David Beckham reflects on his career
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00 I think over the years when I've seen players retire, when you ask them about it, they always say you'll know when you're ready.
00:10 And I think I know when I'm ready. I think I'm ready.
00:14 You think or you know?
00:16 I think. I love the game so much. You know how much we love the game.
00:22 I just feel that, I don't know, I don't know. It's the right time. I believe it's the right time.
00:31 But I'll always feel that I can do more. That's the problem.
00:35 When did that moment come? When did it hit you?
00:38 Probably when Messi was running past me.
00:41 In that home game?
00:44 No. When did I feel? I actually don't know. I just feel that I've been so lucky throughout my career.
00:54 I just feel that the fact that I've played for the clubs that I've played for, the players that I've played with, won the trophies that I've won.
01:03 Playing in the MLS last year, winning the championship there and then coming to PSG and winning the French League here.
01:13 I think it's a good way to go out.
01:18 You've been a football player for 22 years. For six years of that 22, more than 25 percent, you lived in Salford in Lower Broughton Road.
01:26 How much did those early days, 16 to 22, have an impact on that discipline to be a hard-working player?
01:32 How much of it was already in you and how much of it was taught to you by the people that were around you in those early years at Manchester United?
01:39 The early years of my career at Manchester was the foundation of my whole life and my whole career.
01:47 Without those early years of living in lodgings, coming up from London to live in Manchester, living in the lodgings,
01:56 playing with the players that I played with, watching the first team train, cleaning their boots, cleaning the showers, cleaning the baths,
02:05 going through the things that we went through as youth team players, that's what shaped my career.
02:12 Without that, I probably would never have achieved what I've achieved in my career.
02:20 To have had the stability, to have had the aggression of coaches that we had with Nobby Stiles, Eric Harrison, Archie Knox, the boss,
02:34 these are the coaches that have made my career.
02:39 The goal against Wimbledon, which obviously television had changed, the Premier League had come,
02:44 was that the one moment, because it seems to me that was a huge moment, from football going from here to there,
02:50 and you were almost at the forefront of that, do you recognise that?
02:54 I never think of it like that. I never think that certain moments in my career have changed what's gone on in football.
03:03 People say that about the Greece goal, people say that about certain moments throughout my career,
03:08 but scoring the goal against Wimbledon, I was more pleased that Kant and I came up to me in the changing room
03:14 and said 'great goal' than thinking about anything else. So I don't look at it like that.
03:21 People ask me what was the best moment in my career, I don't even have to think about it.
03:28 Being at Manchester United from 15 years old, being able to go into the changing room,
03:35 see Brian Robson, Steve Bruce and Norman Davies asking me to pick a pair of socks up or a pair of underpants of Brian Robson's,
03:44 that was what made me want to be at Manchester United.
03:51 That's what I love, that's what changed my life, it's what when I look back at my career,
03:58 it's what I'm most proud of, to have said that I've played for Manchester United and won and been successful with Manchester United.
04:05 Nothing compares to that. When I look back at the career that I had there,
04:12 and I owe almost everything to the manager for that.
04:18 The boss, he was the person that brought me to the club, he was the person that signed me,
04:24 he was the person that gave us the opportunity to play for the club that we loved.
04:30 I'll forever be grateful to him, solely for that reason.
04:37 I think the moment we won the treble, the moment we won the European Cup,
04:42 you never really saw too much emotion from the manager.
04:51 But I think that night, you could see he was so proud that he'd won the European Cup,
05:00 not just for Manchester United, but so proud that he'd seen so many of us come through as kids
05:06 and go on to win the biggest football competition for Manchester United.
05:11 Do you wish you'd stayed longer, do you wish you'd done little things differently?
05:15 Do you have any regrets about that period in your career?
05:18 I always say that I haven't got any regrets.
05:25 There are certain things that, like I said, I don't have any regrets,
05:31 but there are certain things that I look back and I think I should have done different,
05:34 and should have been different.
05:38 But I think when I was at Manchester United, at 23, 24, 25 years old,
05:45 I was headstrong, I was stubborn, and I think there were moments where I look back and I think,
05:52 maybe I should have been different, maybe I should have done things different.
05:56 Anything you want to go into detail in or not?
05:59 Not really, because I think you know moments, and I know moments,
06:04 but I think I wouldn't change anything at the end of the day.
06:12 I don't regret anything, but are there things that I wish I'd have done different? Of course.
06:17 You moved on from United to Madrid, which is completely the opposite.
06:21 You had so many managers in a short period of time.
06:24 How did that affect you in terms of the difference between United,
06:26 where you had one manager and then numerous managers in a short space of time?
06:31 I think that was hard. That was a hard moment in my career,
06:36 because I went from such stability with Manchester United,
06:41 like you said, with one manager, the same kind of players throughout that time at Manchester United,
06:47 and then I moved to Madrid where I think I had four managers in four years,
06:52 or five managers in four years, and that was not natural for me,
06:57 and I was totally out of my comfort zone, but I adapted.
07:03 It was only in the last few months really where, obviously you'd been left out of the team,
07:07 I think Fabio Capello was the manager at the time, and then you got back in,
07:10 but then you'd agreed to go to LA Galaxy.
