid fan he did quite well at the Bernabeu.
Beckham was the ideal outside midfielder to play wing backs. I will never forget the pace gary neveille used to put on as he passed to beckham them stonked forward past everyone. But as beckham could himself put the ball in a pin regardless it left defences so confused. Do we track neville or stay with the ball.
Beckham had the least superstar game for a player who was as marketed as him. He was a hard worker with a great cross and good passing. The one magical aspect that he had to his game was his free kicks. I remember when I he moved to LA I heard someone say that he won’t make the game bigger in America. Not because he won’t play well, but because he isn’t the type of player to score hat tricks and if he does score it’s never going to be spectacular unless it’s a free kick. He basically was kinda boring on the field with one or two great highlights here and there.
