Last season, United won the premiership in imperious fashion with Ronaldo and company surprising everyone to topple Chelsea and become champions. Scholes, Giggs, and Gary Neville played important roles in that triumph.
Scholes rolled back the years to remind the Old Trafford faithful of the treble season with splendid goals of the season contenders like the one against Aston Villa.
Giggs played a more central role; supporting the attacking trio of Rooney, Ronaldo, and Saha incredibly well.
Fast forward to this season and the arrival of Nani and Anderson; things are not looking good for the old brooms. In recent games, every time United started with Giggs and Scholes, they have either drawn or lost. (With the exception of Portsmouth at Old Trafford in the league.)
They seem to slow down United’s play. One would think they are well suited for the champion’s league, but against Lyon at Stade Gerland, it was no different until Fergie made the decision to withdraw both and replace them with Tevez and Nani.
Against Manchester City at Old Trafford, had Fergie made that bold decision and withdrawn Scholes and Giggs instead of Nani and Anderson, I have a feeling United would have secured at least a draw.
Against Spurs, at White Hart Lane, he withdrew both of them and United attacked Spurs into submission for that late Tevez equalizer. All the signs are clear: Scholes and Giggs should give way for more youthful players in the starting line up.
Many a United fan got worried when Scholes had surgery and was to be out for three months. But little did they know it was to be a blessing in disguise—we saw the emergence of the eccentric Anderson and Carrick also stepped up his game to match his debut season displays. In that period, United won all that was before them with the exception of Bolton at the Reebok.
But when Scholes returned to the first team set up, he was quickly drafted into the starting 11 and United started struggling. (As so evidenced against Spurs, Manchester City and Lyon.)
In between those games, there was the mauling of Arsenal, a game dominated by Anderson and the skillful Nani, which Scholes came on as a substitute and Giggs was only a spectator.
The question is: Should Scholes and Giggs be restricted to the last 20 minutes of a game to apply their experience?
I think so, the time has come for Fergie to realize that Anderson is and will be important in United’s system of play and that Nani should be given more playing time to learn his trade.
So for Giggs, Scholes, Gary Neville, and “Sick note” Saha, I feel the time has come for them to grace the bench and give way to more youthful and enterprising players.
There is also the question of whether, after a full season of in activity, Gary Neville is still essential to the United set up as both player and captain? Maybe not, considering his age.
I think Fergie should think about appointing a new permanent captain—preferably Ferdinand or Vidic. And with the problem of Brown’s contract, a new right back is essential in the summer; but he should spare a thought for young Danny Simpson, the early signs are impressive, and he could become a very good player for the club.
22 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Chirag Kanabar about 1 year ago
great article.... but at times i beg to differ... in the last game against Portsmouth, myself along with many a men would've preferred to see giggs instead of nani and i somehow get the feeling that he would've been much more influential! the key word to the experience of the old ones is influence... if nani is dribbling too much who's going to tell him onfield to stop? ronaldo? he does it himself! Giggs is, Scholes is, Ferdinand is... they the players that provide a key balance... against Lyon - i agree with u 110% nani should've been given the game - cause he was pretty much on a great run of form... but he's still young and it showed on Saturday. I think next season would be the season that these guys would pretty much be out of the team - this season - i think Giggs and Scholesy still have a huge part to play... they're legends... the rest of the team look upto them... dont be too hard on them!
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Yahya Risas about 1 year ago
No doubt, Scholes and Giggs are Legends.
But i feel both of them shouldnt be on the pitch at the same time. Let one of them start to offer leadership to United's young Lad's.
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Andrew McNair about 1 year ago
If Gary Neville can return to fitness then he must remain captain. He is the best leader at the club and I'm sure is doing a great job beind the scenes.
If he can't get back though, then yes it's time for a new permanent captain. We shall see next season.
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Yahya Risas about 1 year ago
At 33, do you think Gary Neville still has it with in him to recover and compete favourably?
I actually dont think his going to play a part this season, because each game now is like a cup final, unless brown gets injured.
It seems fergy is looking for a right back in the summer. if say united sign rafinha or Bosingwa, what chances does Neville have of still being first choice. and being a captain from the subs bench, thats akward.
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Andrew McNair about 1 year ago
I have my doubts especially as we haven't seen him in about a year now. He is though, a quality player and if he gets back, I'm sure he will prove himself worthy.
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Ziad Achkar about 1 year ago
I Liked The Article, But I Dont Believe You Can Write Off Scholes And Giggs, They have great and talent, they know the game and they have experience, Yes Anderson,Nani have been great this season, but its only because they play and train with great players like Giggs And Scholes, But Yes I Have To Agree, Probably It Is Time To See Some Rotation In The Formation, I Believe That Our Best Center Midfield Is Anderson And Carrick.