07:12 Was that something that you wished you'd given a bit more time to,
07:15 or were you happy, were you ready to go to America?
07:17 Because you always wanted to go to America, didn't you?
07:19 Yeah, I got to a point in my career where it was a passion of mine to go to America
07:26 and to try and achieve making football bigger in the United States.
07:34 But when I was at Madrid, I'd gone through so many different emotions in that last year.
07:41 I'd gone from being an England player to not being an England player,
07:45 missing 11 games under Steve McLaren, to then being brought back,
07:50 to then being at Real Madrid being told by Fabio Capello that I wouldn't play for the club again,
08:01 and that I know wasn't coming from him, it was coming from somewhere else.
08:06 Because I have so much respect for him as a person, as a manager,
08:09 and he always supported me throughout the career that I had with him as a manager.
08:16 And then obviously being brought back into the team, winning the league with Real Madrid,
08:22 which was a huge thing, and then obviously making the decision of going to America.
08:29 That was a big thing because before Florentino Perez left Real Madrid,
08:35 he'd literally just offered me a new four-year contract, which I'd agreed to sign.
08:42 And then obviously Calderon came in and things turned around.
08:47 Were the politics hard there, difficult for you to understand?
08:51 I just didn't understand it. The politics side of the club was hard to understand
08:57 because one minute there was one president in that loved me and wanted me to sign for another four years,
09:03 and then the next minute there was a different president in.
09:07 And things, for me being at a club like Manchester United that was totally stable
09:13 for the amount of time that I was there, to then go into a club which was obviously run totally differently.
09:20 I'm not saying it's wrong, but it's obviously run differently.
09:24 But I think when we talk about stability, that's where success comes from.
09:32 But you wouldn't change the experience of playing with Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo, Roberto, Carlos, Raul and all those players, would you?
09:38 No, no, 100% I would never change anything about my career.
09:42 I always thought that I would start at Manchester United and leave at Manchester United, finish playing there.
09:50 That changed obviously when I moved to Real Madrid.
09:54 But my dream when I left Man United was to play for another one of the biggest clubs in the world.
10:01 My dream was to play with the likes of Ronaldo and Zidane and Roberto Carlos and Raul.
10:06 I look back at my career and I've gained so much experience from playing with these players and playing in different teams.
10:17 I'd never change that because I think it's helped me.
10:20 I think it's helped me as a player, I think it's helped me as an individual to understand different cultures and different ways of playing.
10:26 I think it's helped me in my game with England as well, so I would never change anything.
10:34 When you went to America, obviously for me looking at it from somebody who knows you, but somebody who's a football person as well,
10:41 thinking you've got more to give in the big leagues, was there a part of you that was nervous about going over to America
10:46 and playing in what is not the same standard as football, as the Spanish league or the English league?
10:50 Was it more of a lifestyle decision and obviously ambition to create a bigger MLS, a bigger game in America?
10:58 Was it both of those things or was it just a period you wanted to get away from Europe?
11:02 It was never a lifestyle decision. I understood that it would be a great lifestyle for my family, for the kids.
11:10 But for me personally, Victoria knows, everyone knows around me, my decisions about playing are made solely about playing.
11:19 It's not about a lifestyle. Of course it was a great lifestyle over there, but my initial decision was I want to go there
11:27 because I want to raise the profile of football. And of course I was nervous. I was nervous because it was another challenge.
11:36 I'm always nervous when I make a decision about a big challenge and I knew it was going to be a big one.
11:41 I knew people might criticise me for it and say, you know, you're 31 years old, you've still got a good few years left playing top level.
11:51 But I knew that I'd made the right decision. I knew that I wanted to go to America and be part of something that is getting bigger.
11:59 And in the six years that I played there, I saw so many changes happen. I saw so much more interest in the game and that is what made it worth it for me.
12:09 I wanted to be successful with the Galaxy. I wanted to win a championship. But I understood my role as an ambassador.
12:16 I understood my role as a player that was coming to a new city and a new environment.
12:25 I knew that I had to work hard outside of the game as well.
12:29 Let's talk about England because you had enormous pride. You have enormous pride even now about England.
12:35 But you had enormous pride in playing for your country. It was almost the most important thing to you.
12:40 Yeah, I think, you know, as a young kid I had two dreams. One, to play for Manchester United and two, to play for England.
12:50 Not in that order. Manchester United meant so much to me. But I think as an Englishman, I wanted to represent my country.
13:00 I wanted to captain my country. I wanted to play in the World Cup. I wanted to score goals at Wembley.
13:08 I was able to do that. Not with England, I didn't score any goals. But with Manchester United, obviously scoring at Wembley.
13:14 But playing for England was the highlight of my career. It always has been and always will be.
13:22 I'm very proud of what I've achieved throughout my England career. I'm very proud to have played for my country for 115 times.
13:32 It's something that when my boys look back and my little girl looks back and she'll be like, "My daddy played for England for 115 times."
13:44 That's special.
13:46 That's probably the most emotional I've ever seen you in 2006 where you had to give up the captaincy.
