Is Beckham the most overrated soccer player - even athlere - of all time?

[lefty]

Seriously, besides his free-kicks and corner kicks, he doesn't do anything special

I guess his right foot and "good looks", combined with the fact that he played on teams filled with real stars made him look good

[Muser]

No he's not, he's a set piece specialist who always nutted up in big games. He just made some terrible career choices.

[nkdlunch]

http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/adu1.jpg

[sonic21]

no, he was elite beetween 1998 and 2002. After that he was asked to play defensive midfielder in madrid.

[velik_m]

No.

[IronMaxipad]

No.

[lefty]

Ok then.

[MannyIsGod]

:lol Thread fail.

[TDMVPDPOY]

i think he was good at manutd, until he went to real madrid and bounce around the world..didnt do much to earn his money, but i think during the japan/korea worldcup that was his best ever showing in a worldcup series besides the later competitions where he had no business making the roster.

if you want overrated, check out lampard who has disappeared in in worldcup tournies since the japan/korea games, dude is just not good on national duties imo

[Muser]

T4q4JEFM1O4

Fucking epic goal, seconds from not qualifying for the world cup and this happens.


& agree with TDMVPDPOY about Lampard disappearing in big games, even his legit goals don't count :lol.

[DAF86]

He was a good player but he was also overrated, there are many better players that didn't get a quarter of Beckham's hype and attention. The only thing at which Beckham was elite was at set-pieces, then he was good/average at everything else.

[ElNono]

No.

[scott]

He was a good player but he was also overrated, there are many better players that didn't get a quarter of Beckham's hype and attention. The only thing at which Beckham was elite was at set-pieces, then he was good/average at everything else.

But if you are as dangerous at one thing as Beckham was at set-pieces, then that in and of itself can make you elite. See Chicharito. I think he's an elite striker, but have you ever seen him cross or shoot from distance (this is a serious question, and one I posed in another thread and people seemed to agree).

As far as just kicking a ball goes, Beckham is as good as anyone ever. Being good/average at everything else is enough to make him elite.

With that said, he's definitely overhyped.

[ALVAREZ6]

T4q4JEFM1O4

Fucking epic goal, seconds from not qualifying for the world cup and this happens.


& agree with TDMVPDPOY about Lampard disappearing in big games, even his legit goals don't count :lol.

LMAO WTF ... :wtf that keeper could have reached that shot, it was curving right to his outside but he watched it the whole time instead and didn't make an effort. It might partially be due to the angle, but during one of the replays the ball doesn't even look that far away from the keeper...and he didn't move!

[DMX7]

No, he was legit. He's fallen off of course though now.

[Spurologist]

T4q4JEFM1O4

Fucking epic goal, seconds from not qualifying for the world cup and this happens.


& agree with TDMVPDPOY about Lampard disappearing in big games, even his legit goals don't count :lol.

only the one with John Motson commentary gives me chills every time.

rKDvtnEhLP0

That's one of those moments that will never be forgotten by any English fan. Damn. The crowd went bat shit crazy

[scott]

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I think this pretty much answers the question.

[ElNono]

I agree he always been overrated... but nowhere near the most overrated.

[MannyIsGod]

The thing is what single thing is greater at generating goals than set pieces? Its not like anyone ever annointed him best ever but really set pieces impact a game so damn much more than anything else, IMO.

[ElNono]

He had a great touch. Probably one of the best long ball passers of his generation. The problem is that he was very limited on everything else, IMO.

And, Manny, I agree that set pieces are a big part of the game, but even more so on a lot of Euro teams, especially England that plays a lot of long ball/header game.

[TDMVPDPOY]

he was a crap defender, nothing special, but his opponents didnt exploit his weakness...

dude cant even dribble a ball

[joshdaboss]

Kobe Bryant

[ogait]

No he's not, he's a set piece specialist who always nutted up in big games. He just made some terrible career choices.

[lefty]

He had a great touch. Probably one of the best long ball passers of his generation. The problem is that he was very limited on everything else, IMO.

And, Manny, I agree that set pieces are a big part of the game, but even more so on a lot of Euro teams, especially England that plays a lot of long ball/header game.


he was a crap defender, nothing special, but his opponents didnt exploit his weakness...

dude cant even dribble a ball
So this thread is not a total fail :lol

[ogait]

Beckham was a top 10 player prior to joining Real Madrid.

