whilst it was wonderful to see Scholes back in a red shirt it seems to me that this whole situation tells me more about the state of our club than anything else,why wont we go out and buy the new midfielder that we so obviously need?
Paul Scholes | 2011/12 Performances
- Thread starter Nate Dogg
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I think it's a great decision to have Scholesy back. He wont start many games for us obviously, but it's still a great addition to our midfield. Anderson just got back from injury and will need games. Cleverley and Fletcher are injured. We only had Carrick and Giggsy as our only 'fit' midfielders. But Giggsy will need resting througout the season. And Jones cant play in DM for too long.
Personally, I am ecstatic.
Personally, I am ecstatic.
He's the perfect tool to just control a game when we're in the lead. I REALLY don't want to see him start as much as it hurts me to say so.
He's probably still the best passer of the ball at our club, I'm perfectly happy with him starting if we have some runners in midfield alongside him.
I think he deserved to be called back regardless of the state of our midfield...
This is what being a legend actually means. He clearly felt, and made it feel like he wants to play again. From then on you have to accept that
This is what being a legend actually means. He clearly felt, and made it feel like he wants to play again. From then on you have to accept that
Scholse is back
Who do you suggest? Is he available?
I think its brilliant he is back, I love Paul Scholes the football player, he is probably my favorite player of all time but it really does reflect the state of our transfer policy where it comes to midfield. We have to call back a club legend to solve a problem that should have been fixed in the summer, infact a few summers ago. I still think he can do a job for us but its going to take a few weeks maybe even month before he's fully match fit. Still at least we get to see a little bit more of one of the clubs greatest ever legends and one of the greatest footballers of all time.
He kept it simple, it really was an amazing moment seeing him come on. Magical.
He's a good stop gap to get us to the summer when hopefully we can find that 'right' player or somebody within steps up.
As a youngster I'm not sure what I'd be thinking but definitely using my time with him in training to my advantage.
He's a good stop gap to get us to the summer when hopefully we can find that 'right' player or somebody within steps up.
As a youngster I'm not sure what I'd be thinking but definitely using my time with him in training to my advantage.
i have no idea who,i'm not a scout for the club or the manager but surely there must be a better option than bringing a 37 year old out of retirement? yes,scholes is/was an amazing player but this situation can only be because the fergie has no money to spend as the "is he available" line has never really stopped us in the past.
It's not really about the clubs transfer policy. We're light on numbers in midfield due to injuries, we're light on defenders due to injuries, we've got jones who can play midfield but because of injuries to the defence is needed there and we've been presented with the option to bring back a player who the fans love, is hugely experienced and hugely talented. He doesn't have the legs we know that but he's no here to start games, well at least not often. He's here to be an option when we want to see games out and if we suffer another crisis. He won't complain if he doesn't play often and he probably doesn't want a whole lot of money. Easy decision to bring him back for me.
I think signing a midfielder this summer was very much on the cards. Sneijder and Nasri at some points were close to being done. For whatever reason it didn't work out.
As far as Jan goes, don't see who we could sign who would be available.
you make a fair point,but even with a fully fit midfield most agree that we still need someone else,this scholes thing doesn't move the club forward.
We'd either get hammered or Scholes would get sent off with a more aggresive team. People seem to think he's still the player he was in his pomp.
It almost cost us the game. We were hanging on against 10 men. 10!
Yeah but no one is suggesting that we're not still looking to bring someone in eventually. I was personally hoping we signed someone with experience this window and whilst I'd still like a defender this works for me in midfield for now. I don't think we need a midfielder to win the league what we need is some fit options to boost the numbers, especially with all the injuries and scholes can help with that.
Midfield 3 as a deep lying playmaker and I think he can still do job, legs are gone though most definitely.
If we'd bought like we should have in the summer we would be looking forward to more champions league football, it was a stupid error on our part probably caused by the Glazers. It was simple at the end of last season we needed a goal keeper and central midfielder. With the sale of Brown and O'Shea obviously it made room for Jones to come in and we addressed the goal keeper but didn't address the major issue. I agree to an extend in that Scholes is the best option now, to find a player in jan is almost impossible but with all that time in the summer we shouldn't even need to be looking to do this.
