ARGUMENTS for recalling David Beckham to the England team tend to be best finished with a simple question: “So, who would you play instead?” Now take the same question and imagine putting it to the Real Madrid head coach Fabio Capello as he planned, let’s say, his strategy for last night’s Primera Liga match against Deportivo La Coruña, with his team top of the table by the narrowest of margins, and only two more fixtures left in an engrossing title race.

In January, remember, Capello had decided he would rather never pick the former England captain again once it was known his long-term future had been committed to the US; now he looks at Beckham, then he looks at Jose Antonio Reyes, at Gonzalo Higuain, at Guti, at Antonio Cassano, and even at the former Brazil captain, Emerson, and after surveying each of them he writes down the initials DB, and usually puts him at outside-right. Okay, so it’s not quite like bumping Figo off the Madrid right-wing, as Beckham sometimes did in the galactico era, but Beckham is keeping some good footballers out of the Madrid team, possibly better ones than Aaron Lennon.

Cassano and Reyes were not very long ago the most exciting young players in Italy and Spain. Guti is the vice-captain of Madrid. Emerson goes everywhere with Capello.

Reyes and Higuain joined Madrid this season amid fanfare, symbols at a club supposedly building an exciting new dynasty.

When Capello recalled Beckham in February it was a popular decision. In late May, after spells out injured and suspended, few would reckon Reyes, Higuain, Cassano, Emerson or even Guti worth a place ahead of him. Since a loss on January 7, Madrid are undefeated when Beckham has played; without him in the team, they have lost four times. With Beckham, they have won six out of eight matches; without him, they have won only six out of 14.

His bad statistic is the yellow card almost every 100 minutes. A better one says Beckham has scored or set up one in eight of Madrid’s league goals this season, even though he has missed several months of it – injured, dropped or castigated by Capello, or suspended – and started fewer than half the matches. Within the past five weeks, Beckham’s passes have been responsible for the winning goal in the 2-1 win over Valencia, then genuine title rivals, and a goal away at Athletic Bilbao. Another Beckham cross set up the first in last weekend’s 3-2 win at Recreativo Huelva, although it was something that happened at the end of that seesaw 90 minutes in Andalucia that struck Capello as most worth celebrating. Madrid secured the three points in the final seconds, with Roberto Carlos scoring and Beckham involved in the build-up. “It was the last move of the game,” said Capello, “and it wasn’t just Roberto Carlos who dashed 30 yards to be there. So did Beckham. That’s not luck, that's heart.”

Colleagues have been full of praise. “He could easily have carried on in a higher level than the MLS,” says Guti. “It’s a shame he's going to Galaxy,” says Sergio Ramos, “because the way he strikes a ball is still absolutely outstanding – so is his attitude and professionalism. And most of all, there’s his dead balls. He takes them better than anybody in the world.” Ramos, a defender, has headed two goals from Beckham free-kicks in the past six fixtures. “It’s about the way we link,” adds Ramos. “We understand each other with a simple look. If I’m going to the near post or the far post, I’ll give him a signal, and he puts the ball in exactly the right place.” The Spanish press have almost all been with Beckham throughout a testing season, criticising the club’s junta for the manner of his departure – a free transfer – to America, deriding Capello first for his bullishness in excluding Beckham and then his indecisiveness when he recalled him. “Beckham has taught a lesson to those who thought his signing to Galaxy was going to take away his focus,” beamed Marca, the daily sports paper. “He has won the heart of fans,” cooed their rivals, As, “and put an end to the demagogic, perverse and absurd idea that he was just a well-paid and overrated marketing doll.”

La Liga: The run-in

Today: Sevilla v Zaragoza Sky Sports 2, 8pm

Sun Jun 10: Real Zaragoza v Real Madrid, Barcelona v Espanyol, Mallorca v Sevilla’ Levante v Valencia

Sun Jun 17: Nástic v Barcelona, Real Madrid v Mallorca, Sevilla v Villarreal, Valencia v Real Sociedad

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