David Beckham - the 24th man without a job description

As rumours of in-fighting continue to pester England’s preparations for their vital final Group C match against Slovenia, the Guardian’s Marina Hyde questions whether David Beckham, in his role as liaison officer, is nothing more than a concerned onlooker?

John Terry is revolting. Or rather he was revolting – the apparent Terry revolt against Fabio Capello's autocracy was put down within hours, as support from his Cobham separatist movement failed to materialise. How fitting that even England's mutiny should lack movement in the attack.

Something Terry's intemperate comments did serve to emphasise, however, was the missing link, if David Beckham won't object to that description. What has happened to the so‑called 24th man, the chap England deputised to liaise between players and management? We know Beckham has perfected his concerned face for the dug‑out, which is just as well, as the TV cameras seem to cut to it every 30 seconds during games. But on occasions you might have regarded as made for him – putting a consoling arm around Rob Green at half-time in the USA game, say – England's highly billed mentor has come over a bit Garbo.

The uncharitable would observe that while he has never been shy of piggybacking on a celebration, Beckham seems less keen to insert himself into images of failure. No doubt his brand managers have a formula that can calculate the precise number of bottles of Intimately Beckham that will go unsold for every clinical England pass to the foot of an Algerian.

Obviously, it would be perfectly ludicrous to blame Beckham for England's performances – but in the circumstances, it does seem reasonable to ask what exactly he is for.

The assumption has long been that the former England captain was brought to South Africa in a container marked "In case of emergency, break glass". Aside from his 2018 bid duties, Beckham was the sort of trump card to produce when you are really in the schtuck, being the ideal candidate to be slung out to a baying media. Of far more significance, though, was his much-vaunted role as a conduit between the players and the manager – a role glossed by words such as "fluid", "amorphous", and "wholly unclear".

As things stand, attempts to establish from the Football Association the precise nature of Beckham's role in South Africa meet with an intriguing response. "I can't put a label on it," says a spokesman. "I can describe it off the record." Off the record, if you please! Have we truly reached a situation where David Beckham's confected England role is a matter for covert briefing? After some backtracking, the Guardian is referred to Frank Lampard's assessment of Beckham's job description.

"He's got great experience," the Chelsea midfielder told a press conference today. "He has a nice temperament." Other attributes? "He's very relaxed. He makes people feel comfortable and can approach people. He's seen a lot. He spoke to me at certain times. He's been a very helpful presence."

And yet, with relations in the England camp clearly tending toward the strained, has he? There isn't even the vaguest suggestion that Terry tried speaking to Beckham before his amusingly ill‑advised little outing – which is a crying shame, what with the latter's experience in leading players in radical action.