{{primary_category}}
{{/primary_category}} 
Leeds United: Patrick Bamford shares David Beckham admission after what happened: 'He's lucky'
Leeds United forward Patrick Bamford believes David Beckham is “lucky” there was no social media around when he was sent off for England in the World Cup against Argentina.
Speaking on the BBC’s My Mate’s A Footballer podcast on Thursday (16 November, 28:57), the 30-year-old was asked by host Joe Wilkinson what he made of the abuse the former Three Lions captain received following the incident in 1998 after the topic was brought to the public’s attention again following the release of the Beckham documentary on Netflix.
Although the Whites forward admitted it’s a “weird way of thinking about it”, he said the “hounding” the 48-year-old would have received would have been worse if social media was about then.
“I watched the same thing and straight away thought, it’s a weird way of thinking about it, but I said he’s lucky there wasn’t social media back then,” said Bamford. “The hounding he would have got if there was that.”
Over the top
The reaction to the Beckham incident from the media was pretty appalling as he was essentially hung out to dry following his sending-off against Argentina.
While it did prove to be an important factor in why England were knocked out of the World Cup, the way he was treated was completely over the top.
Bamford is right that he is slightly fortunate that there wasn’t social media back then, though, because the reaction would have been far worse, with the public and other stakeholders able to vent their anger towards him.
The Whites forward knows exactly what it’s like to receive online abuse on a regular basis, so he will understand how bad it could have been.
While it’s easy for frustrations to boil over and comments to be made in the heat of the moment on certain platforms, sometimes a bit of perspective is needed to remember that footballers are only human and they do also make mistakes.
In other Leeds United news, a player who snubbed a move to Elland Road has raved about Farke after what he did.