So the rumours were true and Paul Scholes’ retirement is on hiatus for the season’s conclusion. The former-cum-current Manchester United midfielder’s 31 minute cameo in the FA Cup derby on Sunday concluded a week’s fevered speculation. Indeed, with United’s midfield depleted by injuries to Tom Cleverley and Darren Fletcher Scholes’ turnabout comes at an opitune time.
But as the transfer window opens, does the 36-year-old’s return simply whitewash a wider problem? One that has been known for at least two years: United’s midfield is desperately short of genuine class.
Not that Scholes’ return is unwelcome for supporters of course. The player, given an emotional farewell during a pre-season testimonial against New York Cosmos, is an enduring hero for a generation of United supporters. He is, after all, one of the finest midfielders of his age, lauded by peers, and has played nearly 700 games for the Reds
But the truth in Scholes’ return is also a stark reminder of United’s deficiencies. Had Sir Alex Ferguson been afforded the funds to buy in additional midfield quality last summer the Scot would, quite obviously, be less in need of the veteran’s services.
Yet, says Ferguson, it was the player and not staff that instigated Scholes’ return this week, with the squad told – according to Wayne Rooney – just minutes before United kicked off against Manchester City at Eastlands on Sunday.
“He came to see me and said he wanted to come back, he was missing it too much,” United manager Ferguson said.
“There were no negatives as far as I’m concerned. The players were fantastic about it, the fans I’m sure will be happy and I’m happy. The last few weeks, Paul has been training very hard with the reserves and doing a lot of work in the gym. He came to see me and said ‘I regret retiring’.
“There are no negatives for me. The players have been delighted. I am delighted. The fans are delighted. The last few weeks he has been stepping up his training and been taking part in our training sessions during the week. It is a terrific addition to our squad at a very important part of our season.
“It’s fantastic that Paul has made this decision. It’s always sad to see great players end their careers, but especially so when they do it early. But he has kept himself in great shape and I always felt that he had another season in him. It’s terrific to have him back.”
Indeed, in 30 minutes against City Scholes passed the ball more than any home team player did in the full 90; a reminder of the player’s enduring quality on the ball. On 71 occasions the flamed-haired midfielder passed long and short to colleagues in familiar fashion. Once, as a reminder of a time long now gone, Scholes strode up to the opposition penalty area and lashed in a shot from 25 yards. Vintage. Almost.
Yet, in modern football parlance, Scholes’ legs have gone; the player was blowing hard by the end, and not just because of eight months on the sidelines. The midfielder’s inability to physically compete in a two-man midfield had become obvious by the time the boots were hung up last May. It was the player, not manager, who deemed last summer the right time to go, with Scholes unable to influence the biggest games in the fashion he had become accustomed to over a plaudit-laden 20 year career at the very top. If Scholes is to contribute this season it will be in half-hour bursts from the bench or within the safety of a three-man midfield. Possibly both.
In this there is a risk that Scholes’ return is simply obfuscation of the real issue. Worse, that the player is making a comeback for selfish reasons, while the manager, so desperately short of quality, will take anything that comes his way. “I’ve been pretty clear since I stopped playing that I miss it,” said Scholes on Sunday. It is a missive that, to borrow from another sport, so many boxers will recognise. Nobody wants see Scholes to fight against the dying of the light.
That is not to say Scholes cannot add something to United’s campaign, such is the paucity of quality available. And, of course, the plaudits came from his team-mates on Sunday. That says much for the respect Scholes has garnered over the years.
“Seeing him in the dressing room just gave me a lift straight away,” said striker Danny Welbeck.
“Before the game he was on the bench and everyone knows what Paul Scholes can do. He just dictates the gameplay and it is fantastic to have him back. It was a great day overall and everybody was happy to get through it and I’m delighted for the whole club and the fans as well.”
Indeed, Welbeck hits the positive tone echoed by other members of Ferguson’s team. Scholes is rightly held in awe by his once former, now current, team-mates. United’s squad loses nothing with Scholes’ return, and the veteran is unlikely to force, say, Cleverley to the sidelines when the younger man regains full fitness.
But there is also a collective cognitive dissonance amid the euphoria. Quality counts. Not that displayed in the past, but that offered today. Scholes has a great future behind him. There is a truism at work: the player cannot and will not make a title-winning difference on his own.
