Passing the Test of Time

C.S Lewis once said that “Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” For the 'old men' of the Premier League apparently you start living them again once your old as well.

Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs are 34 and 35 respectively, in the young mans game that is Premier League football this is absolutely ancient. No doubt that the youngsters of today's game with all their trickery and pace have brushed passed these old veterans showing them how far football has come since their heyday of the mid to late 90's! Or not!

While players such as the Brazilian Anderson and the Portuguese, successor to Ronaldo, Nani have struggled this season, the godfathers of the current United team have really shown the way. On Saturday against Stoke at the Britannia Stadium, a tricky place to go, Scholes had pulled all the strings in the first half but the forwards had no luck in breaking the Stoke defence. Meanwhile prowling on the touchline was Giggs, one week on from his match winning performance in the derby game. Nani had been the picture of inconsistency, going from lovely runs to pointless step overs in an instance.

It has been difficult for the young Portuguese winger since joining United, and even more so now he seems to feel pressured into replacing the now departed Ronaldo. After 55 minutes of doing his best to replicate his countryman on came Giggs as Nani's replacement to prove it should be the timeless Welsh wonder he replicates. Within 7 minutes it was Stoke 0-1 United, and inevitably Giggs was the provider with his ball into Dimitar Berbatov to score.. Just 16 minutes after that and it was game over! Stoke 0-2 United, and again Giggs with the ball into the box, this time for John O'Shea to head home.

Two quotes jumped out after the game to truly tell the story.
"They (Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes) are both great players but Scholes was magnificent. He (Paul Scholes) was the best player on the pitch by a country mile. Then Giggs makes the two goals." That by Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager who you felt could have gone on about Scholes's contribution for hours.

The second came from Phil McNulty, who perhaps best described why Giggs is just so good and Nani is far from it.
"Let's hope Nani was taking a note of how Ryan Giggs set up Dimitar Berbatov for his goal. Football is essentially a simple game made complicated by players like Nani." Never has much a truer word been said.

How many times have the ginger maestro and his Welsh compatriot been retired by some critic or other. Scholes especially has had a hard time of it the last few years. Injuries have kept him out for long periods of time, worries were especially high a few seasons ago when he had double vision and dizziness for months people feared for his career. Back he came the season after, playing a massive role in getting United to the Champions League final with an awesome goal against Barcelona in the Semi final. Again last season people were questioning how much longer Scholesy could continue, overrun and losing possession more in some matches than he had in whole seasons previously. Now suddenly he has returned to his best once again. United have only lost once away all season, against Burnley, and who wasn't in central midfield to keep possession that day? Paul somebody or other!

Surrounded by a team that is growing in confidence and experience Scholes and Giggs do not need to supply the pace, there is plenty of that. Nor do they need to throw themselves round the pitch; though Scholes still does, rarely winning the ball of course, for that there is Wayne Rooney and Darren Fletcher. Instead Paul and Ryan can concentrate on winning games and in helping others take the limelight with goals they are instead stealing it themselves.

Down in Sunday League it is the opposite. When some players come back old and injured they cannot handle the pace. Delusions of grandeur are also commonplace in Sunday league, mix in the two problems and you have a player who is a waste of space. Even more annoyingly someone who argues their way into a team, and then is awful. Thankfully said person is now out of the team and has retired himself, he is no Scholes, no Giggs, he is barely worth typing about. After a two week break we sadly succumbed to a 5-1 loss against a weak side, manager and player errors a like caused it but we'll be back, unfortunately after yet another two week break.

Back to the good old duo! What is perhaps most telling about them is that Sir Alex still plays them both. He is not one for sentiment, when you're past it you're past it! And remembering the amount of times these two have been written off they mirror their boss, down and out for one minute, world beaters the next- they may not quite be his children but in footballing terms they may as well be! All this without a backflipped celebration in sight!