David Beckham.

That's actually a good call.

Not really, Beckhams been one of the best midfielders of my generation.

He was a winger who wasnt fast, couldnt take anyone on and didnt really pitch in with much other than what was his main attribute a wicked cross.
Ok, he was one of if not the best crosser of a ball in his generation but not much else. His status does not match his ability as there are far far far better players who have not had the same hype / coverage as he got.

Honest to god he could never be described as one of the best midfielders of any generation.

One of the best crossers of the ball ever, but thats it. Got found out in La Liga, especially seen as the media weren't in his back pocket over there.

current warrington players
Westwood
Wood
Clarke
Bridge
Grix
V Anderson

Current SL

Paliarsinya
Coley
Carmont
Roberts
Infact everyone at Wigan bar Sam Tompkins ,leuluai and Richards
JJB
Everyone at Wakefield bar Brough and drew
Everyone at cas Bar Shenton
Everyone at Huddersfield
Everyone at Bradford Bar Deacon ,Morrison
Everyone at Hull and Kr bar dobson
Everyone at Catalan Bar Mogg
Everyone at Salford Bar Myler
Everyone at Crusaders
Everyone at Quinns

If anything Padders, I'd say folk like Bridge & V.Anderson have more natural talent than they've shown, sort of the reverse of what you're saying. If anything, they lack the graft to match their skillset.

"Who hasn't made the most of natural talent." maybe, sort of.

What a load of ball locks. Wont discuss it in detail as its a rl thread but you clearly are a kopite

the only reason Wigan are in that position is because they have a top coach who can get the best out of all his players.....we should follow and learn

Just an opinion shared by a lot of football experts, and mates including Man United season ticket holders.

Yes, but he has made the most out of limited talent. Huge commitment, very fit hard working, clearly worked very hard.

So someone that has done a huge amount without say the natural talent of Gazza, Le Tiss etc.

Andrew Johns.

Another very good shout.

Just to annoy the very obvious red e follower on here...

...

Jamie Carragher.....absolutely average, but his sheer determination to do his utmost for HIS club stands out a mile when put in comparison with the mercenary Spaniards all around him.

Similarly, this description applied to the likes of Cullen, Forster, Gary Sanderson (though not a hometowner)...these type of guys understood the meaning of loyalty and putting in 100% every week, even though it was often a little short of the standard required to reach the pinnacle of their sport.....There are several current and more recent Wire players who could learn a thing or two about that ethic.

Oh, I don't know, Carragher's quite handy at helping out other teams when sticking the ball in his own net

Doesn't annoy me, I agree with you about Carragher. I'm not sure who these 'mercenary Spaniards' are, Michael Owen is someone who epitomises the mercenary modern day footballer.

It wasn't me who mentioned Beckham originally, but he fits the title of this thread perfectly. The most famous footballer on the planet despite never being a top top player. In Spain he was admired mostly for his workrate and ethic, his football ability never really won them over, although I agree he is one of the best ever dead ball specialists.

Back to RL and again I agree with you about Cullen and Foster.

He was a top, top player. Nobody in world football could pass a ball like he did, with such accuracy, consistently over 50/60 yards plus. Even folk like Zidane respected Beckham, and what he could do. He was more than just work rate. Robbie Savage is work rate.

Why? Because he has left Liverpool to play for 2 far bigger clubs?

Newcastle and ???

Sorry 3.

I bet Man United weren't the 'highest bidder' when it came to Owen's wage demands.

To keep it in RL, sometimes you get players like Gary Wheeler, who you see playing as a kid and know instantly they're going to get somewhere in the game. I suppose other examples include players like Lee Briers - very naturally gifted, but lacks the ethos to go above and beyond and do the extra work in training and polish his game off.

On the other hand, you have players like those mentioned, specifically Adrian Morely and Jamie Peacock; neither of whom lit up the junoir ranks (in fact, Jamie Peacock would run the wrong way when he was playing for his amateur club - Stanningley? - his old coach gave an interview saying how he just didn't have a scooby doo), but worked hard at training, were willing to learn and got a bit of a break; eventually, something stuck and they developed through hard work and have both captained their country.

To use the football example, someone like David Beckham is a great shout, as he worked so hard at developing himself, perhaps even past his potential; he's been one of the fittest and most tenacious players of his generation, allied by his pinpoint accuracy with the ball. He worked on his ability and pushed the boundaries of what an outside right with little natural acceleration could do within the game.

Other RL examples I would suggest are perhaps Lee Penny, Shaun Edwards and Danny Lima (I thought his half-season waltz in 2005 deserves mentioning.)

vinnie jones.