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Yahya Risas about 1 year ago
i also do believe creatively united's best midfield partnership is carrick and anderson.
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Matt S about 1 year ago
Great article even if I slightly disagree with you on some points. If anything it shows that United have great strength in depth in the centre midfield position, with the choice between Scholes, Hargreaves, Fletcher, Carrick and Anderson. The only problem I see here is a lack of firepower, a lack of goals. I think they have 5 goals between them all season which isn’t good enough and they need to chip in a bit more so that the reliance isn’t so much on the front trio. This showed on Saturday in the FA Cup when Portsmouth showed that if you defend deep and tightly mark the front guys then there isn’t a lot of goal threat coming from central midfield.
Giggs is injured at the moment and wasn’t rushed back for the FA Cup which suggests that Fergie is more than happy with Nani’s recent blistering form. However, he wasn’t great against Lyon at Old Trafford, nor against Portsmouth. Consistency is the key word here and at this age Fergie knows that he isn’t going to be great every game so won’t play him every time as he will be too hit-and-miss.
I think that Scholes is the best passer of the ball at the club and gives the team another dimension, and that Giggs still offers better overall consistency and quality than Nani at the moment. However, they are both obviously getting older and can’t play as well as often as they used to which is why Anderson and Nani were purchased in the summer. I don’t think Fergie expected them to fit in so well so quickly and now has a choice of whether to trust them or not in the real big games. Do you think Fergie would play both ahead of Scholes and Giggs in the Nou Camp if we had to play there?
You also make a great point about Neville. I agree that we won’t see him this year, as you say the games are too important to risk playing someone who is not fully match-fit. I still think he is one of the world’s best right backs and we really miss him as Brown does not offer much going forward and his distribution is pretty poor and limited. I think Neville will stay as captain for another 2-3 seasons as Fergie trusts him, and then by then he, Giggs, Scholes will all retire and we will have a new era with a new captain.
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Yahya Risas about 1 year ago
i dont know about playing Nani in Big games, But Anderson has already played against Arsenal and
Liverpool where he dominated Fabregas and Gerard in the midfield. Why not trust him? He's a good
ball winner, passer and has excellent movement.
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Yahya Risas about 1 year ago
i dont know about playing Nani in Big games, But Anderson has already played against Arsenal and
Liverpool where he dominated Fabregas and Gerard in the midfield. Why not trust him? He's a good
ball winner, passer and has excellent movement.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Anderson in my opinion already proven that he should be in the starting 11, Nani has shown alot of potential and has perhaps been better than Giggs this season. Gary Neville was a very good player but i feel brown has done just as good a job, if Brown leaves i would like to see Dani Alves come in. Saha isn't fit anywhere near as often as we need him, i feel he's a good player but he's had enough time at united and should be looking for a fresh start at a new club in the summer. Ideally he would be replaced by Huntelaar from Ajax, he's a prolific goalscorer and i think he would very quickly adapt to our type of play. He already has 26 goals in 26 league games this season and he could still improve. I'd like to see some of our younger players such as Simpson, Pique, Evans and Fraizer Campbell get alittle more 1st team action, just a shame we sold Rossi to Villareal, i think he would have played alot of football for us this season.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Anderson in my opinion already proven that he should be in the starting 11, Nani has shown alot of potential and has perhaps been better than Giggs this season. Gary Neville was a very good player but i feel brown has done just as good a job, if Brown leaves i would like to see Dani Alves come in. Saha isn't fit anywhere near as often as we need him, i feel he's a good player but he's had enough time at united and should be looking for a fresh start at a new club in the summer. Ideally he would be replaced by Huntelaar from Ajax, he's a prolific goalscorer and i think he would very quickly adapt to our type of play. He already has 26 goals in 26 league games this season and he could still improve. I'd like to see some of our younger players such as Simpson, Pique, Evans and Fraizer Campbell get alittle more 1st team action, just a shame we sold Rossi to Villareal, i think he would have played alot of football for us this season.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
I agree its time for youth to take over.
Sir Alex should resign after this season. He's clearly at the end of his tenure now, and should hand the reigns over to someone else. He's gonna choke on that wad of cumgum in his mouth one of these days, and lay stroke-ridden at the touchline, convulsing and spewing foamy bits all over the assistant referee.
And no one wants to see that.
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.Not unless it was live.
