David Beckham wanted fame not football says Alex Ferguson
DAVID Beckham failed to become a football great because of his marriage to Victoria, his former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson controversially claimed yesterday.
Sir Alex says in an explosive new autobiography that Beckham came to think he was too big for the club and “made it his mission” to become a celebrity.
He said he fell short of becoming an “absolute top- dog player”.
At yesterday’s book launch he blamed Beckham’s Spice Girl wife, saying: “The big problem for me... he fell in love with Victoria. And that changed everything.”
Sir Alex’s book My Autobiography also details former captain Roy Keane’s “frightening” rages. And United star Wayne Rooney comes in for criticism from the fiery Scot who managed the club for 27 years.
But Beckham is Sir Alex’s main target. He writes: “David was the only player I managed who chose to be famous, who made it his mission to be known outside the game.
“He lost the chance to become an absolute top- dog player. He wanted to give it all up for a new career, a new lifestyle, for stardom.” Sir Alex, 71, accuses Beckham of wasting his career by joining LA Galaxy in 2007 from Real Madrid, the Spanish club that bought him from United in 2003.
“There was no footballing reason for him to go to America,” he says.
“He was giving up top- level football. You should never surrender what you’re good at.”
Sir Alex, who retired at the end of last season after winning a 13th Premier League title, recalls the time he famously kicked a boot which hit Beckham’s head during a half- time row – and then decided his star had to go. He writes: “David thought he was bigger than Alex Ferguson. The name of the manager is irrelevant. Authority is what counts.”
But despite the criticism, Sir Alex fondly refers to the soccer icon as “like a son”. And he adds: “I hold no rancour towards David at all.”
Sir Alex’s fallout with Keane, now an ITV football pundit, led to the Irishman’s departure from United.
Keane left him fuming after criticising his team- mates on the club’s TV channel in 2005.
And he describes the player as “intimidating and ferocious”.
Sir Alex writes: “What I noticed as I was arguing with him was his eyes, narrowed to black beads. It was fright- ening to watch. And I’m from Glasgow.” Sir Alex’s relationship with England star Rooney became strained in 2010 when the striker said he would not sign a new contract because the club did not share his ambition.
“Wayne said we should have pursued Mesut Ozil, who had joined Real Madrid from Werder Bremen,” recalls Sir Alex. “My reply was that it was none of his business. I told him it was his job to play and perform. It was a sorry episode for Wayne.”
Sir Alex also reveals he twice turned down the England manager’s job.
The offer came before Sven- Goran Ericsson was appointed in 2001 and also in 1999 when it went to Kevin Keegan. But he says: “There was no way. Can you imagine me doing that? It wasn’t a bed of nails I was ever tempted to lie on.”