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This week David Beckham, one of world sport’s – or indeed the world’s – most recognised figures, announced he was hanging up his squillion dollar Adidas-sponsored boots.
Looking back on Beckham’s career in the public spotlight, one instantly thinks of the good looks, the haircuts, the hair colours, the fashion (including that ridiculous sarong), the screaming women, the pop star wife – pretty much all the things that made him a celebrity rather than a footballer.
It is for this reason that many deduce his football ability must have been overstated and his career on the pitch owed more to his ability to generate shirt and ticket sales than it did from winning football matches.
Just a few days ago, former England midfielder Chris Waddle commented Beckham would not be in the top 1000 EPL players ever.
For a player who won six premier league titles and a Champion’s League trophy, such a statement is quite laughable. However, the point Waddle was trying to make was Beckham’s ability was not consummate to his fame.
Perhaps this is true, but many underestimate just how good a player Beckham was – you don’t get awarded runner up for world player of the year twice just for being a clothes horse.
George Best once said, “Beckham cannot kick with his left foot, can’t head a ball, can’t tackle and he doesn’t score enough goals, but besides that he’s alright.”
Funnily enough this is all true to a degree, but what this comment does highlight, albeit in a subtle way, is just how good Beckham’s strengths were.
Beckham’s right boot was a wand. Has there ever been a player that could hit a free kick or a corner as well as he could? And for crossing ability he is probably the best ever in that category as well.
Many point to the fact Beckham could not (or least did not try to) dribble past opponents. But to be honest he simply didn’t need to – his crossing from deep was so precise and had so much arch on it he did not need to run the risk of beating his player to put a cross in.
One only has to watch a YouTube compilation of Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham, Andy Cole or Van Nistoolrooy, to see just how many goals Beckham’s passing put on a platter to his Manchester United teammates.
Beckham made the game look simple and correspondingly people don’t realise how great he was.
I was guilty of believing he owed his career to his celebrity; however that changed when I saw him play against Melbourne Victory in 2011.
To truly evaluate a sportsman’s performance one must watch the contest live to have an awareness of how they affect the overall match and how they unlock (or create) problems on the field of play among the chess board of moving players.
For 90 minutes, every time Beckham received the ball he would control it perfectly, spot a run from a teammate no one else in the stadium would have, and then deliver it to them with pin-point accuracy, all with poise and grace.
It was like watching a puppet-master pull the strings of the game. All his teammates had to do was run and he would get the ball to their feet.
It must be said that the sum total of his skills were not the best on the field that day – that honour probably went to Harry Kewell or Landon Donovan.
However, there was no arguing Beckham’s effectiveness and impact on the match stood head and shoulders above anyone else.
Sometimes in sport we see players who collect a stack of individual awards but never win any team prizes and others, like Beckham, who seem to win wherever they play. This owes to our fascination with flashiness and showy skills, rather than evaluating the actual effect that player had on the result.
Beckham just recently became the only British player ever to win a league championship in four different countries. This is not by coincidence, it is testament to Beckham’s ability to positively impact a match and proof he deserves to be considered up there among the top tier who have played the game.
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