David Beckham – Over Hyped or Under Appreciated?
Posted in LA Galaxy, MLS by admin on January 28th, 2008
He is the most famous and richest footballer (soccer player) in the world. Off the soccer pitch there is no other soccer player who can compete with Beckham for endorsements, media attention and fanatical fans. But how does Becks stand up on the pitch to best soccer players in today’s game? Is Beckham’s success due to marketing hype or does he actually have some game?
Beckham was a product of the Manchester United youth system. He first came to the football public’s attention with a goal for Man Utd from the half way line in 1997.
Beckham got world wide attention in the 1998 world cup 1998 when he was sent off in the quarter final between Argentina and England for kicking Diego Simeone. Beckham was vilified on his return to England and was a target for angry fans at every Man Utd away game in 1999
I think it took until the free kick against Greece in 2006 before English fans finally forgive Beckham. That goal against Greece in the last minute that send England to the Word Cup was as clutch a soccer play as you will ever see. That goal has to go down as one of the best free kicks of all-time because of the time and place that it occurred.
Beckham is known as a dead ball specialist, but I think that is a too simple view of his game. In his prime, Beckham was a player who could cover ever blade of grass on a pitch and there are few players who could cross a ball better or hit a pass that would split a defense wide open than Beckham.
Beckham has never had skill of a Zidane or Figo to ghost past 3 defenders and create something out of nothing. And this is what keeps Beckham from being in the same group as Zidane, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo. A true soccer superstar has the ability to conjure up some magic on the soccer pitch from open play. That is why we value the skills of Pele, Best, and Maradonna so much. They all had that ability to make a goal out of nothing. That is not Beckham’s game. He is a better player than most people give him credit for, but he is not a great player. Whether that makes him over-hyped or under-appreciated is up to you. My vote is on under-appreciated. What is yours?
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5 Responses to “David Beckham – Over Hyped or Under Appreciated?”
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It’s easy for fans and media to look at Beckham now and say he has been too hyped but we so easily forget his entire career in futbol.
But since we still are focused on the recent move to the MLS, lets just take his few games for a moment. Shall we?
I was at his first appearance (I’m a LAG season ticket holder for 2 years, going on 3) for the International Friendly against Chelsea. Although he shouldn’t have played injured in my opinion, the fans certaintly game him little choice and for hte short time he was out there, his passes were brillant that our LAG forwards weren’t sure what to do with the ball once it was perfectly placed in front of them.
The rest of Beckham’s few games were not much different.
So, it’s not all hype and I believe he does deliver and will in the 2008 MLS season.
Visit my LA Galaxy Fan blog during the season to get home video of game highlights: http://lethalsoccer.com
I’d say “improperly” appreciated or assessed. He’s a total game player, indeed. As football is a team sport, that’s an important reality. The U.S. fanbase and/or media in any sport, especially soccer because of its very artful and wholistic nature–something ‘Merkaans are notoriously ignorant of generally–are poor arbiters of fame or reputation overall. Ask the ave. soccer fan in the U.S. about ZiZou, Figo, Ronaldinho, Henry, et al. and they’ll recognize a name but cannot tell you why that player is special. Much the same way as they cannot comprehend the beautiful game as an artform of sport. Becks has hype-recognition but that’s an abberation as his quality to the game is improperly assessed on that basis.
Over his career, however, Becks has, like most maturing players, shown up in terms of leadership and game-sense more so than magic. That’s still a vital role on the pitch. It’s like dissing Michael Essien because he’s not slamming goals in every match when he’s nothing short of vital to Chelsea’s middle when he’s there. One notices when he isn’t. In my mind, Becks is a lot like Essien, improperly assessed or improperly [un]appreciated.
Great comments Mark. I agree that 2008 will be a banner year for Beckham in MLS. He should be by far the best player in the league
JutsJack, that is a great comparison to Essien. I wonder if the average soccer fan can appreciate the kind of work that Essien (or Beckham) does during a game to help his team win.