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When David Beckham finally retired from football, it was by all stretches of imagination the end of an era. He was part of the fabled Fergie's fledglings a group of youngsters who would go on to dominate the English game for a decade and more. Thanks to huge media attention to his off-field activities, people often forget how good he was on the field. League titles in four different countries (England, Spain, USA and France), the European Cup and numerous FA Cups in his club career not to mention becoming England's most capped outfield player, Beckham has had a very successful football career. Here's how he stayed on the game for so long:
Always took care of his body
As far as we know, David Beckham always was a teetotaller who never touched alcohol. This is impressive considering the drinking culture in England and the alcohol-related fracas that football players seem to get in every week or so. He has also always watched his weight and it's a testament to his willpower and discipline that he is still so ripped and muscular. Even when he didn't have a club, before he joined PSG he would train with the Arsenal FC squad to keep fit.
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Was always willing to work hard
He was never the most talented footballer of his generation but worked harder than most of his peers. 'David Beckham is Britain's finest striker of a football not because of God-given talent but because he practises with a relentless application that the vast majority of less gifted players wouldn't contemplate,' Sir Alex Ferguson his former manager had said in 1999 when United completed the historic treble of the English Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions League. And perhaps that's the secret of his elongated success sheer, bloody hard work.
Just take a look at his cardio regime which was designed by LA Galaxy fitness coach Chris Neville:
Run intervals* | Sets | Intensity (MHR**) | |
Week 1 | 5 minute intervals with 4 minute rest | 3 | 85% |
Week 2 | 2 minute run intervals with 2 minute rest | 7 | 90% |
Week 3 | 1 minute run intervals with 1 minute rest | 15 | 95% |
Week 4 | Sprint 60m turn around sprint back with 1 minute rest | 10 | Depends on your fitness |
Week 5 | 60m sprints with 1 minute rest | 10 | 100% |
Run Intervals = 5 minute intervals with 4 minute rest means that you will sprint for 5 minutes and then rest for 4.
MHR stands for Maximum Heart Rate
How to calculate MHR
220 (Your age) = MHR
So for a 25 year old, 100% MHR will be 195.
Didn't let fame blind him
David Beckham was the world's first global superstar popularising football in Asia, Africa and North America but he never let his fame and fortune turn his head. The son of kitchen fitter and hair dresser, Becks never let the media circus that followed him across the world in England, Italy, USA, Spain and France affect his game and well-being. It's quite astonishing really considering the media scrutiny he has lived under and how well he has dealt with it. This shows that despite all the trappings of high life, Beckham had an unenviable mental resolve which brings us to perhaps biggest reason he has been on the top for so long:
Mental Strength
Like any other sportsman, he has faced numerous ups and downs and he has dealt with downs with admirable mental strength. Whatever, the circumstances he has never been found wanting on the football field. His first major fallout was in 1998 when he was sent off for a red card and the English fans and media made him a scapegoat for the team's failure. He didn't let that affect him and actually returned in the 1998-99 club season to produce arguably his greatest campaign where he was instrumental in Manchester United's historic treble the Premier League, the FA Cup and the European Cup. Since then he has faced other low occasions the fallout with Sir Alex, the career-threatening injuries, the Rebecca Loos affair which threatened to end his marriage. Any lesser man would have crumpled under such pressure but he showed the resolve to soldier on.
There's an anecdote from his childhood that always warms the heart. 'At school, whenever the teachers asked what I wanted to do when I got older,' he recollected, 'I'd say I want to be a footballer. And they'd say 'No, what job do you want to do?' But football was the only thing I ever wanted to do.'
'I just want people to see me as a hardworking footballer, someone that's passionate about the game, someone that every time I stepped on the pitch I've given everything that I have, because that's how I feel. That's how I look back on it and hope people will see me.' Beckham said in the press conference he retired and that's how diehard football fans will remember him the kid who just wanted to play football.
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