Beckham 'Is No Makelele' - Helguera

By Matthew Jones
December 30 2003

Real Madrid midfielder Ivan Helguera has praised David Beckham, but at the same time claimed that the Spanish Champions are missing Claude Makelele. Beckham is effective in attack, but Beckham has NOT filled the gap left by Makelele's departure to Premiership club Chelsea.

Helguera told Spanish newspaper Marca: "I can assure you he doesn't reach Makelele's level no matter what people say. He is not as defensive as Makelele.

"He has a lot of ability, he helps in defence and has spectacular skill with the ball in attack. He is playing great football.

"You can see he's happy and that allows him to give his best."

Helguera also had some positive things to say regarding Beckham's workrate.

"The thing is that at Manchester United in English football, it seemed that he didn't run much and that Manchester beat their rivals with ease.

"However, he always worked hard when he played against us and I don't know how people can say they didn't expect to see the player that they do now."