I, like many other people thought that it was all just newspaper talk. A seemingly insane story just designed to sell copies. Whether Manchester United’s injury crisis is that bad, or Sir Alex spoke to him and said “I need you” or the man himself couldn’t sit back and watch his club in their current slump, nobody is to sure but what we do know is that Paul Scholes is back.
Having turned 37 recently many of the Old Trafford faithful must of thought his name on the bench against Manchester City in the 3rd round of the FA Cup was an early April Fools joke. Anyone who turned their TV on after 60 minutes of the match will have been amazed to see the midfield maestro back.
Yes I know he has a little rustiness which gifted City their second goal and there were admittedly a few stray balls. But despite all this it was great seeing the man back doing what he does best. Setting up attacks and creating an air of anticipation whenever the ball came to him 20-25 yards from goal.
If he is to be Sir Alex Ferguson’s one signing in this window then it will still be a smart move. Seeing him in action you wonder why he didn’t carry on for the whole of this season. We are all aware that injuries to Cleverley, Fletcher and Anderson have left United short in midfield but just having Scholes presence seemed to lift the team. He may not start many matches or indeed play many 90 minutes but that was the case before hand. It’s what he gives the team when he is on the pitch that has United fans buzzing again.
The injury crisis that has plagued their early season appears to be lessening. They have Smalling, Jones, Ferdinand and Evra all playing well at the moment. Up front Rooney is back in the goals and Welbeck seems to be in good spirits again. Berbatov was the top scorer over the Christmas period with 6 goals.
It is the midfield areas that the problems really lie. United are blessed for choice in the wings with Valencia, Nani and Young but Carrick aside and the returning Anderson the options were looking bleak for United in centre midfield. Certainly there never was going to be any offers for Wesley Sneijder in this transfer window and Fergie was quick to rubbish rumours linking Frank Lampard to Old Trafford. Lampard is after all the man who England tried to accomodate and in doing so forced Scholes to call a premature end to his International career. A centre midfield pairing of Gerrard and Scholes made sense yet England insisted on pursuing with Lampard.
Well Scholes is back for the rest of this season and although he won’t feature in any international matches, if his comeback is successful then I don’t see why another season isn’t out of the question. Similar to when Zidane bowed out of football on a cloud during the World Cup final, Scholes will be niggled his last hooray was in defeat to Barcelona in last seasons Champions League final. He blends well with the youthful players and is calm and assured that the elder statesman know what to expect from him.
I don’t know what the odds on Scholes adding to his tally of United goals was at the beginning of the season but those odds must be tumbling now. Who wouldn’t bet on a Europa League final with Scholes scoring the winning goal. In fact that doesn’t sound a bad idea at all.
Written by Wesley Hillier @armchairstato.blogspot.com
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