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DAVID BECKHAM WITH MANCHESTER UNITED |
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Becoming a first team player (1995-98)
United manager Alex Ferguson had large confidence in the club's
young players and when three of his first-team players left the
club at the end of the 1994-95 season, he made the decision to
let the youth team players replace them instead of buying
players from other clubs. The criticism of Ferguson increased
when United started the season with a 3–1 defeat at Aston Villa
F.C., with Beckham scoring United's only goal of the game, but
many of the doubters were won over when the team won their next
five matches.
Beckham became a regular player in the team and helped them to
win the Premiership and FA Cup double that season, scoring the
winner in the semi-final against Chelsea F.C. and also supplying
the corner kick cross that Eric Cantona scored with a volley
from in the FA Cup Final.
In August 1996, Beckham became something of a household name
when he scored a spectacular goal in a match against Wimbledon
F.C.
With United 2 – 0 ahead, Beckham noticed that Wimbledon's
goalkeeper Neil Sullivan was standing a long way out of his goal,
and hit a shot from the halfway line that floated over the
goalkeeper and into the net. Sky Sports' commentator Martin
Tyler's words "You'll see that over and over again" proved
prophetic as the goal was voted Premier League Goal of the
Decade in 2003.
He became an automatic first-choice player at United that season,
scoring a series of blistering goals and sublime free kicks,
thus helping them to retain their league championship. He was
voted PFA Young Player of the Year by his peers.
In 1998, Beckham started dating the Spice Girl Victoria Adams
and was pictured wearing a sarong while they were on holiday
together. Their relationship attracted a great deal of media
interest. United started the season well, but their results
deteriorated when several players became injured and they
finished the season in second place.
The treble season (1998-99)
In the 1998–99 season, he was part of the United team that won
the "treble" — Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, a
unique feat in English football. There had been speculation that
the criticism that he had received after being sent off in the
World Cup would lead to him leaving England, but he decided to
stay at Manchester United.
Throughout the season, Beckham was jeered by opposition
supporters whenever he touched the ball, but he consistently
played well and his crossing provided a significant number of
goals for United's forwards Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole. United's
supporters had mostly forgiven him for the problems he'd had
with England, and were frequently heard to chant "Argentina" in
response to the other supporters' taunts. On a more positive
note for Beckham, Victoria gave birth to their first child
Brooklyn on 4 March 1999.
United needed to win their final league match of the season at
home to Tottenham Hotspur F.C. to ensure they would win the
league championship, but Tottenham took an early lead in the
match. Beckham scored their equaliser and United went on to win
the match and the league.
Beckham played in United's FA Cup final win over Newcastle and
played in centre-midfield for the UEFA Champions League final as
United's first choice centre-midfielders were suspended for the
match.
United were losing the Champions League final 1–0 at the end of
normal time, but won the trophy by scoring two goals in stoppage
time. Both of the goals came from corners taken by Beckham, and
this, combined with his performances over the rest of the season,
led to him finishing runner up for 1999's European Footballer of
the Year award.
1999-2000 season
Despite Beckham's achievements in the 1998-99 season, he was
still unpopular among opposition fans and many journalists, and
he was heavily criticised after being sent off for a deliberate
foul in Manchester United's World Club Championship match
against Necaxa. It was suggested in the press that his wife was
a bad influence on him, and that it might be in United's
interests to sell him, but his manager publicly backed him and
he stayed at the club.
The relationship between Ferguson and Beckham began to
deteriorate, possibly as a result of Beckham's fame and
commitments away from football. In 2000, the club gave Beckham
permission to miss training to look after his son Brooklyn, who
had gastroenteritis, but Ferguson was furious when Victoria
Beckham was photographed at a London Fashion Week event on the
same night. Fergusion claimed that Beckham would have been able
to train if Victoria had looked after Brooklyn that day.
He responded by fining Beckham the maximum amount that was
permitted (two weeks' wages – then £50,000) and dropping him for
a crucial match against United's rivals Leeds United F.C. He
later criticised Beckham in an updated edition of his 1999
autobiography, claiming he hadn't been "fair to his team mates".
Beckham had a good season for his club, though, and helped
United to win the Premier League by a record margin.
Metatarsal injury
On 10 April 2002, Beckham was injured during a Champions League
match against Deportivo La Coruña, breaking the metatarsal bones
of his left foot. There was speculation that the injury might
have been caused deliberately, as the player who had injured
Beckham was Argentinian Aldo Duscher and England and Argentina
were due to meet in that year's World Cup.
Those speculations were unfounded, though, and the accusations
were never proved. The injury prevented Beckham from playing for
United for the rest of the season, but he signed a three-year
contract in May, following months of negotiations with the club,
mostly concerning extra payments for his image rights. The
income from his new contract and the many endorsement deals he
had made him the highest-paid player in the world at the time.
Final season at United
Following an injury early in the 2002-03 season, Beckham was
unable to regain his place in the team, with Ole Gunnar Solskjær
having replaced him on the right side of midfield. His
relationship with his manager deteriorated further on 15
February 2003 when, in the changing room following a defeat to
Arsenal F.C., Alex Ferguson kicked a football boot which struck
Beckham over the eye, causing a cut which required stitches.
The incident led to a great deal of transfer speculation
involving Beckham, with bookmakers offering odds on whether he
or Ferguson would be first to leave the club. Although the team
had started the season badly, their results improved greatly
from December onwards and they won the league. In the second leg
of the Champions League quarter final tie against Real Madrid,
Manchester United were trailing 3-1 from the first leg at the
Bernabéu Stadium.
In the return leg at Old Trafford on 23 April 2003, Beckham was
controversially left on the bench for the start of the match. It
got even worse for United when Real Madrid went 1-0 up inside
the opening 10 minutes through Ronaldo. At half time it was 1
all with Ruud van Nistelrooy levelling matters just before the
break. Ronaldo scored two more goals after the break in the
space of eight minutes to seal his hat-trick, with Iván Helguera
scoring an own goal for United in between Ronaldo's two goals.
In the 63rd minute, with United trailing 3-2 on the night and
6-3 on aggregate, Ferguson elected to bring on Beckham at the
expense of Juan Sebastián Verón.
Six minutes after coming off the bench Beckham had a free kick
which he dispatched into the net with great power and accuracy,
with the ball coming off the underside of the crossbar. In the
84th minute Beckham managed to reach the ball in a goalmouth
scramble before Helguera to poke the ball over the line to score
his second of the night. United won on the night thanks to
Beckham's heroics, but lost 6-5 on aggregate, needing only two
goals to progress due to the away goal ruling. Beckham also
scored the winning goal in their final match of the season
against Everton F.C.
He was still a first-choice player for England, however, and he
was awarded an OBE for services to football on 13 June. |
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