If we'd had had more fit players this season we probably would have had champions league football to look forward to as well. A lack of signing a midfielder hasn't cost us that, injuries have.
didnt have the usual snap in his passing but that'll come back as he steps up the intensity in trainnig, he still showed enough to prove he can do a job for us this season.
he's only ever gonna get 15-20 mins here and there maybe 45 max but that could be invaluable when it comes to protecting or resting the first choicers, especially given that were light on numbers in centre midfield
i'll never be sad to see paul scholes in a utd shirt
he's only ever gonna get 15-20 mins here and there maybe 45 max but that could be invaluable when it comes to protecting or resting the first choicers, especially given that were light on numbers in centre midfield
i'll never be sad to see paul scholes in a utd shirt
What central midfielders are actually injured, though? Cleverley is out, yeah - bit his injury record so far is slightly worrying. The club knew about Fletcher's condition in the summer, so he was always a big risk. So it's basically only Cleverley who's actually injured. The current situation has everything to do with our transfer policy.
Well now we might have a few back now but we've gone long parts of the season with few midfielders fit. Even now Anderson is having to be eased back in to it. The club may have known about Fletcher but they must also have thought he was past it especially in light of the fact that he's been carrying it for around 4 years now. So we've been going through most of the season with most our midfielders injured at various parts not to mention defenders. We've seen over the last few games how much difference it makes between having fit players in their real positions to rushing players back or putting makeshift teams out.
I think the only mistake was bringing him on with half an hour to go. It's was Fergie's only mistake all day - 10 mins would have been fine.
That said, I really noticed the team's camaraderie as they scrambled to get the ball back the few times he lost it. They were desperate not to let the script get ripped up and sour the day by letting his mistakes cost us.
It gave the team a focus, bizarrely, and the strength to rally at a point in the game when we looked in real trouble.
I think we've got the best of both worlds - not only is Paul Scholes back, he'll be happy to sit on the bench too, something he was reluctant to do before and led to him retiring.
Don't see the downside myself - will be better than Park/Rafael in cm and will see limited action, without complaining.
Ando's on his way back now, yeah. But his injury record (like Cleverley) isn't the greatest either, so it's not totally unexpected that he'd get injured at some point.
My point is that most of the central midfielders we actually have can't be expected to play 30-40 games in a season (based on previous seasons). In fact Carrick is the only one who we can genuinely expect to play week in week out. I don't think that's good enough to be honest.
Well as I said I'm sure the club hadn't factored in Fletchers illness as otherwise he's usually a very fit player. You're right that the likes of Clev and Ando are generally not players who play every game but at the same time they've both suffered a lot more injuries then you'd expect and at the same time too. Giggs has had his knocks too. We've seen how Jones has done in the middle and I'm sure Fergie considered him an extra otpion too but again injuries, this time in the defence have prevented that from being a regular option.
An extra midfielder would have helped no doubt but the biggest problem has been the injuries, particularily to the defence and midfield. They've been far more exensive then you could factor in for and far too focussed in one area.
I think a lot of you are over analyzing it.
We weren overrun or outplayed. He came back, didnt train. Played well. Helped keep the ball in the last 10.
I expected City to throw everything at us at the end. We kept the ball pretty well.
The defensive lapses have been a probelem all season and needs to be addressed. Scholes had 1 little miscontrol near the byline. It wasnt THAT bad.
Legend. Back to help us out temporarily. Enjoy it while it lasts.
We weren overrun or outplayed. He came back, didnt train. Played well. Helped keep the ball in the last 10.
I expected City to throw everything at us at the end. We kept the ball pretty well.
The defensive lapses have been a probelem all season and needs to be addressed. Scholes had 1 little miscontrol near the byline. It wasnt THAT bad.
Legend. Back to help us out temporarily. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Not entirely sure how we could've predicted Cleverley's injuries - he's had what, a broken leg prior to this? Can't remember his time at Wigan that well but he certainly wasn't plagued by them there either.
Bang on.
Bang on.
He was relatively in and out at Wigan
Loved the way he effortlessly passed the ball around...you can see why he's worshipped by Xavi, Iniesta and co. It's a shame we prefer pace, power and determination in this country because he should've been the template.
