Mourinho puts record straight on Beckham

The Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, denied having criticised the England captain, David Beckham, yesterday.

The Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, denied having criticised the England captain, David Beckham, yesterday.

Mourinho had been linked with a renewed move for the Real Madrid player in the light of a possible kit deal with adidas, but it is now believed that Beckham does not figure in the club's transfer plans for next season.

The Chelsea manager has been critical of Madrid's policy of buying up big names but insisted that such comments did not refer specifically to the players and said he remained an admirer of the former Manchester United player.

"David Beckham is someone I respect as a man and as a player. He is the captain of England and has been a European champion. I have never been critical of him and reports that imply that are totally incorrect as I have never made any comments directly about him."

The day after Craig Bellamy refused to play out of position for Newcastle, Beckham said he is happy to play wherever he is asked. He operated as an emergency wing-back for Real Madrid in the latter stages of their 3-1 win over Real Mallorca on Sunday night, a few hours after Bellamy sat out his side's defeat at Arsenal.

"Wherever I play I enjoy it," Beckham said. "If I am asked to play as a defensive player I will do it. I don't mind every now and then."

Beckham began the match on the right side of a midfield diamond and put in one of his most effective performances of the season before being asked to operate as an attacking full-back following the dismissal of Mallorca's Mark Iuliano.

"It is probably my best performance of the season and possibly the best since I have been in Spain," Beckham added. "I got a few good touches early on and that helped my confidence. Now I am working hard to rediscover the form that everyone is talking about incessantly."

The Madrid coach, Wanderley Luxemburgo, asked Beckham to drop back and said he will expect the same whenever he makes demands of his star-studded squad.

"I don't have to talk with the players to see if they're going to play or not - they have a contract with the club and have to do what the coach says," the Brazilian said. "I like the intensity of the team - Beckham had more people around him and that allowed him to move the ball more. In the second half with Beckham at full-back, we looked to take advantage of the spaces following the sending-off."

Beckham reiterated that he has been impressed by Luxemburgo, who succeeded Mariano Garcia Remon as coach at the turn of the year. "He is making the players work harder in training and when you work hard and you are fit you play better," he said.

Walter Samuel, who shrugged off a broken nose to score in the victory over Mallorca, will undergo surgery today. The club said that the Argentinian defender, who clashed heads with the Mallorca striker Bernardo Romeo, will have an operation to repair "multiple fractures".

The 26-year-old Samuel was injured in the first half, but stayed on and scored in the 80th minute. Real remain in second place in La Liga, seven points behind Barcelona.