In this there is also a question to answer. Has Scholes returned to underpin the genuine strength and quality already present; or is a United legend back, desperately seeking a temporary fix a potentially terminal problem, a sticking plaster for a near-fatal wound?
i’ll post what i posted in another thread Ed
Scholes is my Fave ever United Player…I tell kids to watch videos of him (along with Xavi, Iniesta etc) to learn how the game should be played..But I agree this is a backwards step…Not once yesterday did he try one of his inch perfect 40-50 yard balls….Caution it may have been…ring rusty it may have been…But as a 37 year old, who has not played for 8 months, that has not had a proper pre season behind him, that has been coaching reserves and is clearly not match fit to all of a sudden be our saviour just proves how fucking low we have dropped
For all the Fergie apologists saying trust the great man, (and lets be honest he is great), surely this is a wake up call..
You cant go spouting shit about no value, there’s no one good enough about that would improve us etc etc and expect us to take it all in when you recall Scholes out of retirement.
Its embarrassing more than disgraceful…plain embarrassing.
fergie is wrong. he is a great man and a living legend but this is insanity. it’s all the worse when it chats shit about no targets, no value, promoting youth – and then he gets the old timer out of retirement. the face that he is even entertaining giving giggs another year is lunacy.
can we get bruce to replace phelan because we need someone to tell fergie that he is taking us down the wrong path.
“He came to see me and said he wanted to come back, he was missing it too much,” United manager Ferguson said.
I don’t believe Ferguson. Scholes wanted to retire in summer, and the club tried to get him to stay. I think Ferguson has gone to him and politely begged.
What I want to know is will he make cameo appearances or will he play 90 minutes. If he comes on as a calming influence in a tight game for half an hour, then fine. If we’re relying on him for 90 minutes then it’s asking too much.
last 15 minutes would be better
An indictment of how far Fergie thinks Pogba and Morrison have got to if a 36 year old who hasn’t played competitively for 8 months made the bench and they didn’t.
When are you going to wake the fuck up?
Ferguson is telling one lie after another… you say so yourself… but when he says the Glazers are great owners, and there’s money if he wants it… you buy it… and your weird argument is… because there’s no evidence to suggest the contrary.
Scholes has been unretired, because we’re that fuckin desperate…
Ferguson might be able to spend a few quid here and there, if there are sales, or a reduction in wages… look at the players we cleared off the books in the summer… that gave us a bit of room for Young and Jones… but that was hardly world class spending was it?
The Glazers have United on a very strict budget… and everyone seems to agree… except YOU!
I agree, but I wish everyone would stop lashing out at Fergie, Gill, and older players like Giggs and Scholes about the situation. The way I see it, the guys have stuck by the club through a shite period of ownership and kept the train very much on the tracks — we’ve managed to win loads of silverware despite the financial limitations. How fucked would this club be if Fergie and Gill had stormed off a few years back and the Glazers had put two of their own goons in charge? how soulless would it be? Giggs and Scholes have been in this club their whole adult lives, they must know exactly the situation, and for Scholesy to come back now is clearly a case of someone who loves the club and his manager making a sacrifice for the greater good. Fergie’s just desperately trying to hold on now in the hope that the young lads like Jones, Pogba, Wellbeck etc really live up to their promise. He’s been trying to get top quality in a few years before he’d have otherwise bought them, or train them internally, because he can’t afford to buy a player like Jones when he’s already 23 and going for closer to £30 million than £20 million.
The amazing thing here is that Fergie has kept us so fucking competitive over the past few years against teams like Barca, Real, Chelsea, and now City who have spent far far more money. Yes Barca beat us badly in two finals, but we beat them on the way to our CL victory, and getting to the CL final is an impressive accomplishment in itself. And who knows, on a good day, with key players like Fletch available, you’re always in with a chance in a single game even against Barca.
My point is, Fergie and Gill and the like are clearly no saints — they get financially rewarded and get their benefits from staying in their jobs at United — but on the whole they’re doing right by the club. People condemning Fergie for working with the Glazers are fucking deluded. What manager could come close to the success we’ve achieved under similar circumstances? And players like Ronaldo, Rooney, etc would have have fucked off a long time ago.