Problem was he joined them to sell shirts and not because they were in need of his particular skills.

Even in set pieces they already had Figo and Roberto Carlos "fighting" for every chance they got to take them. Not even Zidane was allowed to shoot free kicks in that team most of the times.

Anyway he joined a team with at least 5 players better than him (Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Raul). It would be hard for anyone to have a big role in a team like that, and after that it was always downhill.

[DAF86]

Beckham has never been a top ten player in the world.

[MaNuMaNiAc]

I don't know if he's the most overrated ever, but he's damn near close.

Like other people have said already, the only thing Beckham was very good at was set pieces. Other than that he was average to good.

Now, that's fine. It makes for a very effective weapon, but nowhere near elite or Top Ten. The fact some here even consider the possibility of him being a top ten player of the world shows how wildly overrated he is.

Part of this comes from him being the captain of a remarkable Man U team no doubt. Much like the some of the hype Barca players get just for being part of the success the team is enjoying.

[ogait]

Beckham has never been a top ten player in the world.

So the 2 times he was runner up in the FIFA world player of the year there were always 9 players who deserved it more than him?

[ElNono]

So the 2 times he was runner up in the FIFA world player

He never had a shot...

[ElNono]

Beckham has never been a top ten player in the world.

[ogait]

He never had a shot...

To be number 1 yeah.
In fact even those second places were better than what he deserved imo.
But he definitely was a top 10 player back then.

[ElNono]

To be number 1 yeah.
In fact even those second places were better than what he deserved imo.
But he definitely was a top 10 player back then.

He had those nominations because he was the #1 marketable player in the world at the time. Skills or talent had nothing to do with it. I can list you 10 players better than him then, EASILY.

Just off the top of my head in no particular order:
1) Ronaldo
2) Rivaldo
3) Zidane
4) Del Piero
5) Figo
6) Bergkamp
7) Baggio
8) Edgar Davids
9) Thuram
10) Maldini

[FkLA]

Beckham being a top ten player at any point in his career :lol

Juninho Pernambucano was just as good if not better than Beckham at set pieces during his prime and he never got close to as much attention or praise. His off-field celebrity and his looks contributed alot to his hype. As well as being English, those niggas love to hype up their players...Lampard has a couple of Top 3 FIFA player of the yr finishes under his resume and he was never even the best player on his own Chelsea team during those years tbh.

[FkLA]

CuKIWfg_j1U

[ElNono]

Roberto Carlos was amazing at the time taking freekicks, and he could also play a lot better than Beckham...

[DAF86]

So the 2 times he was runner up in the FIFA world player of the year there were always 9 players who deserved it more than him?

I don't know if they deserve it more, but I know for damn sure that there were at the very least 10 better players than him in the world. From the Man U alone I can think of Scholes and Giggs. FIFA World player is kinda like the MVP award, not always it goes to the best layer in the league. To me the MVP award for Rose was fair, but no in no way I think he's the best player in the World, not even in the top 5, maybe not even in the top ten.

[ElNono]

I mean, it wasn't just Beckham that was severely overrated with a nomination to that award. The second time he was runner up, the top 3 were: Figo, Beckham and... Raul(!!!!!!!!!!)

I can probably find 20 players better than Raul at that time.

[TDMVPDPOY]

I mean, it wasn't just Beckham that was severely overrated with a nomination to that award. The second time he was runner up, the top 3 were: Figo, Beckham and... Raul(!!!!!!!!!!)

I can probably find 20 players better than Raul at that time.

this guy is even more overrated then beckham

[ogait]

It's like people haven't seen him play when he cared about being a football player more than his career off the court.

And yes he had a lot more to his game than just free kicks. He was probably the best passer/crosser in the world, he could put the ball wherever he wanted, he was also one of the best long distance shooters not just in free kicks. Just because he wasn't your traditional winger who does flashy dribbles doesn't make him less of a player, if anything makes him more valuable because there are a lot of those and very few like Beckham.

Anyway, he then became spice boy, cared more about modelling and publicity then the sport and went to the US to play retirement football. It's kind of easy to forget his young days after that.

