Beckham - best English right midfielder ever or....

Brass Monkey wrote:I put it down to half the population hoping that one day they'd be a vid of them all soaping each other up in the shower.

Do you actually live in my mind or something?

lardbucket wrote:

skully wrote:I think the general all-round r00tability of the Spicies was a key factor in their success.

Wasn't it only 13 year old girls buying their stuff though?

Oh.

Phurt. Who bought their stuff? We had MTV.

Well, I certainly had high hopes for Spiceworld the movie... not one shower scene. Not even a f*cking 'let's rub loads of tanning lotion on each other' scene. Cop out.

No 'Spice Girls on the Titanic' ... where they all go down together

England's best midfielder ever? Compared to whom?

Duncan Edwards?
Johnny Haynes?
Martin Peters?
Trevor Brooking?
Glenn Hoddle?
Bryan Robson?
Paul Gascoigne?

Edwards for me.

No way can you tell with Edwards. He might have been had he lived, nothing more.

skully wrote:So a couple of Leeds supporters have obviously voted.

I'm a Leeds fan and have always had appreciated Becks talent despite the Manure thing.

Also he's always welcome when he turns up at my house dressed like this

Shoeshine wrote:No way can you tell with Edwards. He might have been had he lived, nothing more.

Very much so. Rose tinted specs.

Brass Monkey wrote:

Shoeshine wrote:No way can you tell with Edwards. He might have been had he lived, nothing more.

Very much so. Rose tinted specs.

Played in 18 internationals in which he scored 5 goals, remarkable for a 20yo, an age when Beckham was on loan to Preston North End. Contemporary commentators, managers and players (including his Manchester United team-mate, Bobby Charlton) agree that Edwards was by far the outstanding player of his generation and, had he lived, he, not Bobby Moore, would have been lifting the World Cup in 1966 but I agree that his was a tragic case of promise unfulfilled and greatness unrealised. Also he was primarily used by England as a left- not right-half which negates the parallel with Beckham.

Allan, did Edwards have a packet like Beck's? You're good at posting totally unecessary salacious pics, post one of Edwards please.

Allan D wrote:

Brass Monkey wrote:

Shoeshine wrote:No way can you tell with Edwards. He might have been had he lived, nothing more.

Very much so. Rose tinted specs.

Played in 18 internationals in which he scored 5 goals, remarkable for a 20yo, an age when Beckham was on loan to Preston North End. Contemporary commentators, managers and players (including his Manchester United team-mate, Bobby Charlton) agree that Edwards was by far the outstanding player of his generation and, had he lived, he, not Bobby Moore, would have been lifting the World Cup in 1966 but I agree that his was a tragic case of promise unfulfilled and greatness unrealised. Also he was primarily used by England as a left- not right-half which negates the parallel with Beckham.

But equally, you can look at the first 20 internationals played by Michael Owen as a little boy, and make the same kind of case had he not been lucky enough to carry on. Quite simply, no-one knows if Edwards would have fulfilled his undoubted talent.

eowyn wrote:Allan, did Edwards have a packet like Beck's? You're good at posting totally unecessary salacious pics, post one of Edwards please.

Sadly for you, Edwards did not model underwear, did not marry a popstar (although he was engaged - to the secretary of a textile firm - before his death) or even drink. Born in Dudley on 1 October 1936 his chief hobbies, outside football, were fishing, playing cards and going to the cinema. He never knew what a night club was and didn't even much like going to dances. Matt Busby must have longed for Edwards every time he had to deal with an errant George Best.

No packet, but he was described as "stocky" and was totally fearless when facing opposing defenders. This action picture (whilst playing for England) gives some idea of his muscular development at what is still for many, an age of development. He died on 21 February 1958, at the age of 21, from injuries received in the Munich plane crash:

Shoeshine wrote:But equally, you can look at the first 20 internationals played by Michael Owen as a little boy, and make the same kind of case had he not been lucky enough to carry on. Quite simply, no-one knows if Edwards would have fulfilled his undoubted talent.

Maybe, but Edwards was a much stronger player than Owen was at a similar stage, as the picture I posted shows, and was an all-round utility player who was as gifted in defence as attack. Also under the careful guidance of Busby, who realised what a talent Edwards was, there is no reason to doubt that, short of a career-threatening injury, Edwards would not have developed along similar lines to Bobby Charlton. In many ways Charlton, as a survivor of Munich, provided Busby with a substitute for Edwards.

Allan D wrote:

Shoeshine wrote:But equally, you can look at the first 20 internationals played by Michael Owen as a little boy, and make the same kind of case had he not been lucky enough to carry on. Quite simply, no-one knows if Edwards would have fulfilled his undoubted talent.

Maybe, but Edwards was a much stronger player than Owen was at a similar stage, as the picture I posted shows, and was an all-round utility player who was as gifted in defence as attack. Also under the careful guidance of Busby, who realised what a talent Edwards was, there is no reason to doubt that, short of a career-threatening injury, Edwards would not have developed along similar lines to Bobby Charlton. In many ways Charlton, as a survivor of Munich, provided Busby with a substitute for Edwards.

Sorry Allan, no. It's just pure, unadulterated speculation and nothing more. Edwards was known as a fine prospect, and his death robbed the world of knowing how good he would have been, but you simply do not know if he'd have developed or not. You just don't. Too many variables.

You could say the same about Buddy Holly.

Duncan Edwards - The Greatest Footballer Who Ever Lived?

Allan D wrote:

eowyn wrote:Allan, did Edwards have a packet like Beck's? You're good at posting totally unecessary salacious pics, post one of Edwards please.

Sadly for you, Edwards did not model underwear, did not marry a popstar (although he was engaged - to the secretary of a textile firm - before his death) or even drink. Born in Dudley on 1 October 1936 his chief hobbies, outside football, were fishing, playing cards and going to the cinema. He never knew what a night club was and didn't even much like going to dances. Matt Busby must have longed for Edwards every time he had to deal with an errant George Best.

No packet, but he was described as "stocky" and was totally fearless when facing opposing defenders. This action picture (whilst playing for England) gives some idea of his muscular development at what is still for many, an age of development. He died on 21 February 1958, at the age of 21, from injuries received in the Munich plane crash:

Allan, I know all about the Munich distaster and I wasn't making fun of that at all. Think I'll just crawl away.

Recently read Bobby Charlton's biog.

He claims that the most frequent question he is asked (even today) is "how good was Duncan Edwards?"

Charlton himself is in no doubt.

Coming from arguably England's best player of all time, that says it all really.

Not really.

vilkrang wrote:Not really.

Well if you think football started about the same time as ODI's

Erm... No...

What a strange thing to say.

Seriously sad that he missed out on this WC. Here's hoping for a miracle recovery.

Good player, though people seemed to always expect him to be much better than he is.

Goal.com put Edwards at No.8 last year in its Top 50 English players, 5 places ahead of Beckham with Charlton (R.) at the top, 2 places ahead (curiously!) of Matthews:


Top 50 England Players

doremi wrote:Seriously sad that he missed out on this WC. Here's hoping for a miracle recovery.

Good player, though people seemed to always expect him to be much better than he is.

Aye, he never had the talent to be a Ronaldo yet some people slate him for not being among that echelon of players.

So what? It's still all on reputation about what might have been. I'm quite sure Sir Bobby thinks highly of him, he played with him, and thought him magnificent. That's not in dispute. The point is that he died before he remotely fulfilled his potential. We do not know, we cannot know, how good he would have been. He could have faded for all we know. Saying anything else is ridiculous.

Quite.