da winzada777： Paul Scholes has risen to one of the greatest midfielders even since his retirement and subsequent return.
da heads bet： From a great box-to-box, goal scoring midfielder, Scholes became a deep-lying controller of the game who sprayed the ball across the pitch with ease, but the twilight of his career was undoubtedly of detriment to Manchester United in the longer term.
The career of Scholes was vastly decorated, including the magnificent treble in 1999 and his own qualities at his peak were perhaps a tad undervalued. As his role developed to a deeper player in the midfield, Scholes’ role in the side was celebrated greatly by the media. Covering for the failings of his supposed replacements, Scholes managed to string together performances like a man 10 years younger than he was at the time.
The loss of mobility is often beneficial when playing the deeper role, keeping the player within their zone in the middle to snuff out attacks and act as a building block when in possession.
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Scholes’ return to the playing staff at Old Trafford in January 2012 and the following 18 months saw him act as an illusion for midfield quality that Manchester United did not possess.
In the short-term, Scholes’ return to the centre of midfield was helpful, it has left a vacuum in his position that has taken a couple of seasons to fill.
Winning another Premier League in his final campaign was an ideal high to end on, but Scholes’ role was symbolic of how Ferguson gave up on succession planning towards his final couple of seasons.
The way that Ferguson took a step backwards to bring Scholes back and then splashed out on an ageing Robin Van Persie were contributing factors to the significant weaknesses of the squad during Moyes’ time as boss. Ferguson’s short-term planning helped to win another few trophies, but his utilisation of Scholes caused more problems than it solved for United.
The overwhelming shortage in central midfield put immediate pressure on Moyes to succeed in the transfer market, and his subsequent signing of Fellaini was hardly an adequate replacement. Of course, part of the struggles in midfield were down to poor signings and injuries, with Tom Cleverley and Anderson the two most maligned in central midfield.
Cleverley may well have benefitted from the additional game time had Scholes not been re-signed and could be playing an integral part in the Manchester United midfield next season. Although many will see it as Cleverley was given too many chances to prove himself as it was.
Even if discounting the players that were at his disposal, it would have been far more sensible to sign a younger player to fill Scholes’ void than recall the man himself. The consistent links with Kevin Strootman were surfacing and failure to ever invest in the midfield has been a contributing factor in United’s drop away from title contention in the last two seasons.
Ferguson’s miraculous performance to win the title in 2013 was a great way to leave, but many of his decisions as he neared the end of his tenure were not beneficial to the club in the longer term. Scholes’ return was symbolic of the poor succession planning at Old Trafford and the midfield is yet to recover.
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