Wednesday, 4th August 2004
Scholes has always been Fergie favourite
When Sir Alex Ferguson decided to break up his long-standing midfield tandem of Paul Scholes and David Beckham last summer, it was quite telling which player made for the exit.
Both men were established internationals, considered as two of four world-class individuals in the England squad by Sven-Goran Eriksson. Beckham had even been the Swede´s captain for the last three years.
Yet Beckham was the man who left Old Trafford, joining Real Madrid for £25million. His off-field pursuits were believed to be causing Ferguson concern and the Scot could not afford for any one player to become bigger than the club.
Scholes, on the other hand, could not be more private or more single-minded about his football, character traits which have always delighted Ferguson. Now the flame-haired star has surprisingly quit the national team to focus solely on United.
That means there will not even be the interruption of national team call-ups to his routine of training, eating, sleeping, spending time with his wife and family and sometimes watching League One side Oldham.
Adored
In short, he is adored by Ferguson for being everything Beckham isn´t - quiet, uncontroversial and intensely uncomfortable with any media attention.
Among his Premiership peers, the Manchester United star is the best in the business at arriving in the box unannounced and wreaking maximum devastation.
He scored a career-best 20 goals in season 2002-03 and would have come close to equalling that feat last term had it not been for the groin operation which sidelined him for six weeks earlier in the campaign.
Which is why it must have grated with him that for England, Paul Scholes couldn´t score goals - for three years.
It´s an amazing statistic for a player so prolific at club level, and the close-range header against Croatia at Euro 2004 which finally ended the run - his 14th England goal - will now be his last barring any change of heart.
" Every time I meet up with England I get told how long it is since I scored," he said prior to the tournament in Portugal.
" I haven´t really had many chances but that is my fault as much as anyone else´s. I should have scored a couple in the final qualifying game against Turkey but I don´t have any excuses for not scoring for so long."
One factor in the drought could have been the more direct style Eriksson uses compared to the more fluid game of United which seems to suit Scholes so well. Not that the Oldham-born star had a particularly happy time of it at Old Trafford last season either.
United fans were deeply critical of Ferguson for shunting Scholes around his line-up, at times nominating him on the right side of midfield, on other times the left, as well as just behind Ruud van Nistelrooy, a role he took some time to adjust to but finally appeared to get the hang of last season.
Scholes´ many backers claim when you have a player of such ability at your disposal, it would make more sense to build a team round him rather than just try to fit him in and there is little doubt United look a far more effective attacking force when he occupies a central role.
Ferguson now has exclusive rights to Scholes´ talent and unlike Beckham, the United boss won´t be letting go.
