David Beckham is one of the best examples of a player who turned his career around after tumbling into a deep hole.
Beckham was pilloried 24 years ago when many England fans blamed his stupid red card for the Three Lions’ heartbreaking exit to Argentina at France '98. Effigies of the midfielder were hung outside pubs in London and it felt like he had become public enemy No1.
Fast forward three years and his stunning stoppage-time free-kick against Greece secured England’s place at the 2002 World Cup, and suddenly he had replaced St George as the nation’s new patron saint. Although not as dramatic, Dwight McNeil is enduring the first rut of his career and he is struggling to reproduce the form that made him one of the most-exciting young wingers in the Premier League.
