Is David Beckham the most underrated footballer of his generation?

Well, obviously not by some people. Not by the people that voted him, without fail, week on week, Sky's Man of the Match in every Man Utd game, however well he'd played. Not by the people for whom he was pretty much the only footballer they'd heard of.

But by some people, yes, I rather think so. By those "in the know". Journalists, wizened and know-all, pundits, people down the pub who really think they know their football.

The narrative grew after he left the Premier League in 2003 - Beckham, he's only good for free-kicks and corners. He's more of a celebrity than a footballer. People just forgot how good he actually was (and, to a large extent, remained).

I'll try to be as lean as possible, just give a few bullet points

- he was twice runner up for FIFA World Player of the Year
- he had, essentially, eight full seasons at Man Utd. They won the title six times and finished second twice. They failed to win the title the season before he was a first-team regular and the three (!) seasons after he left.
- In 265 PL games he scored 62 goals and made 152 assists. This assist ratio is only remotely matched by Fabregas and Henry.
- he wasn't actually that good at taking corners - one season United didn't score a single goal from a corner.
 -he wasn't a great sprinter but had exceptional fitness and control. It's untrue to say he never beat people. He'd quite often beat a man, he just didn't go on mazy dribbles.
-he was not all about free-kicks. He was just a superb game reader with impeccable technique, general passer, short or long.
-His period as England captain - 2000 to 2006 - was, in retrospect, the most consistently successful in recent history. In his three tournaments as captain, England were very very close to reaching the semi-finals each time - in particular in 2004 and 2006, it was luck and fate, not anything else, that was against them. It was disappointing then, unlike now, because it did not end in glory, not because it was tame and shite ...
-His tenure ended in 2006, remember, and he bore the brunt of the unfair criticism that followed, and he barely played for England again. Worth noting that his tally in that tournament is 5 matches 3 wins 2 draws, 1 goal 3 assists. Not such a bad tournament for him after all
-he often did key things in key moments for England and Man United.
-he played a key role in Real Madrid winning La Liga.
-he did what he set out to at LA Galaxy, after a rocky start. He increased the popularity and credibility of the game and drove the team to the MLS Cup, twice. It may have been looked on with contempt in some circles, but as time goes by, this endeavour looks an increasingly worthwhile enterprise.

It's a serious, meaty career - people put the winners from 1966 on a pedestal, but, for consistent achievement Beckham is up there with England's best ever players - up there with Kevin Keegan, above Gerrard, Robson.
The United team from 1998-99 to 2002-03 was utterly magnificent - look at the Arsenal team they beat 4 out of those 5 seasons, and Beckham was, above Giggs, Scholes, even above Forlan and Fortune, the star man of the time.

So let it not be forgotten that David Beckham was a properly superb footballer, above all.