"Paul Scholes was the best player on the pitch before he went off" - Graham Souness - Premier Soccer Sunday
How someone can make such a claim is beyond me. I'm a big fan of Scholes, but it seems to me like the RTE panel are holding onto memories of yesteryear when analyzing his play. He did precious little in today's game against Chelsea, and he did even less against Liverpool last week. He still has something to offer this United team -- his performance against Portsmouth is proof of that -- but in the big games, I would honestly be more inclined to start Fletcher than Scholes, and that's saying something.
The RTE panel talk about him being the cool head and the guy who will keep hold of the ball when the chips are down. Against Chelsea, Scholes was anything but a cool head, basically wandering around the pitch looking to get sent off as quickly as possible by executing a series of vintage Scholes tackles. In fairness to him, he wasn't giving the ball away cheaply, but that's only because he rarely had the ball. He doesn't have the legs to get around the pitch when faced with a team like Chelsea, so the supply coming to him is extremely limited because he's never in enough space to receive a pass.
Against Liverpool and Chelsea, United regularly had to resort to the wings for attacking threat, and without Ronaldo (and even with him today), their wings aren't very threatening. When the big games come, they're finding it hard to go through the centre, and this is where United are most effective. Gone are the days of Becks whipping crosses into van Nistelrooy. Man Utd need the ball through the middle, and unfortunately Scholes doesn't seem to be able to provide that link when the big games come around. And even more unfortunately for Utd fans, they don't appear to have anyone who can serve that purpose.
Fletcher has been surprisingly competent this season, but he's not the solution. Neither is Carrick or Hargreaves or Anderson, good as they might be at various other things. What Man Utd basically need is Cesc Fabregas. I mean can you imagine their potency if the little Spaniard lined up in their midfield every week? He's exactly the kind of player that they need, because he's basically Paul Scholes minus 10 years or so. Until Ferguson finds a suitable replacement for the Ginger One, he's going to have to hope that Ronaldo scores another truck load of goals this season, otherwise United could be playing catch up to Chelsea for the rest of the campaign.
Before I go, I can't help but pass comment on Ronaldo today. Without wanting to sound biased, his presence cost Man Utd dearly. Fergie took a gamble, and it didn't pay off. Ronaldo left his teammates scratching their heads, with Rooney even coming over to the touchline to ask Ferguson just what they heck they're supposed to be doing in terms of positions. Ronaldo was just running all over the place, and of course doing very little tracking back, which gave Chelsea the chance to build things up from midfield.
And then there was the dive. Just shocking really. But, you know, he did score 42 goals last season so nothing else matters and we must all cherish him and welcome him back with open arms. Just wait until he leaves Man Utd. Then we'll see how much love they have for him and his greasy boots and his greasy hair (I meant to type 'green boots' but 'greasy boots' actually turned out better).
How someone can make such a claim is beyond me. I'm a big fan of Scholes, but it seems to me like the RTE panel are holding onto memories of yesteryear when analyzing his play. He did precious little in today's game against Chelsea, and he did even less against Liverpool last week. He still has something to offer this United team -- his performance against Portsmouth is proof of that -- but in the big games, I would honestly be more inclined to start Fletcher than Scholes, and that's saying something.
The RTE panel talk about him being the cool head and the guy who will keep hold of the ball when the chips are down. Against Chelsea, Scholes was anything but a cool head, basically wandering around the pitch looking to get sent off as quickly as possible by executing a series of vintage Scholes tackles. In fairness to him, he wasn't giving the ball away cheaply, but that's only because he rarely had the ball. He doesn't have the legs to get around the pitch when faced with a team like Chelsea, so the supply coming to him is extremely limited because he's never in enough space to receive a pass.
Against Liverpool and Chelsea, United regularly had to resort to the wings for attacking threat, and without Ronaldo (and even with him today), their wings aren't very threatening. When the big games come, they're finding it hard to go through the centre, and this is where United are most effective. Gone are the days of Becks whipping crosses into van Nistelrooy. Man Utd need the ball through the middle, and unfortunately Scholes doesn't seem to be able to provide that link when the big games come around. And even more unfortunately for Utd fans, they don't appear to have anyone who can serve that purpose.
Fletcher has been surprisingly competent this season, but he's not the solution. Neither is Carrick or Hargreaves or Anderson, good as they might be at various other things. What Man Utd basically need is Cesc Fabregas. I mean can you imagine their potency if the little Spaniard lined up in their midfield every week? He's exactly the kind of player that they need, because he's basically Paul Scholes minus 10 years or so. Until Ferguson finds a suitable replacement for the Ginger One, he's going to have to hope that Ronaldo scores another truck load of goals this season, otherwise United could be playing catch up to Chelsea for the rest of the campaign.
Before I go, I can't help but pass comment on Ronaldo today. Without wanting to sound biased, his presence cost Man Utd dearly. Fergie took a gamble, and it didn't pay off. Ronaldo left his teammates scratching their heads, with Rooney even coming over to the touchline to ask Ferguson just what they heck they're supposed to be doing in terms of positions. Ronaldo was just running all over the place, and of course doing very little tracking back, which gave Chelsea the chance to build things up from midfield.
And then there was the dive. Just shocking really. But, you know, he did score 42 goals last season so nothing else matters and we must all cherish him and welcome him back with open arms. Just wait until he leaves Man Utd. Then we'll see how much love they have for him and his greasy boots and his greasy hair (I meant to type 'green boots' but 'greasy boots' actually turned out better).
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