Goodbye, Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson. Thank you.

For me, Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson are one and the same. The Scot was at the helm when, at the age of eleven, I completed my collection of Pro Set collector cards featuring the likes of Clayton Blackmore and Mal Donaghy and announced myself as a fully-fledged fan.

As Sky’s pumped-up Premier League allowed armchair football fanatics their greatest ever access to the game, my support for the club became an obsession. I distinctly remember watching a match with my dad and asking him why Bryan Robson was wearing an armband. “He’s the captain,” my old man responded – the first in a long line of inspirational figures deputised as Fergie’s leader on the pitch: Bruce, Cantona, Keane, Neville and Vidic.

This collection of snarling warriors emblemise everything Ferguson stands for: heart, spirit, courage and a never-say-die attitude which has rescued so many late goals for a club which refuses to admit defeat – the qualities which, allied with no little skill, have seen Manchester United dominate English football for more than twenty years.

Stamping his personality so clearly on his club has led to Ferguson being despised by many, and his run-ins with Kevin Keegan, Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez have been edged with a spitefulness which has occasionally gone too far. But this siege mentality was identified today, by fellow retiree Paul Scholes, as Fergie’s greatest strength. Who are we to argue with that?

Those who know him best, of course, point to an altogether different kind of character. Always available to offer advice to fellow managers, father figure to the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs, devoted family man and, as the years have rolled by, an increasingly endearing character dancing his strange half-jig in the dugout.

My love and admiration for the man is intrinsically tied to my love for the club. I’ve never known one without the other. So many wonderful memories are tied to the club: obvious highlights like the Camp Nou comeback in 1999, Fergie and Brian Kidd leaping around as Steve Bruce headed two title-winning goals in 1993, Yorke and Cole combining beautifully against Barcelona. 

But it’s not just those glory nights which make Sir Alex Ferguson’s teams special. Rather, it’s that sense of comfort and security he offered. While other clubs chop and change, fight and fuss, Manchester United simply evolve. Wholesale tinkering is not the Ferguson way. Instead, he seamlessly integrated new players into his sides, marrying young local talent with experienced old timers, fancy foreigners with wise European campaigners. He built at least three great sides in this way: the powerhouses of Keane, Ince, Schmeichel and Hughes; the treble winning buccaneers; the 2008 vintage of Ronaldo and Rooney.

I can offer little more tribute than those which have already been paid. His emotional interview with his old pal Geoff Shreeves (“Well done, Geoff”) was a beautiful tribute to his patient wife Cathy, and yet another signifier of his strength of character: the decision was made at Christmas but was kept completely secret so as not to distract from the club’s title tilt.

He will remain at Old Trafford forever: cast in bronze, the stand bearing his name, his presence in the directors’ box. But more importantly he will remain in the supporters’ hearts, woven into the fabric of the great club he built, his name sung forever more on the Stretford End and his legacy enduring long after he is gone.

For what it’s worth, my favourite Fergie team would be picked on the basis of personality not ability and would consist of the following eleven players:

Schmeichel, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Irwin, Ronaldo, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Hughes, Cole.

Subs: Van Der Sar, Beckham, Evra, Carrick, Cantona, Sharpe, Solskjaer

Not So Cleverley, Sir Alex

The news that Darren Fletcher is suffering with ulcerative colitis is a huge blow for a player who had transformed himself from Old Trafford boo boy to terrace hero. He faces a year out of the game at a point where he ought to be firmly establishing himself in Sir Alex Ferguson’s midfield. Hopefully his proven resilience will ensure that he returns as a driving force next season.

For the club, Fletcher’s illness worsens a midfield crisis of epic proportions. With injuries to Anderson and Tom Cleverley, only Michael Carrick remains of United’s specialist central midfielders. Park Ji Sung, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Phil Jones have been pressed into service in these roles recently and with the festive fixtures looming, Ferguson seems set to continue deploying square pegs in round holes.

Shouldn’t a manager of Ferguson’s stature and experience have recognised that United have been desperately short in midfield for some time? Anderson has always been injury-prone and has just returned from knee surgery. Fletcher has already spent long periods out of the team with his previously undisclosed illness. And the reliance on Cleverley is bizarre and alarming given how few games he’s actually played for the first team.

Perhaps the current crisis is indicative of a wider problem under Ferguson’s tenure: an alarming lack of quality midfield signings. Over the course of his stewardship, Ferguson has seen some legendary midfielders pull on the red shirt: Bryan Robson, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane. An assortment of extremely capable players have also filled the central berths: Paul Ince, Nicky Butt, Michael Carrick. But the best of those were either inherited or were products of United’s famed youth academy. The only truly outstanding purchase has been Keane –the greatest driving midfielder of his generation.

Attempts to replace the Irishman have largely failed. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel picking out those who fell so far from the required standard: Liam Miller, Kleberson and Eric Djemba-Djemba spring readily to mind. Perhaps it’s unfair to expect anyone to replicate Keane’s role for the team. But whilst tacticians the world over have long thought a holding midfielder a necessity, Ferguson has rarely played that way.

