i thought david beckham was supposed to be good?

positives = had an important hand in 3 goals, does a lot of useful defensive work with gary neville.

i think that it's probably from people that are watching the games but are not normally football fans (like me). beckham's name is known to everyone, so you'd expect him to be really fantastic. but he hasn't done anything very interesting so far. instead, it's all been rooney, who i'd never heard of before last week or whenever...

Complaining he can't dribble and do mazy little runs is like complaining that Sol Campbell can't finish.

Classic – his right foot, dead ball situations, crosses, commitment

Dud – His pace, his left foot, his tackling

The whole thing of Beckham is his ability to deliver a killer ball – he did this for Man Utd, and he still does this for Madrid (the 50 yard ball onto Raul earlier in the season). He is not the quickest. England have Gerrard, who has the same passing skill, more pace and better tackling. But, simply, is a lot uglier.

As they said at Real Madrid – Ronaldinhio cannot be a Galactico (one of their expensive, star players) because he isn’t good enough looking.

Beckham is a good player, and – fair to say – a good looking bloke. Hence the press.

beckham may be a great player, and it is arguable that consistent high level team performances dont get you marked as a great player by the wider world, but that the spectacular does.

beckham isnt one of the stars of this tournament because he hasnt delivered the spectacle, the show, the individual brilliance, that people expect to see.

this doesnt denigrate from his performances in any way, but, just as football people complain about those who are not expert enough, it is also possible to suggest that a great player is one that transcends that barrier, so it is plain for all to see. and beckham has certainly done that in the past, and it is not unreasonable for people to expect that here, and they are not seeing that particular facet

Yeah that Roberto Carlos is a real hottie...

xpost-- gareth is exactly right. although i heard that while i was in the bathroom he (becks, not gareth) showed what was up his shorts in a clear shot on tv. that's a spectacle, surely?

Ronaldo's yr ugly man. I think they signed him for his lush (ex)wife.

Beckham's pass completion rate is 2nd in the tournament isn't it?

Beckham's in the same boat as Owen - people fear them, even if their form isn't great - the knowledge that they could do something can affect the way the opposition plays, hence Owen is making space for Rooney as teams fear owen's pace, so defend a bit deeper than they might. If they sit higher (as Croatia did, Owen usually gets two men on him which creates space for others - Lampard, Scholes and the boy Wayne). Having two feared strikers is immensely useful. The same with Beckham - when he gets the ball out wide, teams have been breifed to scarper back quickly to close off the space between the goal and their position. In so doing, they vacate a huge space in the middle of their half, which is where we have done most of our damage from. That fact that beckham hasn't put that killer ball in is therefore less important, as fear of Beckham is making goals. It's amazingly fantastic to have players who by their very reputation can make teams play differently -not only are you playing England as they are, you're also playing England as they could be. You don't have to be bigotron to have the words 'zone' and 'uncertainty' springing to mind.

mmmm corridor of uncertainty

Funnily enough so did I. Great on set pieces, rub elsewhere.

Apparently,he was interviewed earlier.I quote:

Beckham:"Well,I like them cos they make my breath all fresh and minty,and Victoria likes them cos they're only two calories each."

Lineker:"Erm,David...I was asking about TACTICS!"

What is he, 28? So he'll probably get one more World Cup and one more European Championships, assuming they qualify and he remains reasonably adept?

Yeah, I'm American.

nope. There is the pretty stuff and then there is the actual beating of 2-3 players that is the holy grail. Czech republic => good passing and movement along the field and a team working together for that, and they've played the best football so far (not saying they are gonna win it, they might overdo on the mix of attack and defending- too risky!- and surely a bad sign if you get 9 points from all yr three games).

i thought he was good enough for the olympics at least