13:53 It was almost like you just did not want that to happen. It was almost like you were letting go of something that was so important to you.
13:59 I think that was one of the most emotional times. I am an emotional person but I try and keep it in when I have an audience.
14:12 But it got the best of me that day. The better of me that day.
14:17 To sit in front of the journalists and national TV and say I'm giving up the captaincy, that was difficult.
14:30 We'd just been knocked out of a competition. I had no sleep the night before through being knocked out and the disappointment of that.
14:39 Then to have to wake up and know that I'm going to sit there and hand the captaincy over, that was difficult.
14:48 Being given the captain's armband for my country was the proudest moment of my career, without a doubt.
14:55 To walk out for England against Italy wearing the armband for the first time, that was emotional.
15:04 Then to know that I had to hand it over and it was the right time. We talk about knowing the right time for my retirement.
15:13 I knew that it was the right time, as hard as it was, I knew that it was the right time to hand it over.
15:19 The stimulation, adrenaline, the buzz of the change room, the banter, everything that you are a footballer for is not going to be there. What are you going to do?
15:28 I think I'm always going to need to keep busy because I'm that kind of person. I want to work, I want to be busy, I want to continue to work hard to do what I'm doing outside of the game.
15:42 I've been away from home since 1991 and it's time for me to go home to London. It's time for me to spend time with my family, see my children, see my wife, be home with my parents.
15:59 It's simple things, popping round to see my nan, simple things, popping round to take my mum for breakfast. I haven't been able to do that for 22 years.
16:11 Those are the little things that are going to be special to me. I've loved what I've done through my career, I've loved every place I've lived.
16:22 I've tried to make every city my home, wherever I've gone, whether it be Manchester for the amount of time I've lived there, Madrid, LA, where I lived in Milan and obviously living in Paris.
16:36 I've always tried to change myself into that culture but I haven't lived in London for a long, long time and I'm looking forward to going home.
16:47 Something I've never understood, but bear with me a second, you go to a hotel room for a night and you depersonalise that hotel room from all the books, all the magazines, all the room service menus.
17:00 I don't know what your candle bill has been for the last 22 years but you bring candles with you, you bring pictures of the family and you make, even if it's just for one night, that hotel room your home.
17:08 Is that because you've never been home?
17:10 It probably is, I've never thought of it that way.
17:15 I just thought it was weird.
17:17 I mean we've obviously shared rooms.
17:22 I've got a sausage roll on my side and a candle just fluttering on the other.
17:30 I've never thought of it that way but maybe consciously that's what I've missed, I've missed being at home.
17:39 I haven't had that for a number of years but it's true, when I go into a hotel room, whether it's a night or whether it's a week or whether it's a month, I need to feel as if it's my home.
17:51 But I'll be in my real home in a few weeks and that's going to be special.
17:59 Do you want to be a coach or a manager?
18:01 I don't want to be a coach or a manager.
18:03 I think I'll always be involved in the game in some way but I think that's where what I've done outside of my football comes into play now.
18:14 I think that's what I'm excited about to be honest.
18:17 I've been able to do so many things throughout my career outside of the game.
18:23 I think that's what I'm looking forward to doing.
18:26 I've got plans with so many different things and now obviously not going into training every day, not being so regimented with what I have to do.
18:37 As a footballer, it enables me to be able to go and do other things and be involved in other things and I think that's why I'm glad that I've done the things that I've done outside of my career.
18:50 How will you stay in football and connected to football and have an impact in football?
18:54 It's been in the papers that it's suggested that you own a football club, ambassador. Are they the type of things that would interest you?
19:00 Yes, definitely. Obviously I've got the option of owning a football club in the MLS and I will do that.
19:06 That's one of the things that obviously plans have been put into place with that.
19:11 Hands on?
19:12 Pretty hands on.
19:14 Stability?
19:16 Stability, unless the manager is crap. No, I've obviously got that option.
19:25 Over the last five years I've grown into doing ambassadorial stuff, whether it's been for the club that I've been at or whether it's been for England or whether it's been things like the Olympics and the World Cup bids.
19:40 That's been something that I've been passionate about and a role that I've actually really enjoyed.
19:48 And the media? I woke up a month ago and it said Beckham signs for Sky and I'm thinking, I quite like Monday Night Football. I better go and get a new suit as well.
20:00 Does the media interest you?
20:03 No, I think I'm not as good as you at what you do on a Monday night.
20:12 Talking!
20:16 No, obviously I'm very proud to be part of Sky. I'm very proud to have the partners that I've got outside of the game. But the media side of things I'll leave to you and to other people to do because you bet you are better at talking than me. You always have been.
20:36 How do you want to be remembered as a football player, as a person over the last 22 years and everything that you've achieved? As someone who did what and achieved what? What's most important to you?
20:47 I just want people to see me as a hard working footballer. Someone that's passionate about the game and someone that every time I've stepped on the pitch I've given everything that I have. Because that's how I feel going into games at the end of my career. That's how I look back on it and hope people will see me.
21:08 You'll be remembered for many things. You had an incredible career. Congratulations and good luck in the future.
21:15 Thank you very much.
21:17 Thank you.
21:19 [BLANK_AUDIO]