Occasional deficiencies in central midfield have often been masked by a dazzling array of wingers. In wide areas, Ferguson has long been able to spot talent: bargains like Andrei Kanchelskis and Lee Sharpe blossomed at Old Trafford, Ryan Giggs was stolen from under the noses of Manchester City, Cristiano Ronaldo became the world’s most expensive player under Ferguson’s tutelage. And his commitment to wide players continues even now with Luis Nani overcoming a difficult start to become the team’s most threatening attacker.

But now, finally, it seems that the potent widemen who’ve characterised Fergie’s time in the Old Trafford dugout can no longer hide the glaring holes in the middle of the park. It’s a long time since Manchester United brought in a top quality midfielder in either of the two positions they seem to be screaming out for: a scheming battler and creative lynchpin.

Owen Hargreaves ought to have been the former but his time at the club was destroyed by injury. This cannot have been foreseen, but the fact remains that his four year contract expired with him having played less than thirty games for the club – and in that time no attempt appears to have been made to replace him. It’s perhaps telling that Ferguson has consistently selected defenders in this position – and not just recently. Players such as Ronnie Johnsen, Phil Neville and John O’Shea have played in front of the back four many times over the years: the deployment of Phil Jones in the position should surprise nobody. Identifying the kind of player who can shield a defence and bring the ball out from the back has long been problematic for the United manager.

Similarly, it seems that the role of creator has not been adequately filled following Paul Scholes’ retirement. Instead of recruiting from elsewhere a succession of players have filled in. Rooney’s attacking thrust has been diluted in this role, Park hasn’t got the nous for it and Giggs is simply too old to be relied upon regularly. Perhaps Ferguson remains scarred by the failed acquisition of Juan Sebastian Veron – a player who arrived for a huge fee which he never came close to repaying.

One only needs to look around United’s rivals to see just how comparatively weak they are in central areas. Spurs boast players like Luka Modric, Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone and Sandro. At Arsenal Alex Song, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsay are the first choice picks. Chelsea can call on the dynamism of Ramires, Raul Mereiles and (when fit) Michael Essien. At the base of midfield they’ve unearthed a gem in Oriel Romeu. Every single one of the players mentioned would improve the United first team. And Manchester City’s collection of megastars hasn’t even been mentioned.

It’s almost sacrilegious to criticise Sir Alex Ferguson for any perceived shortcomings. He’s consistently unearthed gems in the transfer market and nurtured wonderful players through United’s academy. His sides have constantly excited fans, won games and garnered trophies. But if the great man has one blind spot it’s in central midfield: it’s a situation he’ll need to resolve as soon as possible if his side are to remain competitive in a football world where tiki-taka, midfield passing and ball possession are more important than they ever have been.

Paul Scholes: Legend

After 676 appearances and exactly 150 goals, Manchester United’s Paul Scholes has finally decided to hang up his boots. At the age of 36 and with his best behind him, it’s no surprise that the most unassuming of Fergie’s Fledglings has stepped down: famously publicity shy, Scholes only ever wanted to play football. Whilst the feeling persists at Old Trafford that he could still play a part, the player himself disagrees – not happy to be on the periphery and frustrated that his abilities are not what they were, he has moved into a coaching role at his only club.

Whether Scholes instinct for the game can be transplanted into the next generation of United’s youngsters remains to be seen. The impeccably timed runs which saw the diminutive Mancunian bullet home so many important headers seem almost un-coachable. The knack of popping up on the edge of the box to fizz pile-driving shots into the top corner is not easy to teach. But above all else, it will be his vision which is so difficult to replicate and replace.

No less a player than Zinedine Zidane once described Scholes as ‘the greatest of his generation’, but perhaps it’s most telling that the man who makes the world’s best midfields tick, Xavi Hernandez thinks of him as ‘the best central midfielder of the last 15 or 20 years’. It’s telling that Xavi’s passing and movement have only come to be appreciated in England in the last few years as Barcelona and Spain have dominated club and international football. Scholes, too, was underestimated for some time.

A host of international coaches failed to get the best from Scholes on the world stage. Despite a swirling World Cup goal against Tunisia, a hat-trick against Poland and a vital brace against Scotland at Hampden, the midfielder never played in his best position for his country. Shunted around the pitch – and often to the left wing – to accommodate the thrust and bluster of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, Scholes called time on his England career at the age of thirty. It was a sad loss which saw the national set-up lose their best passer and most creative player in favour of a midfield axis which has never convinced.

Of course, England’s loss was United’s gain. His retirement ensured that the latter part of Scholes’ career was punctuated by rest periods as his club-mates reported for international duty – and that he added a longevity which seemed unlikely when he first burst onto the scene with a league-cup double against Port Vale. Skinny, pale and short, he looked like a kid who’d wandered down from the stands and onto the pitch. Suffering from asthma and reportedly allergic to grass, he hardly looked like a figure built for the rough and tumble of the Premier League.

