The Pass Master Paul Scholes
Paul Scholes
Season 17 could not have started much better for Paul Scholes.
Here was a player who had predicted his own retirement last summer turning in back-to-back man-of-the-match performances in his first two games, wins over Chelsea in the Community Shield and Newcastle in the Premier League.
No other player made more passes on the opening weekend (104) – that’s the thing about Scholes, he plays in partnership with every other Manchester United player.
Sir Alex Ferguson has taken something of a risk on Scholes this season. Many Manchester United supporters wanted to see the club sign a passing midfielder of elite class this summer – a Luka Modric, a Wesley Sniejder, a Mesut Özil – but Ferguson has placed his faith in Scholes being able to consistently deliver in his deep-lying playmaker’s role, relying on his immaculate range of passes, from the edge-of-the-box sand wedge to the cross field five-wood.
Scholes is 36 in November and two years ago, having suffered knee injuries after recovering from an eye problem that had forced him out of football for six months, it appeared the gifts of this footballers’ footballer (it means something when Zinedine Zidane is one of your biggest fans) was on the wane.
He even said that last season would “probably be my last”. Yet having moved into a deeper position, and regained consistent fitness, Scholes was revivified. No Premier League player had a better pass-completion ratio last term.
“He must be backing some winners!” said Ferguson on Scholes’ new-season freshness. “You can’t see any deterioration in him can you? I can’t. I can’t see any. The benefit he’s had is that he hasn’t had any long-term injuries in the last couple of years, he’s done well.
He normally gets an injury and has had plenty down the years which have kept him out three or four months but his fitness was great last year and as the season went on he got better and better.
He’s taken up the mantle again this pre season. He’s not missed a training session, him nor Ryan Giggs – they’ve almost done 40 season training sessions so far since coming back.”
It was his failure to play more than a game “every two or three weeks” that had begun to sap Scholes’ morale. He wasn’t able to keep playing the way he was used to, arriving late into the box to score.
With the energetic Darren Fletcher by his side, though, Scholes has learnt to let go of that urge to scurry from box to box. This is Scholes’ late style, an approach similar to that of Milan’s Andrea Pirlo.
It would be too easy to buy into the Scholes stereotype and suggest this evolution in his game is down to his off-field humility.
If anything, Scholes has always been an impulsive performer on the pitch, especially in his tackling (Arsène Wenger Vader-ishly called it his “dark side”), so the imposition of tactical self-discipline suggests Scholes is working more cerebrally and less instinctively.
That would certainly tally with his coaching studies and his professed ambition to become a manager.
Scholes was raised on the Langley council estate in Middleton, which Ken Loach used as the backdrop to his 1993 film Raining Stones.
That was the year Scholes turned professional with Manchester United, the club he had supported as a boy (his father used to take him to watch Oldham). Brian Kidd, also from Middleton, had spotted Scholes and said that “he had never seen a kid with a better football brain”.
While still at school (the same one as Steve Coogan incidentally) he wanted to emulate Bryan Robson and Mark Hughes. Within a few years he was pushing them out of the United team. Hughes, who manages United’s opponents Fulham on Sunday, remembers that his ability was immediately evident.
“Could we tell his qualities then?” he said. “Yes very much so, I think he hastened my exit to be perfectly honest. Paul and Ryan [Giggs] were the future and I was the past. Sir Alex was always very good – and still is – at making key decisions at the right time, and he got that one right.” Ferguson clearly does not believe the time has come for Scholes.
Despite his strong performances in the opening games though, it will be interesting to see how carefully the United manager uses Scholes when the Champions League group stages start and the workload increases. Also Scholes can be bypassed against quick-passing opponents and that central midfield lacks balance if Fletcher is not there beside him.
There is no apparent heir to Scholes at Old Trafford – Ferguson went so far as to say it was “probably impossible” to replace him. Michael Carrick has the range of passing but lacks Scholes’ mental toughness.
Anderson, who was envisioned as the long-term replacement, lacks both.
However challenging, it is not a problem that can be endlessly deferred. Scholes’ new contract lasts for this season. He would play on for season 18 if he felt Ferguson needed him but by then there must surely be a player signed who can first share the creative responsibilities before taking over, leaving Scholes to spend some time on the cricket pitch he misses so much.
Until then, Scholes will keep circulating the ball, probing for space and prompting his team-mates. He will be doing that against Fulham on Sunday, just as he has done so many times for United before. In fact 645 times.
Courtesy of The Telegraph
The Best Of Ryan Giggs
Ryan Giggs
Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs has spoken about his changing relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson, from trying to avoid him as a youngster to now being sought for advice.
Giggs is quoted in The Sun saying,”My relationship with him is different.
“When I first met him, I was 13. For the next 10 years you try to keep out of the way.
“That’s particularly the case when you’ve had a bad game.
“But he asks your advice more now than when you were a younger player.
“You have that experience, you’re in the changing room day in, day out.”
Giggs holds the all-time record for the most appearances for Manchester United and is beginning his twenty first season at Old Trafford. By getting on the scoresheet against Newcastle United on Sunday, Giggs ensured he has scored in every one of those campaigns.
Giggs also revealed that Sir Alex is as hungry as ever for success at Manchester United , commenting,
“Don’t go thinking the desire and the hunger are no longer there.
“He still wants to win and still hates losing.”
While we are down memory lane, we thought we would take a look at the best of Ryan Giggs.
Courtesy of The Bleacher Report
Ferguson Fears Kamikaze Spending In Clubs
Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United.
The Manchester United manager, who officially unveiled summer recruits Javier Hernández, Chris Smalling and Bébé – acquired for a total of £24.4 million, was careful not to identify by name those clubs he believes have drained the transfer market of value.
