Wisdom to the Wise

Giggs has been getting all the attention recently, but, James Ducker points out in The Times, Paul Scholes is still vital for us, and he has the stats to back him up:

Scholes is the most accurate passer in the top flight this season. A remarkable 92.6 per cent of his 309 attempted passes have been successful, a statistic that helps to explain why he has overtaken Michael Carrick and Anderson as being Sir Alex Ferguson’s first choice in the centre of midfield alongside Darren Fletcher. ...

Against Birmingham City in United’s opening game, 93.2 per cent of his passes were accurate. Ninety per cent of his passes reached their intended targets against Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium and 91.1 per cent of them against Tottenham Hotspur before his controversial sending-off for two bookable offences at White Hart Lane.

The figures demonstrate why Ferguson has tended to use Scholes on United’s travels, when the importance of retaining possession arguably becomes even greater. The one away league match Scholes has missed this season — against Burnley at Turf Moor last month — United lost.

He may play a little deeper now and no longer ghost into the box with the frequency he did in his youth, but Scholes’s ability to hit all manner of passes is evidenced by him being the most accurate short passer in the league this season — 96.09 per cent of his 256 attempted short passes have been successful — and second only to Tom Huddlestone, the Tottenham Hotspur midfield player, in terms of successful long passes.

Carrick’s overall pass completion rate (82.8 per cent) and Anderson’s (72.7) are far inferior while not even England’s first-choice midfield players — Frank Lampard (72.3), Steven Gerrard (70.6) and Gareth Barry (68.1) — get close to Scholes’s record.

There's some quotes from Scholes in the papers this morning:

"My goals have dried up a bit in recent years and I'd like to get back to scoring a few. That's why I stay and do a bit of shooting practice at the end of training.

"When I was younger, I used to get forward a lot more than I do now, but the manager expects me to stay in the middle of the park nowadays and pass to the players who can go forward and score goals.

"I managed about 20 goals a few seasons back when I played up front with Ruud van Nistelrooy, though, and throughout my time at the club, that's the campaign I enjoyed the most.

"I would still like to get forward every now and then and chip in with a few, but you just have to play however the manager wants you to play, although I suppose I'm in his office a lot more these days with him telling me I'm not playing!"

Vidic has some words on Europe and on the loss of Ronaldo:

"It is a very bad feeling when you go to a final and lose and that one is a particularly bad memory," said Vidic of United's defeat by Barcelona in May. "You do have to acknowledge it is better to get to the final and lose than not be there at all and that to stand up you need to sit. But it is hard. We all know how we felt. We need to make sure it doesn't happen again."

United have won seven matches in a row, suggesting a balance has been found following the loss in the summer of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.

"Ronaldo and Tevez are quality players, there is no question about that," Vidic said. "But it is hard to say whether we have got over losing them. We will probably only know that at the end of the season.

"If we don't win trophies, people will say it is because they have gone, although that is not necessarily the case. At the moment we are doing well. We have had the best start in the four years I have been here. There is no question we have quality players but, for me, the really encouraging sign is that we are still not in the best form.

"You don't want to be at your highest level at this stage. We have to be ready for the most important games at the end."

And on Rooney:

"It is wrong that people are suddenly looking at Wayne," Vidic said. "He has always been an important player for us so, in that sense, nothing has changed. Sometimes he does things the fans don't see because he is doing a job for the team.

"This year he is even more noticeable because he is scoring goals and has a different role in the team. But we don't need to put pressure on him. We know all about his ability."

Rooney, meanwhile looks to stay at Man United long time:

"I hope I'm still at United when I'm the same age as guys like Ryan, Scholesy and Gary Neville.
"I've always said that as long as United want me, I'm happy to stay. I don't want to leave. I love the club and have no reason to even think about moving. I'm sure I'll be here for a long time."

And the same article has Ruud van Nistelrooy on Rooney:

"If I had to single out one aspect of Wayne's performance it would be his attitude. He is totally fearless.

"He had a big transfer fee on his back, it was his home debut, it was the Champions League and he knew all eyes were on him.

"Yet he went out, did his thing and scored a hat-trick. If that was not a statement of character, I don't know what is."

Kevin McCarra on The Guardian blog praises Giggs:

If Giggs is now in energy-saving mode, it has led to improved efficiency. Nani, having been shamed by his own lame efforts over 55 minutes at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday, was further humiliated when the Welshman came on to demonstrate the skills required. A pair of deliveries, the latter from a free-kick, set up the goals in United's 2-0 win over Stoke City.

Giggs may have reached a particularly productive phase. There is a precision to his final ball that far exceeds the level he reached at his supposed peak. Players of his type very often look as if speed is their flaw as much as their strength. It is so simple for them to outrun a marker that the cut-back into the goalmouth can be commonplace. They act as if the inaccuracies should be forgotten because there will soon be another opportunity.

Giggs' contemporary David Beckham understood that his career would depend on incessant exactitude since he could neither sprint free of defenders nor confuse them with nifty footwork. The Welshman will never be a global brand and might find the very notion disturbing but he has outdone his former team-mate. Giggs continues to have a trace of speed, which sometimes takes a marker by surprise, but the opposition have now really come to dread his final ball as well.

The reliability stems from the calmness of age and, in the fury and sloppiness of a derby, Giggs laid on three of United's goals in the 4-3 victory over Manchester City. His crossing was of relentless precision but the deadly through-ball to Michael Owen for the winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time was the work of a man who had lifted himself beyond the frenzy. The breadth of Giggs' repertoire was on show that afternoon.

Finally, we're linked to Sporting Lisbon's keeper Rui Patricio.