Beckham Retiring

[Tulip]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ham-set-retire-football--world-exclusive.html

Truly the most iconic footballer of our generation. Really cleaned up his act in the 2nd half of his career too. One of my all time favourites.

 

[Cruyff14]

Will be missed. Brilliant player in his heyday.

 

[Cooldude]

This one I'll celebrate

Football's been his secondary occupation for a long long long time

 

[PP34]

Same time as Fergie, ey?

 

[moomba]

Glorified shirt seller.

Nothing against him personally but the press coverage that followed him was sickening.

Remember Japorea when SBS did the public polls about MOM in England games. He won every one of them despite being awful. Even now, PSG have become Beckham's PSG and a 5 minute sub appearance turns into Beckham leads PSG to win headlines.

Glad he's gone but I'm sure we'll still be informed every time he decides to fart or wipe his nose.

 

[PP34]

Very good player at his best, but yes he was overrated by the press and that lead to many fans overrating him.

Feel sorry for the bloke at times.

 

[OzBomber]

Let's be honest. He's been retired for a good 6 years already.

 

[juice t]

And in lesser News, Alan Hansen called it quits on Match Of The Day. At last.

 

[lewigie]

Wasn't he donating his salary this year to charity?

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

God I feel old. An iconic player for the rockstar way players are now. He was the pioneer of what goes on today. I know Best etc were there before him but he didn't create his own brand unless Best's was for how to piss it all away.

 

[jod23]

Meh who cares. Was a pretty good player in his hey day, not a great of the game and has been whoring himself to the media for years upon years. Him retiring is a non story.

 

[Redalert]

Read in the MX yesterday that the guy makes more than Ronaldo, its not like he really needs to play anyway.

 

[SuperCats9]

Champion of the game, great career and wish him all the best for the future.

 

[Jatz]

Meh who cares. Was a pretty good player in his hey day, not a great of the game and has been whoring himself to the media for years upon years. Him retiring is a non story.

Wow. If you dont care, dont post. Obviously a very good footballer over a long period of time that won trophies just about everywhere he went.

Good on him for getting the most out of his career

 

[pantskyle]

What a brand!!!!

 

[Partridge]

Very good player at his best, but yes he was overrated by the press and that lead to many fans overrating him.

Feel sorry for the bloke at times.

I can't feel sorry for anyone with that amount of money. Nothing against him personally, and when interviewed seemed far more reasonable and level-headed than you'd think. But image and money became the primary goal some time ago.

Good player, but in a way summed up the English side of that era. Good but not great players, in a good but not great team.

 

[Partridge]

Champion of the game, great career and wish him all the best for the future.

He wasn't a champion. I saw him, Ronaldo, Zidane, Figo et al playing at the same time in Spain and he wasn't on the same planet as Zidane (mind you with the possible exception of Figo none of them were).

 

[crowsarethebest]

He wasn't out of place in the Galactico team. Yes his off field endeavours were circus like, however on the field he was genuinely world class for united. Obviously his set pieces are what made him famous but he was a lot more than that. One of the best crossers of the ball of all time, he was never blessed with the pace but his stamina, work rate and determination was top notch. Coupled with his killer first touch and he never ever made a bad decision... he was well and truly in the top echelon of players in his prime. He had a ridiculous assist+goal/game ratio while he was at united. Great leader as well. It's a shame that people think he was 'overrated', on the pitch alone he was well and truly a great of the game.

 

[Cruyff14]

He is not an all time great.

 

[Jatz]

I think this quote best sums it up:

'He may not have been in the same league as a genius like Zidane or Messi but idea that Beckham was just an average footballer is funny, too'

 

[Thistle]

But how am I meant to know what the next big hairstyle will be?

 

[ADL9798]

In my time watching football I don't think there's been another player who could strike a ball as well and as consistently as Beckham has over his career. He may not be particularly quick or skillful in the traditional sense but he was still capable of changing games with his free kicks, crosses and passing, he had an incredibly high work rate as well. Someone else on here said it best a while ago. He's so overrated that now he's underrated. There are very, very few players who could cross a ball like this:



And lets not forget, England wouldn't have even been in the 2002 World Cup if it weren't for one of the most inspiring performances I've ever seen in an England shirt:




Despite all the celebrity and media circus that follows him around everywhere, he's remained very humble and level headed. One of the greats? Probably not, but still a very, very good footballer at his peak.

 

[Super Hans]

Very good player. His free kicks were great.

 

[SuperCats9]

He wasn't a champion. I saw him, Ronaldo, Zidane, Figo et al playing at the same time in Spain and he wasn't on the same planet as Zidane (mind you with the possible exception of Figo none of them were).

Not in the same league as those guys but still a champion.

 

[mcuzzy]

Great player and even now he's still a good player.

Many people dislike him, I think it's just due to the press following him around everywhere. He did make a brand out of himself, but why not? People bought it and he made a lot of money and enjoyed doing it.

If you watched him play over the past year or so at least, you'd know his heart was still very much in the game.

edit: Even some of the posts in this thread prove that everybody cared more about his appearance and off field ventures and press coverage than they did his football. Very sour opinions.