But with Manchester City due to take their summer spending close to the £130 million mark on Wednesday by completing the £24 million signing of Aston Villa midfielder James Milner, the Abu Dhabi-funded acquisition strategy at Eastlands would appear to be the prime focus of Ferguson’s remarks.
With United and Chelsea each having spent just under £25 million, City have far outstripped their rivals. Almost £350 million has been spent at Eastlands since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan acquired the club in 2008.
And while City manager Roberto Mancini has lavished £28 million on Yaya Toure and £24 million on David Silva, Ferguson has opted instead to shop at the lower end of the market, concentrating on youthful promise.
The Scot admits, however, that the mammoth spending elsewhere is unlikely to cease in the near future. He said: “It doesn’t seem to abate, that is for sure. Over the last two or three years we have seen very wealthy owners become part of football clubs and therefore go on this kamikaze effort to spend their money.
“It is amazing the amounts of money that are being bandied about in the present day game. You may think it could be dangerous, but you think they have that kind of money and, if they have it, they are certainly using it. I don’t see it abating.
“I think the kind of spending we are seeing at the moment will be here for two or three years, until such time as they understand you can’t necessarily achieve all the time by spending.”
United have stood by as their European rivals have battled to secure the services of the likes of David Villa and Mesut Özil this summer, prompting claims from supporters that the club’s £716.5 million debt has led to spending restrictions being imposed by United’s owners, the Glazer family.
Ferguson insists United remain capable of competing at the top end of the market, despite his belief that there is little value there. “We could have bought one or two players for a lot of money in the summer, but I didn’t necessarily see that they were going to make the difference that makes us really so much better.
“Take away the money, the issue is that the actual players we looked at maybe would not have done what [Eric] Cantona did for us, for instance, or [Wayne] Rooney or [Cristiano] Ronaldo. That is what I am talking about – to make that quantum leap to another level.
“There will be a time when we have to buy a more mature player, but at the moment it is a young player’s club. Those young players will grow old too, though, and in 10 years’ time, we will be looking to replace them.
“But hopefully they will be there in 10 years’ time – that is the object of having a long-term vision for the club.
“Having young players does introduce a loyalty and a spirit that will serve us well. You see that with Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville.
“Young players develop if you are looking after them properly. How we treat players is important. Maybe the difference is that other clubs don’t have the consistency in manager and staff that Manchester United has.”
Ferguson refused to rule out spending more before the Aug 31 transfer deadline, but said that the quality already within his squad dictates recruitment. “When I take away all the young players, I have that squad of experienced players. That is a good bit of experience for me to rely on. They are my back up.”
Courtesy of The Telegraph
HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you think clubs are spending too much?
Kick In The Face – And Score!!
New Manchester United striker wasted no time endearing himself to the club’s fans – netting in the 3-1 win against Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday.
Sir Alex Ferguson has already indicated that the Mexican could be his new Ole Gunnar Solksjear – popping up in the most unlikeliest of places and scoring the most crucial of goals.
Not that his strike against Chelsea was a classic – completely mistiming a volley and kicking the ball into his face before it hit the back of the net.
But as the say in cricket … look in the scorebook: Goal – Hernandez!
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- Man United Beats Chelsea in Community Shield (nytimes.com)
Man U’s Anderson Dragged Clear of Burning Car
Manchester United player, Anderson.
The Manchester United midfielder Anderson was dragged unconscious from the burning wreckage of his car after a crash yesterday morning that is now the centre of a police investigation in Portugal.
Anderson, signed for £18m three years ago, spent several hours in hospital after the accident on a rural road in the Geres area of Braga, with witnesses reporting he owed his life to being pulled “lifeless” from the vehicle shortly before it exploded.
According to local reports, the 22-year-old Anderson, increasingly becoming renowned for his partying lifestyle, had spent the night at the Sardinha Biba nightclub before leaving in a £125,000 Audi R8. The crash occurred at 7am when the high-powered car came off the road and hit the wall of a farm before flying into a field.
Although the French-registered car was a two-seater, Anderson had two companions – a friend, whose name was given only as Victor, and a young Brazilian woman, whose details have not been released. It is unclear who was driving but there were unconfirmed allegations it could lead to a drink-driving charge and a possible offence of allegedly having excess passengers.
Manchester United were unavailable for comment tonight.
All three were taken to St Mark’s hospital but discharged by late morning after being treated for concussion, whiplash and shock. “They had only minor injuries,” a hospital spokesman, Roman Fresco, said. The woman is understood to have needed the most treatment.
The Portuguese press quoted the Gestifute agency, which represents Anderson, as saying the former Porto player had suffered an “almighty scare” but would be returning to Manchester to continue his rehabilitation. Anderson ruptured the cruciate ligament in his left knee in February, an injury that ended hopes of him participating in the World Cup, and he is not expected to be fit until next month at the earliest.
Whether Sir Alex Ferguson knows about the Brazilian’s accident is unclear, but the United manager will inevitably be concerned that, at the very least, one of his players had spent the entire night at a nightclub, particularly when Anderson is recovering from a serious knee injury.
Ferguson’s relationship with the player, signed from Porto in 2007, became strained last season and Anderson was reputedly fined two weeks’ wages in January for returning to Brazil without the club’s permission after an argument with the manager.
Anderson, who has scored only once during his time at Old Trafford, had been singled out for criticism and dropped from the next match, following United’s 2-1 defeat in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester City.
He was subsequently omitted for a month and it was in his comeback match, against West Ham United, that he damaged his knee.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Anderson’s close friend and former United team-mate, wrote off a £200,000 Ferrari when he crashed into a roadside barrier in a tunnel near Manchester airport in January 2009. He was not injured and police decided not to prosecute the Portugal international.
Courtesy of The Guardian
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