In just two days of former England captain David Beckham’s retirement announcement, there have many comparisons being made to find out whether he is an ever successful player for England, coz on the record, he has won four silverwares playing for four different countries which is a record on papers. Even if we leave aside his paper records, there is no doubt about the fact that he has been one of the most loved soccer players England has ever produced and evidence is right here at PSG where he just concluded a short team deal; his every day over there was like a news source; perhaps his hotel room also used to be gathered by tens of media vans every time. His stay at PSG actually helped the club to surge its popularity, and after their title win, it was like icing on the cake for them. Now, when Beckham has declared his departure; another England winger Chris Waddle has said that despite his popularity and record, he is not even in the list of top 1000 players of last fifty years. This could look strange, but facts wise; it is true and don’t demine Beckham’s popularity in any way. Record wise, Waddle has just achieved half of Beckham by imparting in just three league titles along with 62 international matches for England, while Beckham has won as many as 10 league titles along with 115 English caps.
Waddle said, “I would say he has been a good player, I wouldn’t put him down as a great. You can go down a list of players from the Premier League or the 70s or 80s, whatever you want to do. I’ll be honest, Beckham probably wouldn’t be in the first 1,000.
“I think there have been a lot more talented players in the world. But he made the most of what he has got,” said Waddle, who made more 100 appearances for four of his clubs – Newcastle, Tottenham, Marseille and Sheffield Wednesday – while winning 62 England caps.
“He has got a terrific image and used it very well. He never had a trick, wasn’t particularly quick, but he was very good at set-pieces and deliveries, he made chances and made goals and was fantastic for clubs. He said the right things, he sold shirts, he put money in the tills wherever he went and conducted himself well.”
Waddle is surely getting media attentions for his exaggerated statement about Beckham who is a media man right now, but no one is truly buying his words about most adored players of cotemporary soccer.