If Kevin Keegan wants to get the best out of David Beckham this summer, Gary Neville has no doubts about what he must do. Firstly, the Manchester United full-back believes England must play with Beckham in front of a flat back four.

Secondly, the man behind him at right back must be - Gary Neville.

Special pleading? Perhaps. But then again Neville is Beckham's best friend and was best man at his wedding, too.

Arguably he knows more about England's most talented player than anybody. When he talks about him, Keegan must listen.

Keegan is torn between following his instincts and playing with a back four or accepting the limitations of his squad and reverting to Glenn Hoddle's three-man system.

For Neville, there is no debate. He said: 'It works for David playing on the right side in front of a back four. We know that through the experiences we've watched.

'If you look at the teams which have had success, most of them play with a back four. My experiences of playing with a three at United have been that you lose a lot of your penetration going forward. Just look at Liverpool, who have a lot more penetration now they've gone back to a four.

'When we experimented with three at United, we lost that attacking edge. If you can get it going the right way, it's a great system but it's not the way we play.'

Beckham is not a natural wingback. That was proved three years ago in Poland, probably the best performance under Hoddle, when Neville was exposed by his team-mate's defensive limitations. By the World Cup, Hoddle preferred Darren Anderton on the right, using Beckham, eventually, inside.

That, of course, negated Beck-ham's chief weapon, his instant delivery from the flank, and Neville is convinced Keegan must play the midfielder in his best position to get the optimum performance out of him.

He added: 'I don't think David has played often enough in a back five. I'm not sure it worked for him as a right wing-back for England. There were times when he was ending up too far back and I think that even happened in the Scotland game at home.

'I was pulling my hair out watching it because I was seeing him play right-back and I know for a fact that if I'd been playing with him, he would've been further up the field.

'You don't know what is going to happen. But I know that David Beckham is comfortable playing with me.'

Neville's belief that he will be in the England side is unshakeable, even though his position in the 22 has been a subject of recent debate.

Steven Gerrard, although uncapped, has been touted as a possible option, with Neville's displays against Vasco Da Gama in the World Club Championship and Real Madrid, when United surrendered their Champions League title, roundly criticised.

Yet the 25-year-old Neville does not expect he will suffer the fate that befell younger brother Phil - the only player to have featured in all 10 England games under Keegan - when he was cut by Hoddle on the eve of the World Cup.

'I keep reading that I've had a disastrous season, but that comes from people who've probably only seen me two or three times, in the big games,' he said, clearing divesting himself of a long-standing bugbear.

'This season I haven't had the greatest of experiences, but that's the way it goes. I made the mistakes in Brazil and had a bad game against Real, and I took a lot of criticism for that, something I've not had to put up with in the past.

'But I think it's unrealistic over six seasons of international, Champions League and Premiership football for me not to have a dodgy period.

'Apart from a couple of games, my form has been fine. Coming out of Brazil what happened played on my mind but you admit your mistake, move on and get stronger. Everybody makes mistakes.'

Neville suggested incomprehension at the prospect that Keegan might omit him. 'People have questioned whether I'll be in the 22 but I honestly believe I'll end up in the team, never mind the squad,' he said.

'Terry Venables and Glenn Hoddle both had seven defenders, and this squad had seven in it (before Gareth Barry's elevation). Maybe it's two plus two making five but I can't see why there shouldn't be cover at full-back and centre-back within the seven.

'There's a danger of going for Jacks-of-all-trades and masters of none. It's OK saying a player can play here or there, but can you throw him on against Germany? I know that if I was thrown into a final or semi-final I would perform.

'My best games for England have been in the major championships. My performances in friendlies have been decent, but my best experiences were in Euro 96 and the World Cup.'

Neville's conviction is exactly what Keegan wants in his players. The coach said: 'If he came up to me and said he didn't expect to be in, I'd be very disappointed with Gary.'

Perhaps even more important is that the defender represents the embodiment of Keegan's own bullishness. Neville added: 'People might say there's four or five countries they expect to do better than England.

'But if this squad connects together, the team spirit gels and we have that little bit of luck we can go as far as anybody, because I see weaknesses in all the other teams.

'Portugal have some great forwards but we can see weaknesses defensively that can be exposed, especially with the players we've got up front.

'If you've got Beckham, Scholes, Owen, Heskey and Shearer there have got to be goals there. I think we saw the best of Romania in the World Cup in Toulouse, when we gave a poor performance. Then Germany will be a hell of a battle but we can beat them.'

Not a scintilla of doubt, straight out of the Alex Ferguson school of thinking. Keegan would not have it any other way.