Is Manchester United's "Old Guard" Becoming an Ineffective Guard?

I was asked a couple of weeks ago to write about Manchester United's "old guard" of Edwin Van der Sar, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, and Ryan Giggs.  In my heart, they are all United legends and I wish they can be evergreen forever.  But I needed a few matches to come up with a conclusion. 

The matches against Middlesbrough, Bolton, Aalborg, and yesterday's dominant performance against Blackburn at Ewood Park have justified my positions on the four United old guards.

Edwin Van der Sar

Ever since the departure of Peter Schmeichel, United's men between the posts were an enigma waiting for a costly blunder to happen.  Mark Bosnich, Barthez, Tim Howard, and Carroll were not the answer and save Tim Howard, have not been heard of much lately.  But the experience and championship mentality of Edwin from his time with Ajax and Juventus was invaluable and something United severely lacked since the Great Dane's departure. 

His arrival, coupled with two of Sir Alex Ferguson's great "minor" signings of Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic, was justified when United won the Carling Cup in 2006, won the Premier League in 2007, and became Champions of England and Europe in 2008.  While his biggest gaffe in recent memory was the back line debacle at Anfield with Wes Brown, Edwin Van der Sar can seriously play until he is 40. 

Being 37 and with United's one year contract offers for players who are in their 30s, Van der Sar can still be counted on for another year or two.  As long as Edwin can command the posts with intelligence and strength, he will continue to contribute to United's trophy haul challenge.  He keeps himself in great shape and has shown time after time that he is mentally strong and will keep United's  back line organized.

Paul Scholes

Recently diagnosed with ligament damage sustained against Champions League outfit Aalborg, Paul Scholes is still the rock in the midfield for Manchester United.  Once was the Paul Scholes who was good for 10 or so goals from midfield and laughable tackles on the unfortunate opposition. 

Because of his obvious loss of pace and surrounding players with pace and touch, Paul has become the provider from the back line and makes United's transition from defense to attacking the trademark of Manchester United Football. 

His first touch and turn when receiving the ball is still world-class.  His vision when looking up the pitch or his back towards the opposition's goal to create width is still world-class.  But what sets  Scholes apart from many midfielders in football is his passing.  It is well known that if England manager Fabio Capello could, he would chose Paul Scholes as a midfield choice.  His vision and deft passing lets the United attack flow even in his 30s. 

His understanding of creating width in attack or playing a long pass to a running Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Park Ji Sung, or Carlos Tevez is no fluke.  What also is not a fluke is his ability to understand the situation of the match and play the correct ball.  Yes, his ability to do this for a full 90 minutes is not there anymore, but when he is on the pitch, United will always be a force.

Ryan Giggs

In last year's Community Shield, Ryan Giggs scored against Chelsea.  That was significant the fact that Giggs scored from about the penalty area.  Sir Alex understood that Ryan has lost pace as well, but his touch, vision and passing are still world-class.  These skills are being put into place with Ryan being more centralized and closer to the mouth of goal. 

Two instances pop into mind.  Last year's goal for Ryan's 10 Premiership medal came against Wigan with Rooney feeding Giggs just outside the box.  One touch, one turn, another glorious Giggs goal. 

Instance two came against Aalborg when Giggsy, who came on for the injured Scholes, released Rooney between two or three players for Rooney to calmly slot the pass "into the old onion bag." 

With Ryan playing closer to goal, his first touch is used to the max with Dimitar Berbatov, Rooney, Ronaldo, and Tevez lurking in the attacking third.  What also should not be ignored is Giggs' knowledge of United's overlapping and fluid pass and move philosophy. 

He does get lost more often in the flow of the match, but more times than not, Giggs will drift into space and after a step over or pullback, he will supply a quality cross from the left or right channel.  Giggsy's touch does abandon him more often, but his calming influence and supply for his teammates still gets the job done.

Gary Neville

I placed the Captain at the end of my discussion about the old guard for a reason; he is unfortunately not the Gary Neville of old and injuries have caught up to him.  His devastating ankle and calf injuries that have kept him sidelined for much of the past 13 plus months have sapped too much pace from Neville. 

Once the first-choice fullback for England, he has lost his place to Micah Richards and United teammate Wes Brown.  In recent developments, young but bright right-back Rafael da Silva, has thrown his name into United's right-back fold. 

In the match against Bolton, Neville was fluid coming into attack from the back line, but the massive problem was when the attack broke down and Bolton countered, Gary left the back line exposed too many times against a below-par Bolton club. 

He would track back and sprint towards the touchline and could only attempt a slide tackle, where a younger and more fit Neville would at least harass the opposition and force them to slow down the pace or just win the ball back. 

Neville does not have the pace or strength anymore to contain or keep up with Chelsea's Ashley Cole and Joe Cole, Arsenal's Gael Clichy and Robin Van Persie, and Liverpool's Ryan Babel or whoever Rafa Benitez rotates.  His once dependable crosses from the deep right side do not have the pace or touch they once had due to his lack of playing time and competition from Brown and now Rafael. 

His sudden departure from the United back line saw the United defense become one, if not the best in the world.  Some may argue, but the play of Rio Ferdinand has made him the best defender in the world, in congruence with the absence of Neville.

With a youthful and exciting core of United players, it is quickly understood why the likes of Edwin Van der Sar, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville are overlooked.  But the fact that they have played prominent roles during major trophy haul seasons under Sir Alex is what makes them United legends and seriously relevant in the near future. 

While their United careers are coming to a close, as evident by Neville and Giggs receiving coaching credentials in the past off-season, their impact as Manchester United players will never be questioned.  The Old Guard may age before our eyes, but their desire to win trophies as United players and for Manchester United will never get old.