On 17th August 1996 David Beckham propelled himself into the public limelight as he scored from the halfway-line against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park in a 3-0 win for Manchester United.
From this moment on Beckham became somewhat of a living legend as he won numerous trophies with the club and went on to become an England regular appearing at three World Cup Finals.
Like most players Beckham's crowning moment came at the right time for his career. On Wednesday night David Bentley could have had his crowning moment.
His forty-yard volley at the Emirates Stadium is arguably the goal of the season in the Premiership already and we're only in November.
This goal could be the start of Bentley's career and the culmination of the potential that we saw at both Arsenal and Blackburn Rovers.
In all honesty I've never caught onto all the fuss about Bentley, at Blackburn he was their best player but for me didn't stick out like everyone said he did. It seemed that when he scored a goal for them it was better than if someone scored the same goal, he was overrated and it clearly went to his head.
His petulance was revealed when he turned down a place in the England under-21 squad for the European Championship in Holland. Bentley felt that if he went to the Championships if would hurt his chances of making the full squad when the European Championships came around in 2008.
A completely arrogant decision from the former Arsenal player seeing as he wasn't even established in the squad at the time and not that it came round to it he wouldn't have made the squad.
Bentley for me still needs to grow as a person but his performance on Wednesday night shows to me that he is starting to get over his poor decision of 18 months ago.
His delight at the result and his personal performance was clear to see in the post-match interview.
He has more to prove certainly, but under Harry Redknapp he has the sort of manager that will nurture his career and make him into the player we all know he can be.
Bentley has had his 'Beckham' moment, it's now down to him to build on it and become a player that doesn't live in the superstar's shadow.
Being Cheeky
12 years ago
2 comments:
check facts on Beckham - it was the opening day of the season!!
No one quite know where Bentley's best position is. I reckon he would be a good centre midfielder and has all the attributes to fulfil that.
Bentley and Beckham are erringly different in play and attitude - if its the England spot your looking at it can not go pass Theo tbh
see ya changed it
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