BY Matt Dickinson ( The Times )

Of course, it could all get worse before it gets better for the man who is supposed to be the nation's public enemy. This was a hot day on the open expanses of Wembley with a greyhound track and a small battalion of stewards to protect him.

Stick him next to thousands of snarling West Ham United fans in the claustrophobic confines of Upton Park - as he will be on the second Saturday of the season - and it would test the most placid of temperaments. And Beckham's is certainly not one of those.

For now, though, he is, sensibly, keeping his head down and getting on with the game, and he will have left Wembley yesterday far more concerned at the malfunction in United's midfield than at the jibes. He declined to discuss either last night but, in that respect, he was not alone. The United players were not in the mood for a chat.

It was left instead to Alex Ferguson, the United manager, to add some perspective to a story that has spiralled beyond all reason. Pressed on the reception that Beckham received, Ferguson was predictably scornful. "I am not going to answer that question," he said. "I don't know why you are even bothering to continue with David Beckham as an agenda. I just picked my best team."

Arsène Wenger was more forthcoming but, on the rather tame evidence of yesterday, he probably overstated the case. "Beckham will have to adjust to all the jeering he is getting," the Arsenal manager said. "He is a good player, but he will have to prepare himself for that kind of reception. I think, after the first two months, it will all disappear, but it will be difficult for him until then.

"People are fragile and you never know how they will react. The pressure will be higher at smaller grounds, but he will learn to cope with that. I hope people will forgive him and forget. It is too easy to say England went out of the World Cup because of David Beckham."

Beckham was not the only England miscreant to hear the wrath of the Arsenal supporters. Teddy Sheringham was jeered loudly before he had even come onto the pitch, and the boos took on a distinctly mocking tone when he badly scuffed a shot from 12 yards when clean through in the second half. His failure to make the starting line-up does not bode well for his season.

If United were looking for positives yesterday, there was one, undoubtedly, in the return of Roy Keane, who seems determined to usurp Beckham as the United player that opposing fans love to hate. Shaven to the skull, the fearsome Irishman seemed intent on proving that his injured knee could survive a 50-50 tackle with a ten-ton truck.

Overmars and Vieira were quickly reminded that there is no more ferocious midfield player in England, and quite possibly Europe, and his return was the one fillip for United. "Roy really needed that," Ferguson said. "He needed a competitive game before Wednesday and he will be better for it."

One hopes that Jaap Stam will be better for playing yesterday because there is room aplenty for improvement. Some good tackles in the first half, particularly one on his countryman Overmars, were overshadowed by his role in Nicolas Anelka's goal, as he allowed the young Frenchman to run through and get his shot in. Memories of some slack defending in the World Cup came flooding back.

For Arsenal, the only possible setback was a hamstring injury that forced Dennis Bergkamp to come off at half-time. The Holland forward believes that he will be fit for the start of the season, however, and insisted that he had only been replaced as a precautionary measure.