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Bhavik Kshatriya about 1 year ago
great stuff man!.. i have to agree to the fact that the youngsters should be given more time to play! and next season will definitely be the right time! as for giggs and scholes they should be allowed to play limited games and should not start together! it slows down United. However, whats also important is that carrick with the form he is in he should be preferred over scholes! strictly because he is playing much better football then the Legend. Giggsy has his moments, in the beginning of the season he was sensational, and same with Nani, but Giggs form dropped and Nani has still got lots to learn but what it will allow United to do is attack with full pace! So comprising Giggs for Nani at in crucial games is a gamble i'm willing to take cause you know that Ronaldo will be man-marked! so you need someone like him to hurt the defence! and it will be Nani!
The Trio of Carrick, Anderson and Fletcher in midfield has done so well for us that i actually think this is the best combination of creativity, flair and box-to-box! with Ronaldo and Nani wide and Rooney upfront!. I can see the defence trembling! Tevez coming off the bench with Giggs and Scholes on the bench to provide support in case we are one-down or leading by one goal and need to keep the lead!.. Tevez for me is a player who is much more influential off the bench! because he knows he has to get a goal for us or, he knows that if he scores he'll get his chance to start! but because of our striker dilemma, it is not allowing Fergie freedom to rotate his strikers!
At the Moment my preferred 11 would be:
Van der sar, brown, rio, vidic, evra, carrick, anderson, hargreaves, ronaldo, nani, rooney
subs: Kuszczak, O'shea, giggs, scholes (fletcher), tevez
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Scholes, Neville & Giggs are still the best in their positions for man utd
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Nice article and pretty much agree with you.
Problem is Fergie doesn't. As he watches them all train week in week out you would think he, more than any of us would be in the best position to pick a starting 11.
It would seem that many disagree with his choices and that begs the question is he doing his job right or is it time to move on?
I personally think he is great at just about everything, but would like to see a decent manager (Moriniho anyone) bought in now to gradually take over and offer their opinions on team selection.
Give them a couple of years at this and they will be ready to take the reins when Fergie finally lays down his hat. Quieroz isn't the guy for Man U. If they leave it till fergie retires to finmd a replacement we we have to go through a period of "hopeing" they chose the correct manager. No one wants that. So a bit of forethought now would be great for the club longer term.
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Andrew McNair about 1 year ago
Why any Man Utd fan wants Fergie out of Old Trafford is shocking to me!!! They are having a great season...what more do you want??????
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
you are sure right, i felt the same way too
Scholes had a poor game during the Q/final FAcup loss to pompey
Fergie was right to critise the ref but he went too far criticizing the head of refs in the PL.
i guess it was the heat of the moment
Fergie should realise that the young guns like flecther, carrick, nani, anderson and park have lot to prove
he should gradually fade out scholes and giggs....
any update with respect to Van der saar's and saha's injury?
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Yahya Risas about 1 year ago
van der sar has a groin injury, he'll be back soon, but Saha played today against derby county. I think it was evident even today that time is up for Giggs and Scholes.They were simply pathetic. that level of perfomance is un acceptable at Man utd.
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Bright Osagie about 1 year ago
you are sure right, i felt the same way too
Scholes had a poor game during the Q/final FAcup loss to pompey
Fergie was right to critise the ref but he went too far criticizing the head of refs in the PL.
i guess it was the heat of the moment
Fergie should realise that the young guns like flecther, carrick, nani, anderson and park have lot to prove
he should gradually fade out scholes and giggs....
any update with respect to Van der saar's and saha's injury?
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Si George about 1 year ago
Giggs has been past it for years now. Too slow,too feeble,to lazy,not enough stamina,gives the ball away too easily,the list goes on. The growing feeling around OT,or certianly where I sit,is that it's Giggs' time to go and has been for a wihle now.
Scholes had a shocker against Portsmouth. He's usually reliable and hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come. However,if it is,Anderson needs to get more time. The lad's a genius and is more than capable of filling the gap of Scholes,just as he showed earlier in the season.
For months I've been saying Giggs should get 20mins max if any at all,and finally there's an article agreeing!
They might have been here for 15 years,but sentiment and too much loyalty costs you. It's costs you leagues and it costs your cups. Portsmouth was a prime example - Scholes' worst game for a while yet he didn't get subbed. The game passed him by and we lost.
I'm actually happier when Giggs doesn't start to be quite honest!
Getting rid of Fergie would be criminal,but on too many occassions this season his tactics/substitutions have been dyer. He's not perfect,but he's the best around.
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Yahya Risas about 1 year ago
thanx for ur comment. i agree with u entirely. i hope u watched today's game at pride park against bottom placed derby county.same old story, have scholes and Giggs in the starting line up and utd struggle. I thought both of them were pathetic today. atleast fergy withdrew scholes, but also Giggs needed to have been subbed.
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