You won't have it easy Becks, says Overmars

Marc Overmars has warned David Beckham he faces a tougher task to prove himself in La Liga than he ever did in England.

Beckham made his Real Madrid debut in China this afternoon, taking the first tentative steps in his new life in Spain following the 28-year-old’s controversial move from Manchester United.

With the remainder of Real’s Far East tour and a two-legged Spanish Super Cup tussle with Real Mallorca still to come before his anticipated league debut against Real Betis at the Bernabeu Stadium on August 31, Beckham has plenty of settling-in time.

However, once the proper action starts, Overmars, who made a similar switch from Arsenal to Barcelona four summers ago, believes Beckham will find the standard of football far higher than in the Premiership.

And for evidence, he pointed to the strength in depth of La Liga, which has seen four different champions in five years, and nearly a fifth had Real Sociedad not dramatically collapsed on the final day of last season and handed the title to Beckham’s new employers.

“For the last six years in England it has been Manchester United then Arsenal, or Arsenal then Manchester United,” Overmars told said.

“That situation doesn’t exist in Spain. Barcelona won the championship four years ago, then Deportivo, then Real Madrid, then Valencia and finally Real again, when Real Sociedad could easily have won it.

“There is not the great difference in standards that there is in England. Even the bottom sides have good, competent players and physically it is just as tough in Spain as it is in the Premier League.”

Had negotiations turned out differently, Overmars could have been lining up alongside Beckham at the new Lincoln Financial Field stadium in Philadelphia tomorrow night when Barcelona close the current Champions World series with a sell-out clash against Manchester United.

Old Trafford chief executive Peter Kenyon agreed a deal in principle with his Barca counterpart Joan Laporta for Beckham to sign for the Catalan giants, only for the England skipper to reject the deal in favour of Real.

Ironically, the decision also worked against United as Barca then switched their attentions to long-time Red Devils target Ronaldinho, who in turn snubbed Alex Ferguson’s advances.

Overmars is convinced Barcelona got the better of the deal. Not because Beckham is a bad player, far from it.

It’s just that the Dutch winger believed his team were desperately in need of someone to dominate central midfield.

“We needed someone in the centre and like most Brazilians, Ronny wants to get hold of the ball and try and change the game. In that sense he suits us better,” said Overmars.

“No-one is exactly sure just yet where Beckham is going to play because Madrid have so many world class players.

“First it was Figo, then Zidane, last season Ronaldo and now Beckham. Maybe it’s their way of keeping everybody sharp.”

More than any big-name arrival, it is a reminder of last year’s league position which is keeping Barca on their toes just now.

The European heavyweights were only spared the humiliation of having to enter the Intertoto Cup this summer by virtue of their last-day escape act which sealed a place in the UEFA Cup after a campaign in which they briefly flirted with the relegation zone.

Dutch legend Frank Rijkaard has been brought in to sort out the mess and the early signs are encouraging.

Barca followed a penalty shoot-out win over Juventus with a more straightforward triumph over AC Milan in Washington on Wednesday when Ronaldinho was among the scorers.

Tomorrow’s clash promises to be a tough one though, as United come into the game on the back of three straight victories which have yielded an impressive 11 goals.

Overmars acknowledges victory is not a necessity, but he admitted a repeat of the 4-1 scoreline United inflicted on Juventus at the Giants Stadium on Thursday would be unacceptable.

“These matches are important to us because we have to show people in Spain that we are back and that we have got a good team,” he said.

“We are starting again from zero and while you can’t always judge a team in friendly matches, when you are playing against big teams you don’t want to lose.

“We cannot afford to get beaten 3-0 or 4-1 because the people in Spain would react very quickly to that kind of result.”