In spite of his unavailability through injury, David Beckham could still turn out to be one of the linchpins in England's attempt to win the World Cup in South Africa which starts in just 50 days.

While Beckham's torn Achilles tendon has taken away the midfielder's ability to deliver wicked balls into the box, it has also removed the perennial debate about his form and whether he justifies inclusion as a starter or substitute. It has also given Fabio Capello the perfect non-playing captain for the tournament.

Capello's announcement that Beckham has accepted his offer to augment England's management team in South Africa has received a mixed reception.

Some have labelled it a PR stunt and others have carped that this is a sinecure and has been done more for England's 2018 World Cup bid than the imminent competition.

If Capello is wise – and every indication thus far is that he is – he will give Beckham a wide-ranging role and one of substance. Although international teams are not familiar with it, many club teams recognise the position of club captain and Beckham's role should be substantially the same.

A supporting role will be a test of Beckham's selflessness, but at least he is in the position of knowing he cannot play so will not have at the back of his mind the natural instinct of a competitor, which usually manifests itself in wanting your team to do well but your direct rival for the position to play badly.

What Beckham can impart by way of footballing nous and technique is not difficult to define: delivery of the ball into the box at pace is going to be an important issue, particularly with a strike-force led by Wayne Rooney, who, although much improved in the air, is not a giant.

However, it is with indefinable things that Beckham's experience may prove more valuable. Each World Cup tournament is by its nature unique but there are common threads. The pattern of group stage followed by knock-out is familiar but not in the claustrophobic atmosphere of a team headquarters, itself situated in one country which for one month will have nothing on its mind but football.

The build-up to games will by now have been set and the management should know the schedule and content of the preparation. However, what is equally, if not more important, is the downtime, of which there is plenty.

The overall psyche of a squad is something that can be affected by seemingly small things, which often have nothing to do with what has taken place during games.

Of these the relationship with the public, and by this I include the media, is one which can enhance or destabilise a squad. During the six weeks the squad are together they will have untold demands and requests for players to be available for interviews, to meet dignitaries, sponsors, uncle Tom Cobley and all. Players know they have to do this but in reality do not want to go through what will undoubtedly be the same raft of questions, each time phrased slightly differently, but essentially amounting to the same point – how do you think you will do/are doing?

Beckham is easily capable of fielding any questions in the right way and by removing a substantial amount of this sort of work he will receive the untold thanks of the squad.

Hardly any player looks forward to doing a glad-handing session and not just for the reason suspected by most of the public – that they think they are above such things. Many are uncomfortable speaking in public and earning vast sums of money just means players have to go through with interviews, but the unease is not removed. Some are rightly aware that certain journalists do not have their best interests at heart and have been sent not to report on football but to find scandal that can adorn a front page.

In addition are the regular periods of two or three hours during which there is insufficient time to do anything substantial but sufficient time to become thoroughly bored. There may be some truth in the maxim that only boring people get bored, but footballers are used to having their regimes dictated by others or else being in comfortable home surroundings.

The World Cup will not match many of the player's expectations of one of the premier sporting events. They will see little of the beauty of the host country, but a lot of the inside of airports and coaches. They will experience little of the culture, but will become familiar with every inch of their training camp and the inside of a hotel, even one that is palatial and has first-class facilities, can soon become dull and oppressive.

Many of the options open to people on their holidays are not going to be there for players; even the mundane stroll around the shops is not going to be available because of the hordes of media and public.

Beckham can forewarn players who have only an inkling of how limiting this feels and that they will, for most of the time, not feel part of what for everyone else is a glorious and riotous sojourn. This may sound ridiculous but one of the more memorable things for me in the 1995 Rugby World Cup, also in South Africa, were the team quizzes held among the England players.

And as an afterthought, as Beckham's dead-ball skills are legendary, he could use his experience to convince his fellow squad members that they should practise these with a religious fervour and not as reluctant schoolboys. I would get each prospective penalty-taker to put £50k in the pot and hold shootouts after each training session – the winner at the end of the tournament takes all.

If Beckham can help to end England's dreadful record regarding penalties he will have done more than he ever could on the pitch.