At last some intelligent perspective. Jesus, sometimes I wonder about some people posting on this very decent Utd blog. Who gives a shit whether any of us ”believe” Ferguson? His job is to manage the team and based on his results as mentioned above he’s done an amazing job given the circumstances. He was, is and always will be the best manager of his or any other generation and we as Utd fans should blessed to still have him. We can still win the league this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
^ This – couldn’t agree more
I agree with a lot of that Bernie… but all Ferguson needs to do is say nothing.
My honest wish is that he realise his influence, and walk… taking the fans with him.
If Ferguson wanted… he could go public, and tell the fans the truth about what the Glazers are doing, and have done… and the only way to get rid of them, is by denying them the income they need to keep it… but that’s just me…
Whatever… Fergie wants to stay in charge, and that’s obviously up to him… I can live with that… but I can’t tolerate the open support… say nothing, and just get on with the job… but quit lying to the fans… they deserve a lot better than that.
I agree with you here. Fergie should have been more reticent in his endorsement of the Glazers and their extortionate economic management.
But there is somethiong else that puzzles meL it strikes me as strange in that it is so unlike the Fergie of old in his hesitancy in playing/blooding the young players and instead turning United into a Dad’s army (with all due re3spect, a player beyond a certain age is not going to do it for us, no matter how great they werew in their prime). Are we waiting for Messi and Ronaldo to hit their 40s and they we can come in with bids for them? A midfield of Scholes and Giggs is going to get overrun and steamrollered by quality younger midfield players that they are up against.
Is Fergie in a sort of age denial phase? Is he imagining he has the elixiere of et5ernaql youth at hand?>
I see what you’re saying, but I think confronting the Glazers or walking out of the club “taking the fans with him” would just destroy the club, or at least turn it into a basket case for years. Keep in mind Fergie has helped usher United into the modern era of football, and turned it quite literally into one of a small handful of the truly big clubs on a global scale. Given his age, he’s got a much bigger perspective on these things than most people. And he’s seen plenty of clubs that were once United’s peers (Leeds, Newcastle, even Liverpool to a lesser degree) fall badly down the pecking order, where in today’s financial realities if you drop down the important ranks (out of the CL spots, then out of the PL altogether) , the financial penalty is so great it makes it difficult to ever come back. Managers, directors, and owners feuding in public always hurts the club. And managers always lose — look at Mourinho and Chelsea, and the Chavs have never recovered from losing Mourinho.
After turning United into a truly great institution, I can understand Fergie not wanted to spend hs last few years pulling it down. Better to put a brave face on a sub-optimal situation and see it through the storm.
I also don’t think Fergie and Gill saw the Glazers as an unmitigated disaster, and I think that there is genuinely a lot that they like about how they’ve done things. I think a really big unforeseen problem has been the financial markets fucking up all the big plans: it took longer than the Glazers hoped to refinance the loans, they probably didn’t get as good a refinancing deal as they wanted, and now the IPO has been delayed, and the IPO might have been Plan B in the first place. So I think the plan was for the lean years to have ended by now…
But that’s what happens when you mess with debt.
Well said mate. I agree with your points about the financial crisis, and in addition to that, Fergie and the rcruiting team have had a fucking horror show in their attempts to maintain and rebuild the engine room in the last 5- 10 years. Look at the list of players bought that didn’t or haven’t done it. Let’s just randomly walk down the graveyard of broken recruits. There was Djemba-Djemba, Klebberson, Miller all who just couldn’t cut it, Hargreaves- awful bad luck story for player and club, and now Anderson, with the jury still well and truly out on his potential. I’ve forgotten some (just thought of Bellion), but this combination of bad recruiting and bad luck was all done with money pre-crisis, and now it’s nigh on an impossible task for Fergie to buy the necessary firepwoer that the current midfield needs.The bad luck continues with Fletch and Cleverley.It’s not gonna be easy to rebuild, but then he was experimenting with Allan Smith in midfield once (ca. 2005?),so surely bringing back Scholesy in the current situation shows that United have at least made some sort of progress since those dark days!
Sorry that sounded a bit condescending.
The time to sign players was before last summer. He won’t buy anyone this month nor in the summer because no sane club is going to get rid of their best players either in advance of Euro 2012 or after the tournament without making prospective purchasers pay top whack.
Only City, Chelsea, Barcelona and Madrid can afford to buy those sorts of players now.
We missed a trick big time. Wait until a player costs £40million before showing any interest.