[Muser]

Beckham was overrated by dumbass Americans when he went to LA Galaxy, faggots thinking he would make the game as popular as it is in the rest of the world. All for his bitch of a wife.

[MannyIsGod]

Beckham was overrated by dumbass Americans when he went to LA Galaxy, faggots thinking he would make the game as popular as it is in the rest of the world. All for his bitch of a wife.

He's actually done really well to build up the MLS. He was the start of the DP and has been a huge draw from the MLS in every city the Galaxy go to. He probably was overrated but the signing has been great for the Galaxy and the MLS.

[cheguevara]

Beckham was never even at any point the best player in England. I blame the movie Bend it like Beckham. Great movie, shitty player

[Muser]

He's actually done really well to build up the MLS. He was the start of the DP and has been a huge draw from the MLS in every city the Galaxy go to. He probably was overrated but the signing has been great for the Galaxy and the MLS.

Really? Didn't the US public fall out of favor with him when he started bitching about wanting to go back to Europe?


Beckham was never even at any point the best player in England. I blame the movie Bend it like Beckham. Great movie, shitty player

Just before and during the 2002 world cup Beckham was at his peak and easily the best player in the England team.

[ElNono]

It's like people haven't seen him play when he cared about being a football player more than his career off the court.

And yes he had a lot more to his game than just free kicks. He was probably the best passer/crosser in the world, he could put the ball wherever he wanted, he was also one of the best long distance shooters not just in free kicks. Just because he wasn't your traditional winger who does flashy dribbles doesn't make him less of a player, if anything makes him more valuable because there are a lot of those and very few like Beckham.

Anyway, he then became spice boy, cared more about modelling and publicity then the sport and went to the US to play retirement football. It's kind of easy to forget his young days after that.

Meh... I gave him credit for that. As I said, he probably was the best long ball shooter out there, maybe ever. The way soccer is played in England (header heavy), it's no surprise he was was king, and vastly overrated there.

He just didn't do anything else on the pitch that was noteworthy. Average defense, couldn't dribble past anybody, not really a leader...

His way to market himself outside the pitch is certainly remarkable too though.

[lefty]

Roberto Carlos was amazing at the time taking freekicks, and he could also play a lot better than Beckham...

Sinisa Mihailovich is also a free kicks legend

[MannyIsGod]

Really? Didn't the US public fall out of favor with him when he started bitching about wanting to go back to Europe?


There's always people who have been annoyed but people are far more annoyed now when the LA Galaxy come to town and he's not suited up. There was a big fuss because they sat him a few weeks ago and the ticket holders for the home team (I can't remember who it was at this point) felt robbed by not being able to see him play.

[LongtimeSpursFan]

He was a good player but he was also overrated, there are many better players that didn't get a quarter of Beckham's hype and attention. The only thing at which Beckham was elite was at set-pieces, then he was good/average at everything else.

Read somewhere that over 60 percent of goals are scores off corner kicks and free kicks. We shouldnt downplay someone that can give you an opportunity to score at these opportune times.

[sefant77]

Lets say every single british soccer player is overrated...

[dunkman]

England had great chances in Corea-Japan '02, but Beckham lost the ball in the mid-field and Ronaldinho dribbled it all the way down to help put Brazil ahead.

I was surprised to see Beckham lose the ball like that, first because he looked limited in talent and then no player is ever afraid of injury playing in World Cup. If if he didn't want to enter firmly to fight for the ball, he should have later at lest tackled the Brazilian or pulled his shirt, I never saw something like that at World Cups in knock out phase.

That being said, I think that Beckham was really good but not quite elite and he was overrated. He was signed by Real Madrid to sell merchandise and popularize the team in Asia (which they did). Madrid actually needed an defensive midfielder.

Man-U didn't want to let him go at the start of the negotiations, so Madrid had to offer an mountain of money and that's how he became a legend. Should have Ferguson believed him to be irreplaceable, Manchester definitely had resources to keep him.

After his departure Manchester United continued winning and Real Madrid not any-more.

[Muser]

After his departure Manchester United continued winning and Real Madrid not any-more.

That has less to do with Beckham leaving and more to do with the fact that United are the Lakers of the EPL.

[lefty]

Lets say every single british soccer player is overrated...
I wouldnt go that far :lol


George Best and B.Charlton shit on Becks