Mend it like Beckham.

Last week, when Real Madrid slumped to yet another defeat to the relegation threatened side Levante, I had started writing a new post on the subject. I was curious to know who would get the blame now for the defeat from coach Capello, given that Beckham and Ronaldo were no longer in the team. I didn't finish the piece and before i could do that, came the news that Beckham was selected and scored a decisive goal for his team in the match against Real Sociedad.

His comeback goal effectively saved the coach from getting a sack from the notoriously exacting Real Madrid board. The same board had infamously sacked Vicente Del Bosque in 2003 for not winning the Champions League, a day after his team won the Spanish League. The club has not won a single trophy since then.

David Beckham is a decent footballer. He is not a 'great', as some of his ardent fans would like us to believe but also, he is also not as bad as some of the pundits would like to point out. His problem has always been the publicity he gets off the field, which is a major put off for some of his managers and team mates. Beckham is partly to blame for that, starting with his extravagant lifestyle with pop star wife Victoria Beckham to his tattoos and hairstyles. The other party responsible for this publicity is , as usual, the media. Especially the British media. The lesser said about them, the better.

On sheer football terms, he is an ordinary footballer when it comes to many basic skills. He is not all that quick, not a good dribbler, or a tackler. Makes little use of his left foot or his head ( literally) for that matter. George Best, the Manchester United legend, once said this about him, "He (Beckham) cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that he's all right."

But for all his shortcomings, he is a fantastic crosser of the ball and a specialist in dead ball situations. Ruud van Nistelrooy would testify for the number of times the ball was delivered to his feet in the 'D' area. To an extent, so would Ronaldo and Raul.

He was never a winger, like Vicente or Robben or Christiano Ronaldo, so one cannot expect to see him dribble the ball much. But he did play his part well on the right flank of the midfield. He was a prominent member of the famous treble winning Manchester United team. His contribution to Manchester United and Real Madrid on the field cannot be discounted at any cost.

But probably his biggest contribution is off the field. His name sells. Big time. People, especially in south east Asia, flock to buy David Beckham merchandise. Real Madrid displaced Manchester United at the top of the richest club list since he joined them from the latter. Ironically the same money, that he helped generate, will be used to replace him in the club.

No player is bigger than his team or the club. But it doesn't make any sense to blame a team's bad performances on one or two individuals. Alex Fergusson made that mistake and effectively dried up the goals for Nistelrooy, who struggled to score in the absence of Beckham's pin point crosses. Capello made the mistake and had to eat his own words, when he admitted his mistake of omitting Beckham from the team.Next in line could be Steve McLaren, the boss of the perennially under performing and over hyped national team of England. But then, no one can rescue the English team. If you can call them a 'team', that is.

On the virtue of his successful comeback into the team despite all the humiliation bestowed on him by the coach and the club president Ramón Calderón, Beckham has proved that he is a fighter and can still deliver the goods.

He may not be special. But like Best said( albeit sarcastically), he is all right.