It has been extremely emotional lately hasn’t it? Sir Alex
saying his farewells to everyone at Old Trafford. The great man stepping down
after 27 years at the top. Then, one of the most gifted midfielders of the last
10 years , Paul Scholes, also bid farewell to the Old Trafford faithful for a 2nd
time. He too, will step away from Manchester United. Then we go to Merseyside,
where Everton say te-ra to their gaffer, David Moyes, as he has the honour of
taking the biggest job in world football. And in the red half of Merseyside, Liverpool
must now try to find a team without Jamie Carragher in it, after 600 appearances,
he too says farewell. Then we have the strange possibility of club record goal
scorer, Frank Lampard, saying goodbye to everyone at Stamford Bridge. That’s a lot of goodbyes and farewells for one
season isn’t it? Seems a bit of a morbid end to a season to me
As I sat back on the couch and thought of all the farewells,
all the so longs and deserved retirements, I wondered “ There must be something else about this
season…maybe not even in the Premier League but something else that can take us
away from the morbid goodbyes and make us smile again". Wigan winning the FA cup…well
kind of..I smirked as opposed to smiled. Suarez biting Ivanovic made me laugh
in amazement but then I stopped, I swear. Robbie Savages hair always makes me
laugh but that wasn’t what I had in mind. There was something that I couldn’t put
my finger on. Something I was overlooking. It took me about an hour and then
BOOM…I remembered…this lad. Plays football in France, no no not
that idiot Barton , trying to be so intellectual in one breath and then a
savage gurrier in the next , no not him. This other lad.. Plays in France and
at the ripe old age of 38 has just won a Ligue one title and the list goes on
Honours
Premier league – 6
FA Cup - 2
Champion’s league-
1
MSL winner - 2
La Liga - 1
Ligue 1 - 1
Winner of Goal of
the decade in the Premier League
First Englishman to
win four titles in four different countries
First England player
to score at three World Cups.
First British footballer
to play 100 Champions league games.
Most outfield England
international appearances.
Handsome git
Filthy rich
Why it could only be, David Beckham. This man is hard. Some
of you may laugh at what I just wrote. “Hard? Are you mad?” Well I’m serious. Beckham
has been through hell and back and he is still here. Playing with some of the
best players in the world and winning titles. As the quote goes” if you find yourself in
hell, keep going” and that’s exactly what he has done. Kicked out of Manchester
United because of the fame circus that surrounded him, he then sets off to the
biggest team in the world with Ronaldo (the real one), Zidane, Raul and Roberto
Carlos as his new team mates. Then he got told by Capello that he wouldn’t play
for Madrid again. Beckham put his head down, trained hard, was called back into the
Galacticos and made a massive impact in their title winning run also earning
himself a recall to the England team after being told by McClaren that he wasn’t in
his plans either… he seems to be in nobody’s plans but he doesn’t care. He just
keeps going. He works, grafts, trains, looks after his body and gets on with
it. At the age of 38 he is still going. For some reason everyone continuously
goes on about Ryan Giggs. Nearly 40 still going blah blah blah. Don’t get me
wrong, he is an incredible player and his loyalty is something that must be
admired in the modern game. But me personally, if that was me, I’d want to try
a new team, a new league to see how good I really am. I always wonder why he
didn’t go to Italy. At the time Italian football was the best in the world and
was known for its tactics and amazing defences. Why didn’t he say “I will test
myself here and give it a go”. Look, again don’t get me wrong, the medals he
has, the longevity of his career, it’s unreal. And I take my hat off to him. But
Beckham has done it in England. He has done it in Spain, he went to the MLS when
no one else was there. Now look, Tim Cahill, Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane and
bigger stadium attendances. Then, he goes to Paris St Germain and wins a title
with them. He is part of their title winning squad and lauded and praised by
coach and superstar players alike.
So as I said, the end of the football has bit of a sad
feeling to it. Saying so long to all the legends retiring or moving on. But one
still remains. Someone we all love to hate but love at the same time. Mother’s
and daughters love him, men envy him and boys want to be him. He has money to
last him four life times, so he doesn’t need the wages. He has a big family, houses
all over the world and more medals than you have fingers and toes. He is really
a footballing giant.
Although it’s hard to say goodbye sometimes, we must
still be appreciative of what we still have while it’s here.
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