Scholes has already scored too, rifling home against Bolton. His return has been one of the more interesting events of the opening weeks of 2012.
Scholes has always been a player with the ability to spray a pass and pop up with a crucial goal, and for United, there can be little to lose from him coming out of retirement. A great player he certainly was, but he retired for a reason. His best days were behind him. The same goes, for the equally superb Ryan Giggs. United are now in a situation where they are in dire need of a new central midfield. Tom Cleverley may be the creative midfielder of tomorrow to drive them forward, but he is injured, and a team of United’s stature needs more than just one player to fulfil this role.
Scholes will be useful for now; he will give United another option in midfield to help out with the crisis. Anderson is out injured as well as Cleverley, whilst Darren Fletcher’s return seems some way off. This has left United desperately short. At his best, Scholes was an awesome force alongside Roy Keane in central midfield. It is fair to say that since then, United have never been quite the same in this area of the pitch. Successful as they have been, Ferguson has paid too much attention to other areas of the team, notably wingers and forwards, rather than the centre of his midfield.
The return of a club legend like Scholes in many ways just proves this. If there was another option, Ferguson would surely go for it. But quite like with Thierry Henry’s return to Arsenal, he must not allow this move to obscure the bigger picture. Henry may be useful for Arsenal, indeed he has been already, but he is not the answer to their problems. And neither is Scholes the answer to United’s.
Wesley Sneijder is often talked of as the creative midfielder United need. He is not. Sneijder plays best behind the forward, and United need someone playing further back than that. Nicolas Gaitan has been long linked and may still sign for them, whilst attempts to bring in Samir Nasri last summer failed. Ferguson knows this is the area that needs improving, but he seems short of ideas. Romelu in Brazil, or Mario Goetze from Dortmund, would seem ideal options.
Ferguson has little under a fortnight left to add to his squad, but he ought to do so if he can. His team are badly short in the middle of the park, and as great a player as Scholes was, his return cannot obscure that essential truth.