Not sure what Scholesy can bring to the table. He’s a legend but bringing him back was plain desperate.
Well at definitely doesn’t help. I can’t think of a top central midfield signing since Keano, although its only fair to say Carrick has been mostly a success too. Now we don’t even seem to bother trying to sign central midfielders, it seems to be Fergie’s big blind spot, money issues aside.
The return of scholesy is the guining answer to our accusations that the glazers have failed to invest hugely to add more quarlity players to our darling team.MAN UTD.also very disappointed ,if you consider the status of our club.I don’t see we can go for sneijder as he is available this winter.
As opposed to who?
It’s not ideal, no-one thinks it is. But the problem remains that it’s rare to sign a top player in January, especially when you’re not in Europe. Plenty of times this season I’ve thought ‘I wish Scholes was available’.
Also, it was only recently we learned that Cleverley would be out for an additional month – maybe that was the catalyst for this decision. If we had Clev, Carrick, Anderson, Jones and Giggs all available I bet Scholes wouldn’t have been resigned.
I agree that the return of Scholes is just papering over the massive cracks in our midfield. However I have to believe its just a short term option in a time when we are desperately short of options. Ferguson doesn’t want to be forced into the market this month. I feel its because he has a long-term strategy in place. He must have a big target in mind, maybe Nicolas Gaitan or Luka Modric, but he has to wait until the end of the season.
The injury to Tom Cleverley is a real blow that we have suffered this season. If he was fit then he would be playin in midfield. He worked so hard to get this position and now injury frustrates him. Hopefully when he returns he can stay fit and get a solid run in the team. The future belongs to him in my opinion. Also losing Fletcher is massive, especially in the big games.
I’m surprised we haven’t used Paul Pogba but I feel its because he is leaving. Ferguson must know he has decided to move on, maybe to Inter or AC Milan. He won’t use him or give him any game time knowing he is leaving. Gibson also looks to have burnt his bridges after the boxing day out. He played against Wigan but now can’t get on the bench. He must be leaving in January.
Agree with this ^^^.
No way we could pick up a world class midfielder in January, especially not to play in Europa league. Fergie obviously doesn’t have the confidence in pogba or Morrison yet, so for me scholes is a good stop gap til the summer. If he can play 30 mins a game is good enough for me, his experience is invaluable.
We’re MUST buy some quality midfield in summer though.
I genuinely don’t understand some of the comments on this thread.
For someone who has loved watching SAF’s management of united for as long as I remember watching football, it is obvious to me that the Scholes move benefits Pogba, Morrison and Petrucci the most. The united system rates them very highly but also knows that the days where you could throw in 19 year olds and expect them to perform are gone (even the fledgings had an average age of 21 when they broke into the team). Buying a top class midfielder (as no less would do for united) would kill the growth of these kids, and these kids will be ready to play their bit part role next season.
If they don’t get chances, they are going to leave – e.g. Pique and we cannot afford to lose probably three of the best young midfielders in the game today.
Please rewind 2-3 years and remember how the whole world was talking about united needing not having a top-class striker. Fans wanted to buy everyone including, at one point ‘Dirk Kuyt’. Fergie bought Tevez on a 2 year loan (and in my mind never wanted to extend it). When Tevez left, it was Owen. The only reason for that was to ensure that no-one takes Welbeck’s/ Macheda’s place when they are ready. Welbeck is and Macheda is not ready yet (and may never be).
I would like each person who has commented here to check if they are happy with Welbeck’s performances this season and Chicharito’s performances the last season? If yes, we should acknowledge that we don’t need to buy a top class young (or in their prime) midfielder who will restrict the opportunities for our youth.
The reason why Scholes is back is because he provides exactly that opportunity to SAF. A top quality player who will add to his midfield option to keep the club at the top till the kids are ready to do the job.
I couldn’t agree more. Obviously it’s not ideal to have to “resort” to bringing back Scholes, but he won’t get in the way of the youngsters and will be a huge boost in the dressing room as well!
I don’t think we’ll see him starting many games, but if we’re a goal or two up, who’s better to make sure we hold on to the lead and shut out the opposition? Scholes and Evra made a cock-up against City for one of their goals, but Scholes held the ball in the team well.
Coming late to the party so much of what I had to say has already been said. Won’t stop me piling on anyway…
My initial reaction to Scholes coming out of retirement was fairly negative. He was at one time the greatest English midfielder of his generation, but that was a while ago.
