UEFA Champions League/Manchester United fallout: When David Beckham starts dashing around, you know things are not going well. When he tries to take on the responsibilities of the pressing game, his crude attempts at closing down and tackling often invite the referee's disapproval.
A year or two in the white of Real Madrid would probably effect a cure. At the Bernabeu players are taught to cherish and trust their skills. They simply do not scurry. On Wednesday Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane moved around Old Trafford with an unhurried gait, deploying the sort of ball control that provides the time to measure options. Real's players know that the best way to win the ball is not to lose it.
Lifted by their opponents' example, Manchester United achieved some impressive passages of possession play themselves. But, when Beckham came on, the pressure to dash about and make an impression was overwhelming and led him to misplace almost all his crossfield passes.
Yet the urgency of the moment did not upset his poise when he addressed the free-kick with which he brought United level at 3-3. And his unsparing physical exertions paid off when he reached the far post in time to touch in Ruud van Nistelrooy's deflected shot to give United a victory on the night.
No one will ever know what he might have achieved had Alex Ferguson put him in the starting line-up. Ferguson's view would probably be that an hour of enforced humiliation on the bench provided the catalyst for those two face-saving goals. It seems unlikely, though, that Beckham would develop much further as a player were he to continue his career at Old Trafford.
How would Real Madrid fit him into the squad known, for the number of stars they contain, as the galacticos? Vicente del Bosque has achieved miracles before in that regard and may do so again.
Del Bosque's secret appears to be that he does not present himself as a bigger figure than his players. Their celebrity is no threat to him. All he asks is that they justify the club's investment.
What seems to have gone unnoticed is that, when Real pay big money for a player, they choose one who wants to get on with the job and is not likely to embarrass the club through his off-the-field activities. Ronaldo, for example, is one of the most famous people on the planet and is often to be found doing publicity or highly publicised charity work, but his fame causes no internal difficulties. The same goes for Zidane, Raul and Figo.
Beckham would fall comfortably into the Ronaldo category: unimaginable fame, absolute professionalism. Real's accountants would love his high profile as much as Ferguson hates it. And Del Bosque, unlike Ferguson, would give outsiders no reason to suspect that he lets it affect his assessment of the player.
As for Beckham himself, perhaps he will conclude that life might be more interesting somewhere other than Manchester. He and Ferguson may have run their course together. At this stage neither owes the other anything but good wishes. And, if Beckham were to leave the club that nurtured him, Real Madrid would offer the only way of doing so while moving up in status. Irresistible, probably.
He and Steve McManaman gave each other an affectionate embrace at the end on Wednesday and the former Liverpool man's ease within the Bernabeu culture will not have escaped Beckham's notice. Although McManaman plays few games, he is a different and more effective player now.
The prospect of the break-up of the Giggs-Beckham-Scholes-Neville-Butt generation is full of poignancy. But, if Beckham has more growing to do, he is more likely to do it away from Old Trafford.
So will he go? As he stood alone in the centre circle on Wednesday, applauding with his hands above his head as he turned to all four sides of the ground, there certainly seemed to be a glint of valediction in his eyes. United's last home match of the season, against Charlton Athletic a week tomorrow, could be an emotional affair.
- Guardian Service
