DAVID BECKHAM IS KING!
Midfield veteran provides more goals than England rival
DAVID BECKHAM will be a key member of Fabio Capello's World Cup England squad and see off the young pretenders to his place.
That is the only conclusion to draw from last season's statistics, which show the AC Milan and LA Galaxy legend is streets ahead of his rival wide midfield players when it comes to making goals.
Beckham, who played 18 times in Serie A for AC Milan last season, created 3.2 chances per 90 minutes played - more than 50 per cent more than his nearest England rival, Shaun Wright-Phillips.
While Beckham, 34, has not scored as many goals as the others (two, compared to Wright-Phillips and Aaron Lennon, who both scored five), he played far fewer games.
Wright-Phillips, 27, played 27 Premier League games for Manchester City, while Lennon,22, played 35 games for Tottenham.
That also makes Beckham's goal assist figure impressive - he has five, while Wright-Phillips has three, Lennon five and Arsenal's Theo Walcott, 21, just two in his 22 games.
Beckham also hits nearly twice as many crosses per game as any of the other three - another key factor in his favour.
Data provided by Castrol. Visit www.castrolfootball.com for more insight
This article has 17 comments
Beckham is just a king..no doubt about that
By Melusi. Posted June 24 2009 at 1:53 PM.
I saw someone write that the Serie A is tight. They are, and the defenders are great, make no mistake.
But to clarify the "no goals in Italy"-myth, I challenge everyone to look at the statistics for this season: More goals was scored in Serie A than in EPL - fact.
By Alexander. Posted June 8 2009 at 1:06 AM.
I agree that it is good to hear someone praise Beckham when so often it is easy to say he's overrated. I can see why Capello has him coming off the bench with the "not getting as much first team starting" policy Capello says he has. I agree that the others (especially Walcott) will eventually step up into the role that Beckham has. I think England needs Beckham on the squad for his football intelligence and that the others can learn from him to make themselves better players, thus making England a better overall team.
By england supporter. Posted June 7 2009 at 9:15 PM.
i think who ever is in the better form should play for england. That certainly wasnt Walcott towards the later end of the season where he was hugely ineffective agains Manchester United in the Champions league. Where as Beckham won himself a starti ng place in one of the worlds best teams.
By Mark Driscoll. Posted June 7 2009 at 8:04 PM.
What a refreshing change to hear someone in the press praise Becks and give him the respect and recognition that he deserves.As for the muppet"Gooner4life" You have got it the wrong way round.Victoria would be nothing more then a washed up pop star if it were not for Becks.After all it is " brand Beckham" not brand Adams!
By Rita Cocking. Posted June 7 2009 at 6:26 PM.
On last nights performances Beckham should've started. He was sharing a defencive role with SWP and the whole team looked more organised when he was in the team. He also saved us with a fantastic blcok but we did not get to see any fantastic crosses or set peices because he didnt have enough time but he did show that he could keep the ball more than the other two and that he could also win it back. I like the others and maybe one day they will be good enough but right at this very moment only Beckham is the man i would trust in this position and its annoying me that Fabio Capello doesnt see that he needs to start or at least have a little longer than 15 minutes. Beckham is the only one i feel who can provide us with more goals and that is a midfielder you want.
By Jess. Posted June 7 2009 at 3:10 PM.
Becks is a father but i believe he should be coming from bench cause my babe (theo Walcot) should play ahead of any of them
By Adoyi. Posted June 7 2009 at 2:44 PM.
The problem with all the pretenders is their final ball - it's fantastic to watch them beat other players with their speed but if the final pass goes astray (which it so often does) all that brilliance is wasted.
By jon ward. Posted June 7 2009 at 1:01 PM.
Easy to determine who are the theo/arsenal supporters and those who support the England team.
By Pete. Posted June 7 2009 at 8:51 AM.
i agree with mike
if walcott play in serie then the defenders of serie a
tell to the world that they are not the best as you all think
By arsenal4life. Posted June 7 2009 at 7:35 AM.
Beckham is the most overrated footballer of all time,
lacking skill and dependent on his more famouswife far too often
By Keith Price. Posted June 7 2009 at 2:00 AM.
You shouldn't be ignorant to the ability of Italian defences, they are renowned for having the best in the world and rightly so. And for you to question whether Beckham would be effective in the Premier league ignores the fact that he was for many years, playing in the same style he does today. Physically he's still in great shape and technically there's no English player who is better, so I for one agree he should be in the starting line-up. On merit.
By Bobby. Posted June 7 2009 at 1:54 AM.
forget all these stats. David Beckham is basically a far more intelligent player than any of these other wingers. His positional sense, first touch, and in general the way he reads the game is far superior to any of the others who just receive the ball and their first instinct is to burst past the defender that is marking them without looking up and seeing if any1 is making a run or is free.
Beckham from areas well in front of the left back wherein the left back does not oft tread can put in raking balls into the box which none of the others can even come close to achieving
By hash. Posted June 7 2009 at 12:22 AM.
Clearly Beckham possesses football intelligence the others sorely lack. The England team cannot go to WC w/out Becks. The others can run, swp is quality but just doesn't have becks qualities. Serie A is renowned as the toughest defensive league in the world, you hardly ever see any 3-0 scorelines in Serie A, the tactical fouls(catenacchio) and tight marking make serie A a difficult place for any striker/wingers. That becks adjusted instantly and is respected in any dressing room is telling. Walcott has demonstrated he cannot deliver accurate service and can be marked out of a game and has no defensive qualities. Lennon has improved but as with walcott his all around game is not sufficient.
By dan. Posted June 6 2009 at 11:58 PM.
I absolutely agree, and if you actually watch the individual games, walcott is far more dangerous because of his pace, Beck's play's in a league which isnt at the same level as the EPL, also walcott has been injured for half of this season, so he wasnt at his best, next season you'll see the true Theo, its past Beck's time.
By Gooner4Life. Posted June 6 2009 at 11:47 PM.
Cy_gooner, international football isn't the premiership!!!
By Mike. Posted June 6 2009 at 11:39 PM.
yeh ok, i appreciate u judged beckham when he played in Italy, a european league, but really, how physical is Serie A compared to the Premiership? Would he REALLY have got into those spaces in the prem? Would he not have been hacked down before being able to get those crosses in? Would he have scored as many goals in a leauge of such quality? These are all questions which cant be answered, and until they can, we cant fairly compare Beckham to players in similar positions. I remember when Arsenal played against Milan, Walcott got into space, ran rings around the defence and set up adebayor for a goal. If he was in Serie A to do that every week his stats would be completely different. So, as fantastic as becks might be, lets stop putting others down when the judging is clearly unfair
By cy_gooner. Posted June 6 2009 at 11:10 PM.