The name is Scholes – Paul Scholes and he is the man who never ceases to amaze. At the age of 35 and starting his 17th Premier League season, he turned on a performance which defied everything anyone can possibly expect. Even his manager Sir Alex Ferguson who has seen it all over the years, was moved to hail the display Scholes put on in the 3-0 win over newly promoted Newcastle United. The veteran was instrumental in Manchester United’s success at Old Trafford, running the midfield and creating two of the three goals.
The former England international has enjoyed a superb start to the season after a man of the match showing in last weekend’s Community Shield win over Chelsea and Ferguson believes he can carry on performing at the highest level if he stays fit. Last week “he showed that even at his age, you don’t lose what he’s got” Sir Alex told Sky Sports “He’s got a marvellous passing range and vision of the game and he’s still got the appetite which is the most important thing.”
“Anyone who gets to that age and retains it like he and Ryan Giggs have done, you have got two players with something special” Ferguson continued “tonight we saw Scholes producing some of it. He looks after himself and another important thing last year was first season without injury for a long, long time and that is key to Paul, stay fit and he can play on.”
“Scholes proved again that he is just a master of his trade” Ferguson said “his vision and passing range and his willingness to play is marvellous. “He’s still got the appetite to play and both him and Ryan Giggs have retained that, they are something special. I hope they are not a dying breed. The game needs players like that but there are plenty of good players in our country. Sometimes we beat ourselves up about it but there are a lot of good ones.”
Ferguson was happy with the manner of the side’s victory as they got their campaign off to a winning start. “The three points are always important in your first home match, for most of the game we controlled it, we passed the ball well at times, it was a steady performance. Newcastle got into the Premier League last season by being determined, good work ethic, good unit and we saw that tonight”
“They were difficult to break down at times” Sir Alex admitted “we were wasteful with some chances. Dimitar Berbatov could have scored three or four but his performance was excellent.”
Was Scholes wise to reject the approach to help the England’s cause in the World Cup?
