3. David Beckham
Owen Humphreys/PA Archive/Press Association ImagesEngland marvel Beckham's inclusion on this list may be a strange one for some people, given his success on the field and his progression to a global icon of soccer and fashion, but, in pure footballing terms, there is no doubt that his career went south after leaving United. At United, he was part of the famous class of 92, a bunch of lads who progressed into the United first team and won all the accolades available. He also came to prominence by scoring from the halfway line against Wimbledon in 1996, and proved himself ridiculously skilled at moving the ball over any distance - indeed, his distribution and set-pieces were his trademarks. But his time was up as soon as 'he became bigger than the club' (according to Sir Alex Ferguson), and he exited in 2003 for Real Madrid, where he stayed for another 4 years before signing for LA Galaxy in 2007. From this point onwards, what happened off the pitch became more important than on-field events for Beckham and he never quite rediscovered his playing form, dropping out of contention for the England Squad despite a very public courting of a place in every squad he tirelessly made himself available for. Eventually he ended his career with a short-lived spell at PSG, which was deemed a publicity stunt, rather than to do with the football.