Just happy to see him back on a pitch again. That's all.
I think once Scholes gets match fit then he will be an invaluable diamond for us in our attempt to wrestle the Title from City who are in the driving seat right now
So Cleverley return delayed a few more weeks then? Seems like its a short term solution due to our midfield problems.
Was great to see the man on the pitch again and even better seeing him get cheered on his touches.
All it proves is we are skint
Fletcher hasn't really been fit for almost a year now though. I'm sure the club was hoping that he'd make a return, but given that he missed our pre-season there must've been doubt.
The timing of Cleverley and Anderson's injuries have of course been very unlucky, as have the fact that Cleverley missed so much of the season due to different injuries. But even if all our central midfielders (not counting Fletcher) managed to stay fit I'd argue we need another. If Fletcher were in fact fit we would probably just have enough.
When did he break his leg? I don't remember that and a google search hasn't helped me.
It seems like my memory has been playing a small trick on me though. I just looked it up and Cleverley played 25 games for Wigan last season. I thought it was less. I'm pretty sure he missed games due to various injuries though, but those might just have been knocks I guess which isn't that big a deal and certainly not unexpected when dealing with a young player. I thought he missed more games than he did, but seeing that he still managed to play that many games I was obviously wrong. Worth mentioning that he also played 33 matches when on loan at Watford the season before last, which makes my previous statement look even more stupid.
Let me just make it clear, that I don't think that the idea of bringing Scholes back is a bad idea. I have no doubt that he can be a very good backup for us in the next months. My only problem with it is that it's very short-sighted and it makes me wonder what the long-term plan is, and why we didn't act during the summer
Scholes hasn't played since May and yet barring a couple of silly errors caused by lack of match sharpness, demonstrated a creativity sadly lacking from our other central players (except Cleverly perhaps)
He is obviously, in SAF's opinion, better (value plus skill) than anything available in the transfer market and he's probably correct.
Just watching today how he wanted the ball all the time brought a smile to my face. He made himself available right across the pitch and always looked to move the ball forward or switch it from side to side in a heartbeat. The man is a living legend and will help up us immensely until we get some more players back and fit.
I'd love to see Scholes and Jones in the middle with Smalling and Rio at the back. Evra will still do a job for us at LB and we are going to need to trust in whichever twin is fit at any time at RB.
With a little luck IMO the league and cup double is still a good possibility!
C'mon you reds!
He is obviously, in SAF's opinion, better (value plus skill) than anything available in the transfer market and he's probably correct.
Just watching today how he wanted the ball all the time brought a smile to my face. He made himself available right across the pitch and always looked to move the ball forward or switch it from side to side in a heartbeat. The man is a living legend and will help up us immensely until we get some more players back and fit.
I'd love to see Scholes and Jones in the middle with Smalling and Rio at the back. Evra will still do a job for us at LB and we are going to need to trust in whichever twin is fit at any time at RB.
With a little luck IMO the league and cup double is still a good possibility!
C'mon you reds!
I think if they were fit or even the majority of them we'd have more than enough. We're only three points off and that's with all these injuries, had we had more players fit we would have been able to put out stronger teams and I'd expect us to have a fair few more points. Another midfielder, particluarly a top class one would have helped off course but I don't think we need one to win the league, what we have if fit would and might still be enough. To be honest if we had just had Vidic fit we'd probably be top.
You're right actually, wasn't a leg break, was a knee ligament one (at Watford, happened towards the end of his season there), which are a bit more tricky.
And in fairness he actually played less for Wigan than I remembered and was out for a while for them before Christmas too it seems.
I don't think our views on it are that different in general, I think we need more in midfield too and at the very least Anderson and Fletcher have been dodgy on the injury front, Gibson isn't really in anyone's thoughts at the moment and Carrick has been historically inconsistent (doing well at the moment though).
I think the best thing with Scholes playing is freeing up time and space for Carrick & Rooney especially. I do wonder how many games he will play though.
What's the only major winners medal Scholesy hasn't got in his collection?
United playing in the Europa League for the first time since the early 90's
Coincidence? I think not
United playing in the Europa League for the first time since the early 90's
Coincidence? I think not
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