David Beckham sent a stern warning to any Manchester United stars who aren’t ‘up for the cup’ ahead of his former team’s showdown with Manchester City at Wembley.
The Red Devils’ Treble-winning legends, including Beckham, Gary Neville and Andy Cole, reunited for the premiere of a new Amazon Prime documentary titled ’99’. The series chronicles United’s historic 1999 season when Sir Alex Ferguson’s team clinched the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League titles within a mere 10-day span.
The Daily Star exclusively reported yesterday how Erik ten Hag’s “miserable” United flops fear they will not win another game this season. A club insider says morale and confidence is so low among the United squad that there is a feeling among many of the players that their season could be all but over.
READ MORE: ‘Miserable’ Man Utd flops fear they won’t win again this season under Erik ten Hag
READ MORE: Sir Jim Ratcliffe demands Man Utd injury crisis investigation over horror season
Speaking on the red carpet at Printworks in Manchester on Thursday night, Beckham issued a warning to the struggling United squad ahead of their FA Cup final against champions Manchester City later this month. “You’d hope that the manager doesn’t have to do much,” Beckham told talkSPORT.
“I think that’s the whole point of being a Manchester United player and playing in these big games you should be motivated. When you’re a professional footballer and you’re doing the job you love and you’re at the club you love, when you’re playing in any game, whether it’s a regular season game or whether it’s an FA Cup final against your rivals, that should be enough motivation.
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“And, if it’s not, then you’re in the wrong team and you’re playing the wrong sport. We went into every game, whether it was a youth cup game, a friendly game, off-season or a European Cup final, with the same mentality and the same drive,” reports the Mirror.
“We all know Erik’s a very qualified manager and a good manager and he has the right motives. We were lucky in our day that we had Sir Alex Ferguson, we were lucky that we had Eric Harrison and Jim Ryan and Nobby Stiles and all of these great managers and motivators.”
Key figures from United dressing room in the late ’90s era including Beckham, Neville, Paul Scholes, Peter Schmeichel and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were interviewed for the documentary, which Amazon says features “never-before-seen archive footage” and “behind-the-scenes candid video” from both the club and its fans. And England legend Beckham hopes the film about United’s glory days could inspire the current team.
(Image: Getty Images)
He said: “We’d like to think so and that’s one of the reasons why we want to make things like this. Obviously it’s been a tough five, 10, 15 years at United and we all know that but it was never going to be easy when the boss left, [Roy] Keane left, Giggsy [Ryan Giggs] left, Gary [Neville] left.”
“All of these important players and personalities and characters all left United, it was always going to be a difficult time. We want the lads to feel from this documentary the inspiration of being this successful.”
United have endured a miserable campaign, which has seen them fail to challenge for the title or secure Champions League qualification. A season of turmoil hit a new low on Monday with a 4-0 mauling at Crystal Palace.
It was United’s 13th league defeat of the season – the most they have suffered in a single season since the Premier League was formed – and they are currently slumped in eighth, while local rivals City battle it out with Arsenal for the title.