Beckham

[endabob1]

As a general principal I agree that these things should be handled out of the public glare. However -unless someone asks Donovan we've no way of knowing whether or not Donovan hadn't pulled Beckham up on his attitude or commitment privately some time before venting his frustration in public about having to carry a show pony who's commitment to the cause is evidently a cause for worry.

He went to the press himself pussin' about his professionalism being called into question Bob. No refute. Not a word of rebuttal out of him. He didn't challenge a single word of what Donovan said for truth or accuracy.

...maybe he felt Beckham needed it explained to him in the only language he understands -front page tabloid font size 120.

So now it's Capellos fault? Beckham knew the score when he moved to the States. He was effectively dropping a division and stepping off the main stage of a footballers career to start up a sideshow with the wife in Hollywood. Tough luck. Life's full of choices.

Donovan went public before Beckham had come back to LA & has since appologised saying he should have handled it differently, unfortunately the die has been cast. "There are a lot of things I regret. I regret the way I went about this process and I also regret some of the things I said."

He's being pilloried in the press for wanting to return to England when actually he's said "maybe in the future", allthe talk of him coming back is coming from Capello & the British tabloids, I'm not saying it's Capellos fault but the media are putting a spin on it, as they do, to sell papers.

Like I say, I don't think Beckham's an angel & there's no doubt the LA deal was all about the money but I think he's got the rough edge of the sword on this one.

[Metrostars]

"Maybe in the future"? He is the one who said he wanted to permanently move to Milan a few months ago.

Also, you need to understand the whole background/context to Donovan's comments. Grant Wahl who is a respected sports journalist stateside was writing a book about Beckham and LA. He got a lot of access to the whole Galaxy set up. A lot of players and backroom staff participated with the blessing of AEG, the owners of LA. All except Beckham who's handlers, 19 Entertainment wanted money for his participation in the book. I don't blame Donovan at all, he was the leader of the team before Beckham, then when his circus(19 Entertainment, Terry Byrne etc) came, all went south for the team. I would understand his frustration at that and Beckham's lack of commitment last year. He could have said it to Beckham, maybe he even did so. But would have happened? Nothing. Because Beckham and his handlers are too powerful in the LA set up seeing as how they made sure Beckham got the captaincy from Donovan and with the hiring of Ruud Gullit.

[Den Perry]

I like Beckham, but he can be a right pain also.At the end of the day he knew when he went west that it would damage his career(apart from money and publicity - and in doing this, in my opinion he showed that these were the things most important to him). How he and Posh can bi tch about publicity when they court it so much is beyond me...and as for confronting the fans...that looked very silly. In addition having Tom Cruise as one of his groupies really gets on my wick, he's a horrible little ba stard

[Neish]

Beckham is reported to have had another altercation with a LA Galaxy fan, the fan appparently insulted victoria beckham and David challenged him

[Pauro 76]

Beckham is reported to have had another altercation with a LA Galaxy fan, the fan appparently insulted victoria beckham and David challenged him

Very daft of him. Why doesn't he just concentrate on his game?

[Lionel Ritchie]

Beckham is reported to have had another altercation with a LA Galaxy fan, the fan appparently insulted victoria beckham and David challenged him

From RTE:
.....The latest incident saw the 34-year-old exchange words with a male in the crowd, who was wearing an England shirt, during the Galaxy's 1-1 draw with the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday.

Beckham appeared to take offence at something the man said, and later claimed the spectator had insulted his wife, Victoria.

'He shouldn't actually be wearing that shirt because what he was saying about my wife was a disgrace,' Beckham said... Jesus the guy thinks he IS England now.

References to the ball and chain really work when winding up Becks. Once saw him fully stand on a ball he was trapping and fall @rse over elbow at Elland Road as 40,000 Leeds supporters serenaded him about what posh spice takes and where posh spice takes it. Think he figured it couldn't all be rumour and conjecture.

[strangeirish]

Maybe he's doing his best to get kicked off the team?

[Den Perry]

From RTE: Jesus the guy thinks he IS England now.

References to the ball and chain really work when winding up Becks. Once saw him fully stand on a ball he was trapping and fall @rse over elbow at Elland Road as 40,000 Leeds supporters serenaded him about what posh spice takes and where posh spice takes it. Think he figured it couldn't all be rumour and conjecture.

I actually change my mind about what I said above. I don't like him he's a ****

[strangeirish]

Fast forward to 1.53:D

Wg0qk9UUBP0

[DeLorean]

Got sent off for a very bad tackle against Seattle after only 17mins.

[Noli]

Twas a bad tackle alright,straight red no questions about it

[CF1989]

yeah definate red to be fair

such idiots in that video btw. i hate americans

[bellavistaman]

yeah definate red to be fair

such idiots in that video btw. i hate americans

that video is ridiculous alright, he needs to get out of that league alright, your man in the england shirt was a right ****. I couldnt keep my cool if i was him.

