Manchester United legend David Beckham has named Gary Neville as the player who helped him a lot on the pitch. He explained how the former right-back used create space for the midfielder to shine for club and country.
Beckham is a footballing icon and started off his career at Manchester United. He made 390 appearances for them, scoring 85 goals and providing 121 assists across competitions. He helped them win numerous trophies, including a treble in the 1998-99 season.
Beckham played as the right midfielder or winger for the Red Devils and England as well, with Gary Neville as the right-back. In a recent interview on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, the former Real Madrid man explained how Neville helped create space for him. He said (via United in Focus):
“Gaz created the space for me. You know, that was unselfish runs. And he made a career out of it because we played together for so many years that he made those runs over and over again. And every now and again, one out of ten, I’d give him a ball, but it was very rare.
“It was important for us. And I think I’d like to think it was important for United and important for England as well because we had such a great understanding. He knew that if I hadn’t run back, which was very rare, I knew that he would be there covering me and vice versa.
“I think that that was why Gary understood that even though 99% of the time when he made those runs, he was never going to get the ball. He knew that it was helping the team and helping me. So, it worked both ways.”
Beckham and Neville played 381 matches together for England and Manchester United and also combined for one goal.
David Beckham picks Manchester United legend in his dream 5-a-side team
In the aforementioned podcast, David Beckham also picked his dream 5-a-side team comprising of players he played with. Having plied his trade for some of the greatest clubs in history, he had many iconic players to choose from. One of them was Manchester United legend Roy Keane, as he said:
“Oh my goodness, my last one. I’m gonna say Keaney. You need a leader and you need someone that’s gonna actually tackle and fight and be the player that he is, so I’m gonna have to say Keaney. He took no day off, and I don’t mean in the physical sense of having a day off.
“I mean, every single day that he stepped on that training pitch, he wanted to win. Whether it was at the, you know, the keep ball game, at the heading game, he inspired us every single day because he came in with that mentality and we all knew that that’s what we have to cope with.”
Beckham and Keane shared the pitch 260 times for Manchester United and combined for four goals. Apart from Keane, Beckham also picked Paolo Maldini, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo Nazario, and Zinedine Zidane in his dream five-a-side team.
