Manchester United-Chelsea: Giggsy and Gazza Show They Aren't Finished Yet

The dawn of the new season brought different prospects for Manchester United legends Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs. While the latter was reaching the end of a career that saw him garner more trophies than any other British player, Gary Neville was seeing a new chapter in his career unfold. 

After almost two injury-ridden years, he looked certain to assert himself back in the United and England squad for one last hurray before his career to comes to an end.

Yet both of their seasons have gone on relatively similar paths. The meteoric rise of youngster Rafael Da Silva has forced Neville to face less minutes on the pitch then he would have hoped for.

Ryan Giggs, 35 years young, found himself a new position as a central midfielder (not so new if you consider his role towards the end of the 05-06 season). But with Carrick, Anderson, Fletcher, and Scholes it was always going to be difficult for him to hold a starting position. Thus, he too wasn't a consistent fixture in the first XI.

Being a life-long United fan, it was a bit depressing to see Neville and Giggs spend so much time on the bench, but deep down I and everyone else thought that they just didn't have it in them to compete in today's league.

Therefore, it would have been a shock to any football fan to see them both included in the starting line-up against heavyweights Chelsea today. One would think it the reason to play them was the wealth of experience they brought to the team, but their performances showed much more than that.

Any thinking man would have predicted Giggs to be over run by the strong central midfield of Ballack, Lampard, and Mikel. But the Welsh wizard, who for years dazzled opponents with his skill and speed, showed the gritty side to his game. Never was he out-muscled, winning the ball consistently and always looking in control when in possession. 

Now for Gazza's performance.

A keen watcher of the Premier League this season would know that one of Chelsea's main strengths are their attacking full-backs. Defender Ashley Cole has, on occasions, played more like a LW than his on paper LB position. With his speed and Gary Neville's old age, it seemed a match made in heaven for Chelsea fans.

Oh how wrong an assumption that was.

Neville was an absolute rock in defence. Fergie was once quoted saying that Neville would have been England's best Center Back had he been one inch taller. Today was living proof of that. With the help of Three-Lung Park, he kept one of Chelsea's biggest attacking threats quiet for the whole 90 minutes. Add to that some superb last ditch headers clearing dangerous crosses.

Giggs recently said he was considering retirement at the end of the season, and with Neville's contract too running out at the end of the season, this could well be their last season at Old Trafford.

I think I speak for every United fan when I say "Please Stay On Gazza and Giggsy!"

Also Cheers to Sir Alex for once again showing his tactical genius by picking both of them today. 

And I have just been informed by Samuel from the comments underneath that Gazza has become father today. Congratulations to our greatest RB (sorry ol' Foulkes). What a day for him!