Yeah it was a red card alright defo. Looks way worse from the far off angle. Id say it will be a matter of time before he moves on again

[CF1989]

he needs to get out of there, getting nothing but abuse now all round it seems and with a world cup at the end of the season he needs to leave them fully, not on loan or anything. he still has a lot to offer the english team imo, he got lots of stick about his performances in 2006 world cup but he scored one and assisted around 90% of the other goals they scored in the tournament

[EastTerracer]

Sad news tonight about David Beckham's achilles injury. I have to confess I hated him (or at least the hype about him) during the early part of his career but in recent years he has always struck me as a pretty likeable fella and it's obvious how much he loves playing football - compared to the likes of Cashley Cole he does seem to have a bit of decency about him. I wouldn't be cheering for England by any means but it would have been nice to see him play in a fourth world cup. That isn't going to happen now but if this is the end of Beckham's "top-class" career then the send-off he got at Old Trafford last week would be quite fitting. Beckham may not play again this year but he had committed to play in the MLS in 2011. If he does recover from this injury then that looks likely to be his final season.

[Zizou]

Terrible way to end a career. He'll be gutted. In a world of prima donnas who care more about their superman shorts than playing for their country, Becks loved playing for Engerland.
Sad for him.

[Closed Account 2]

One of the few top level English players to try his luck abroad, very rare in the modern era. It's a shame for him as unlike a lot of other players (Stephen Ireland, Paul Scholes, etc) he never retired from International football to concentrate on his club career.

England will look a bit ropey in terms of creativity now, I don't see how they are going to create chances. Shaun Wright-Phillips or Wallcott (who are being touted as his immediate replacement(s) in the papers over here) are both very one dimensional. Wright Phillips has been useless this season, he just cant beat a half decent defender any more, and his strategy of knocking it past a player and then trying to run round them has been found out.

[tricky_colour]

I am sure he loved playing for England for personal reasons, but even if he didn't it was important to 'Brand Beckham', there is no way he would have done a "Stephen Ireland" even if he hated playing for England, it would have destroyed his image, however his image is a genuine one so that would not have happened anyway.
It is usually something pretty serious when a player pulls up for no apparent reason.
It doesn't sound as if he will make a miracle comeback from the sound of it, also doubtful if he would have palyed much either.
I wonder if he will go along as a team mascot? I expect he would like to be involvled in some manner, maybe as a comentator?
Or perhaps he will take over from Phil Brown at Hull??? lol.

[SkStu]

now ill have to become an expert on the achilles tendon just like i did when it was his metatarsal.

Becks 4 Eva.

[tricky_colour]

Victioria will be devestated, I bet she has spent months planning what to wear!!

[tricky_colour]

I suppose this will not be the hand of Hand of Henri, rather the Bunion of Beckham.

[MaryDrummer]

I saw some photos and he looked to be in immense pain. He got a kick in the face earlier in the match...talk about unlucky!

[old git]

I saw some photos and he looked to be in immense pain. He got a kick in the face earlier in the match...talk about unlucky!

not the first time he got a boot into the face :D

[DeLorean]

It's an awful way for it to have ended for him, assuming this is the end. Bit of a blow for England too I think. I could see them being involved in matches where Wright-Phillips or Lennon or whoever are doing very little out the right and England are finding it difficult to create anything, he'd definitely have been a good man to turn to.

[endabob1]

He was always going to be a reserve to turn to, in a game where the pace of Lennon wasn't opening doors, bring on Becks & Crouch and try something different. I don't think it'll hurt England that much in that he was always going to be plan B or even C but it's interesting to see Capello already talking about bringing him for his experience.
Like him or not he was one of the players who was visibly proud to play for his country and in a lot of ways he has brought pride back into wearing the England national shirt. Considering the vilification after France 98 his journey from national villian to national treasure is astonishing and he was brave enough to try his luck abroad when he isn't blessed with natural talent and it would have been much easier for him to stay in England.
I have a lot of time for the guy, made the absolute most of his talent's not many of us can say that.

[DeLorean]

I think his so called "lack of talent" is completely exaggerated. If anything that's the one thing he was blessed with. Having the ability to strike the ball as he does and the vision to utilise it fully is a huge talent to have. Fair enough he wouldn't be in the absolute top bracket with Messi or Ronaldino due to his inferior skill level but give me what he has any day over speed merchants like Walcott or Lennon, who don't possess a fraction of his footballing brain. He's always come across as a gent of the highest order also, if a little bit simple at times!

Tony Pulis complimented Beckham for going out of his way to accommodate Ryan Shawcross, when included in his first England squad a couple of weeks ago in the aftermath of the whole Aaron Ramsey fiasco. Gerrard was supposed to have been very good with him as well but he was captain for the evening, so probably had to be seen making an effort.

[endabob1]

You can't practice what Messi or Ronaldinho have imho, Beckham's strenght is set piece delivery, clearly there has to be some natural talent but he has honed his art through hours of practice. Look at someone like Bentley at Spurs who has ability but the wrong attitude, if he spent the time Becks did in training his set pieces he'd already have ousted him from the England squad.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Reading an issue of Total Football magazine from before the '98 World Cup on my day off and I see this letter somebody sent in:


Sulky Spice


Dear Total Football,

Has anyone seen a game in which David Beckham hasn't shown, on at least three occasions, remarkable petulance at a referee's decision? I find it highly unlikely that he'll play in all of England's World Cup games since he'll receive at least two yellow cards for dissent.

Nigel Alderman,
Email

And the magazine's response:


And that's not to mention the number he'll pick up when he starts kicking out in frustration - another recent trait to his game.

#Prophetic

[Hitman]

A piece from the ever-excellent Rob Smyth, loosely based around his goal against Wimbledon.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/aug/19/golden-goal-david-beckham-manchester-united-wimbledon-1996-halfway-line

[DeLorean]

Really enjoyed that.