Initially playing up front and contributing plenty of goals, Scholes gradually moved further back as injuries and suspensions hit United. When Eric Cantona received an eight month ban for his kung-fu attack on Matthew Simmons, it was Scholes who moved into his position behind Andy Cole. And from there he retreated still further when Roy Keane mangled his knee in that infamous challenge with Alfe Inge Haaland. And there he stayed.

As part of arguably United’s greatest ever midfield, alongside Keane and fellow youth-team graduates David Beckham and Ryan Giggs, Scholes played a key role in the treble-winning team of 1999. A typically terrible tackle ensured he missed the Champion’s League Final, but he scored vital goals in every competition, including one in the FA Cup Final at Wembley.

Scholes’ goalscoring was nothing short of phenomenal. For years he popped up on the end of crosses, cut backs and blocked shots to bullet shots into the net. He belied his diminutive stature to pop up with numerous headers. But most impressively of all, he hit rocket after rocket into the top corner. It’s almost impossible to pick the best of his long distance howitzers: the semi-final screamer against Barcelona; the thunderous thirty-yard volley versus Villa; the first-timer from Beckham’s corner against Bradford; the list goes on.

Of course, it’s not so easy to pick out the passes. There were cute backheels and scooped lobs (including a particularly fine one for Wayne Rooney versus AC Milan) and raking long-ranger after raking long-ranger. Switching play from one side of the pitch to another with a fifty yard pass was such an important part of Scholes’ (and United’s) armoury that it’s possible to imagine Ferguson’s fascination with wingers being intrinsically linked with his midfield maestro’s passing range. It’ll be interesting to see just who supplies Nani and Antonio Valencia with the ball in Sat-Nav’s absence.

But Scholes wasn’t just a passer and a goalscorer. He was also a nasty little bastard. For years he got away with being a filthy little shit. For some reason his skill and ability seem to have blinded commentators and pundits to his vicious streak. An early Scholes ‘reducer’ was often accompanied by a chuckle and a chortle which entirely absolved him of blame for a ‘tackle’ which was often premeditated and more often deliberate. Manchester United fans loved him still more for it. And he didn’t always get away with it – he was the first England player dismissed at Wembley, missed the aforementioned Champion’s League Final through suspension and was sent-off another nine times.

Despite his aggression and flair on the park, Scholes was the most unassuming presence off it. Always the first out of Old Trafford after a game, he was rarely available for an interview and shunned the limelight. He didn’t employ an agent and once reportedly refused a pay-rise, instead just signing an extended contract. He married his childhood sweetheart and once described his typical day as, "Train in the morning, pick up my children from school, play with them, have tea, put them to bed and then watch a bit of TV."

Paul Scholes: famous for being a fabulous footballer. And that’s the way it should be.



Honours:

Premier League: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11

FA Cup: 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04

League Cup: 2008–09, 2009–10

Community Shield: 1996, 1997, 2003, 2008, 2010

Champion’s League: 1998–99, 2007–08

Intercontinental Cup: 1999

Club World Cup: 2008

20 Years of Ryan Giggs

I've been a football fan for about twenty years: for the whole of Ryan Giggs' career.

I remember him in his mop-topped, spindly limbed early career - up against the likes of Ray Wilkins and Neville Southall. I remember the middle-phase of his time at Old Trafford as he helped inspire United to treble glory in arguably the finest midfield English football has ever seen alongside Paul Scholes, Roy Keane and David Beckham. And of course, i remember his latest incarnation as the most admired footballer in the land - a man who has extended his career by reinventing himself as a player, adapting his game and living an exemplary lifestyle.

For as long as long as i've watched the game i've watched Ryan Giggs: the man who's made more appearances for Manchester United than any other, the man who's scored in every season of the Premier League and the man who's won more league championships than anyone else in English footballing history.

It had always been my intention to write such a piece when the Welshman brought down the curtain on his playing career. But with no end in sight and one day short of twenty years since he made his debut in a defeat to Everton here are my top three Ryan Giggs moments:

1. A perfectly executed sliding tackle robs Henning Berg of possession out on the left wing. Immediately leaping to his feet Giggs sweeps in a superb cross which Eric Cantona heads into the roof of Tim Flowers' net. A vital goal in a title run-in which perfectly illustrates the combination of tenacity and skill which has characterised Giggsy's game for so long.

2. THAT goal against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final of 1999. Picking off a stray pass from Patrick Viera he ran at the Gunners backline, twisting his body this way and that before arrowing a shot past David Seaman. And then unveiled his magnificently hairy chest.

3. If you thought his yoga DVD was embarrassing have a gander around youTube for footage of Giggs' Quorn adverts. Looking thoroughly unconvinced he stares blankly into the camera as he tries to persuade the watching world that Quorn truly is 'a tasty alternative to meat'. The mind boggles.