After thinking about it a little more, and totally ignoring the pass completion stats from the derby that are being circulated, I have come round to the view that this will be a positive for the short term but a negative for the long term.
In the short term, Scholes has miles more football intelligence than the CMs he will now be replacing on the bench – Anderson, Gibson, Pogba, Morrison. He will fill a gap until Cleverley returns from injury, and will be a great asset in helping us close out games when ball retention will be critical.
In the long term, I think it sends out a terrible message to players like Anderson, Pogba and Morrison (forget G-Bomb, he’s off as soon as Fergie gets a decent offer for him) because instead of getting valuable match time and maybe learning lessons from negatives like losing the ball, the message they are being sent is pretty clear – you aren’t good enough.
The question is, when will they be good enough. Ando is already in his prime years as a footballer, if he’s not good enough now consistently, why would anyone on the Utd coaching staff, including Fergie, believe he’s suddenly going to make a breakthrough later this season, or next season, or the season after?
Maybe the answer here is that Fergie and his coaches have given up on Ando and will be looking to shift him in the summer. I wouldn’t shed any tears if that was the case.
Pogba and Morrison, maybe the message isn’t quite so bad as it’s been reported in the press that Fergie thinks next season is the season Pogba will break through – assuming he’s still at the club, obviously.
Morrison – God knows, with that talent he should be lighting up the Championship at least, if not the Premier League, but it seems like he can’t keep himself out of the courts.
we won’t sign a midfielder in the summer, it’ll be ‘we want all our signings done before the euros start’ then ‘its hard to sign players while they’re at the euros’ then ‘all the clubs refuse to sell til after the euros so they can put the prices up’ then ‘man utd don’t sign players based on one good international tournament’ then ‘there’s no one out there who can improve us’ then new contract for fletcher
LOL
I’d LOL too but its all so fucking true it’s making me suicidal.
you seem to be forgetting the 30mill we spent on berba, and the 10 on hernandez and bebe (who i was led to believe was a striker). and we also bought diouf as a promising youngster.
not to mention the fact that tevez left 2 yrs ago, and we are only now seeing welbeck in the side.
there is no method to fergie’s madness. you cant try and justify scholes’s signing as a “boost” to the young kids cause they dont have to worry about him next season. the old united mantra has always been, if your good enough your old enough. but it seems the only way to be considered good enough is to be playing regularly for another side, cause fergie just wont play his kids straight from the youth team anymore. so he should either loan them out or sell them.
and dont bring up the pique arugment. we lost pique cuase we never fucking played him. instead of bringing him on, fergie would turn to wes brown or o’shea, his trusty lieutenants. they might be dependable, like scholes of today, but these arnt players who are going to cut the mustard at the very highest level.
i’d much rather see a young kid make a mistake and we lose a game, then play a bunch of average journeyman (park etc) and lose.
and i agree with unc. i expect to see all those comments between may to august. this is depressing as fuck
LOL
According to this article, United will try and sell Ravel Morrison this month:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/9008040/Newcastle-United-chasing-wonder-kid-Ravel-Morrison-after-Manchester-United-put-him-up-for-sale.html
United to sell Morrison after contract talks stall:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2085045/Ravel-Morrison-set-leave-Manchester-United.html?
Everton want Gibson, Morrison on his way out and City eye Pogba move:
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/transfer-news/Manchester-United-transfer-gossip-Darren-Gibson-is-Everton-target-Paul-Pogba-linked-with-Manchester-City-article852111.html
That Pogba to City story sounds silly to me… he’s only 18 ffs… bit early to start moaning about lack of first team chances… and even if true… what chance does he have of breaking into Citys starting 11??? And if he’s not ready for our rubbish midfield yet… what other top European club is going to give him first team action?
Dumb!!! The kid is getting bad advice…
Morrison is a different matter… if he really wants to go… then he can fuck off… pissy little cunt’s been nowt but trouble, and now he’s getting restless???… I know the story says United are the ones looking to sell… but if he really wanted to stay, he’d sort himself out and United would surely prefer to keep him.
Gibson???… pfft…
“Badges, to god-damned hell with badges! We have no badges. In fact, we don’t need badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges, you god-damned cabrón and ching’ tu madre! Come out from that shit-hole of yours. I have to speak to you.”