Everlasting light

First off there's some defences of Berbatov and Sir Alex in the papers today, although in making their points I think they go too far in another direction. Take this piece on Berbatov by Matthew Syed in The Times, who argues that stats aren't everything:

Now, I don’t know about you, but while I find these statistics interesting and, in their way, enlightening, I also think that they fail to convey the essential meaning of Berbatov’s contribution. They fail, for example, to convey the artistry of his volley through a packed penalty area against Middlesbrough in December; they fail to describe the elegance of his take and pull-back for Carlos Tévez to score against Liverpool in September.

Most important of all, they fail to convey the audacity of his lightning turn and intuitive flick past James Collins, the West Ham United defender, and his cut-back for Cristiano Ronaldo to score in October, arguably the most audacious, revelatory and intricate piece of creativity all season.

Sure, football is about results and instances of individual brilliance must be seen, to an extent, in that context. But even the most zealous statistician must also concede that results have to matter to people. We have to care. We have to want to travel across the nation to watch our teams in action. And it is players such as Berbatov — his individuality, his elegance and, yes, his neuroses — who make football matter to so many of us.

Which is all fair enough, but I think he is wrong to suggest that the statistics themselves somehow point to Berbatov not being too good. I've argued this before, and there was an article in The Telegraph arguing the same thing yesterday, so I won't do it again here.
The other one is Oliver Holt in The Mirror who argues that Sir Alex was right to rest players on Sunday:

But I still believe that if United beat Portsmouth at Old Trafford tonight, then Ferguson will have been vindicated.

The point is he took a gamble on sacrificing the FA Cup and the quintuple because he felt it was the lesser of two evils.

Losing on Sunday was a risk worth taking because the alternative was worse. The alternative was limping on with a team running on empty and facing the unbearable likelihood of surrendering his two most cherished prizes to his two most hated rivals.

The problem is he really overemphasises everything, the tiredness, the weakness of the team, and seems to forget that we were in a whisker of winning the semi-final anyway.
Everything else is about Paul Scholes today who, if he is selected, will play his 600th game for Man Utd. Some quotes from Sir Alex:

"In my time he would sit in the top six or seven [United players] without question," said Ferguson. "His contribution and his quality and some of the fantastic goals he has scored have been great. Even on Sunday [against Everton], when he came on his first touch of the ball was better than anybody else had done for the whole previous hour. He has that wonderful velvet touch that means it just goes dead when he gets it. Amidst all of the mayhem that can happen in a game it is wonderful to see that."

And there's a quote from Bobby Charlton in the same report from earlier this season:

"I have no hesitation in putting a name to the embodiment of all that I think is best about football. It's Paul Scholes. Many great players have worn the shirt of Manchester United. Players I worshipped, then lost with my youth in Munich. Players like Denis Law and George Best who I enjoyed so much as team-mates and now, finally, players I have watched closely in the Alex Ferguson era. And in so many ways Scholes is my favourite. I love his nous and conviction that he will find a way to win, to make the killer pass or produce the decisive volley. When a game reaches a vital phase, these qualities seem to come out of his every pore. He's always on the ball, always turning on goal. He's always looking to bring other people into the action and if he loses possession you think he must be ill."

James Ducker ruins his piece on it by whining about Scholes' age and mentioning two other players, seemingly to have a go:

With the title race delicately poised, Ferguson must yearn for Scholes in his pomp. Sure, he can still make a peach of a pass, but the passage of time has started to lessen Scholes’s influence and, as the end of a glittering career draws nearer, the need for Ferguson to find a long-term replacement becomes all the more pressing.

In Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, Liverpool and Chelsea possess the respective heirs apparent to Scholes, but United no longer have a midfield player capable of scoring 20 goals a season, a troubling reality that will heighten the pressure on their forwards, notably Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, to find the net during the run-in.

Another good quote from Sir Alex in The Independent:

"You know why we've had no inquiry?" Ferguson said. "Because they all know. They all know he would never leave. He has maybe had private approaches, people begging him to join them. That's how it happens, isn't it? Agents phoning him up and all that nonsense. He could have played in any league in Europe – no problem. But they all know he wouldn't want to leave here."

The Mirror has some of the milestones of his career here.
While The Telegraph has a selection of quotes from others:

Zinedine Zidane:
"My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder. Scholes is undoubtedly the greatest midfielder of his generation."

Rio Ferdinand:
"He'll do ridiculous things in training like say, "You see that tree over there?" - it'll be 40 yards away - "I'm going to hit it". And he'll do it. Everyone at the club considers him the best"

Finally Roman Calderon says something about Sir Alex in The Telegraph:

Calderon said: "He called me a buried dinosaur. I have a lot of respect for Manchester United as a club and Ferguson as a coach, but he must have had some
tremendous problems in his life because he seems like a tormented soul.

"He only opens his mouth to attack fellow coaches in England and, above all, Real Madrid."

Not bitter at all then... Sure sounds like a man confident that Real Madrid are going to sign Ronaldo...