David Beckham Explains Why He Could Not Watch Manchester United For Two Years

Retired England soccer star David Beckham launched a book of photographs of his playing days on Wednesday (October 30) and took the opportunity to "meet" some of the thousands of fans following the question and answer session live on the Facebook website. The former England captain answered questions posed by fans around the world and "signed" their Facebook accounts electronically as he did so. He also talked about his career, particularly his time playing for his boyhood love Manchester United. His manager at the time, Alex Ferguson, has just published his own autobiography which included some harsh words about Beckham at the end of his time at United. Beckham chose not to retaliate: "I'm not going to sit here and be negative about a man who gave me the chance to play for my boyhood team. He believed in me, he believed in the rest of the young lads who came through with us," he told interviewer Jake Humphrey. Then the former Manchester United star revealed that he had thought of asking Ferguson to manage his new U.S. franchise. "The funny thing was, obviously I am involved in the MLS and I am involved in bringing my own franchise into the league, and actually his was one of the first numbers I was going to call to be manager. But I am not too sure anymore. I am not sure he would accept. But all joking aside at the end of the day, I wouldn't be negative about Sir Alex Ferguson because he was the man who gave me the chance to live my dream." Beckham recalled the deep hurt he felt when the relationship with Alex Ferguson broke down, there were arguments and he learned that his contract was up for sale with another team. "When I joined Manchester United I never wanted to leave them and when I was told they were selling me, literally when I heard that that was the first time I spoke to Real Madrid," he said. "So that was the time when I realised that my dream of continuing to play for Manchester United was over, and I needed to pick another team. And I was lucky that Real Madrid wanted me. But in all honesty, I say it in the book, I couldn't watch Manchester United for two years. I was that kind of gutted. It was that difficult to leave and that difficult to come to terms with the fact that I wasn't there anymore." After European soccer Beckham went on to play a highly successful stint at Major League Soccer's LA Galaxy. Now his playing career is over and Beckham has chosen Miami for a new MLS expansion team. He told his fans how some canny negotiating earlier gave him the opportunity to become a team boss. "When I signed my contract six or seven years ago my manager Simon Fuller actually got a clause in the contract that enabled me to have a franchise at the end of my playing career, and obviously now I have stopped playing, a year before we started looking around for different places," Beckham said. "Miami was obviously one of them. You know we have looked at other places as well. I am excited about that, I am passionate about staying involved in football and the owner of a team is something that I am passionate about."