is paul scholes' injury a hidden blessing for alex ferguson?

at this point in his glorious career, expressing admiration for paul scholes is almost demanded; his fabulous footballing ability has long been praised, but never has the reverence with which he is currently treated by the public and media alike been so high. but let me be quite clear: i love paul scholes. he has been a quite superb player since breaking into the united side, playing the kind of simplistic, visionary football that belied the usual cliches about english football. this was a player just as capable technically and mentally as the great continental midfielders of the time. the combination of him and ryan giggs in the same team meant i could never bring myself to actually dislike man united, even as a kid, when your instinct is to hate just about anything that dares to be dominant. he will go down as one of my favourite all-time players.

it is a shame then, that alex ferguson - of all people - seems even more intoxicated by this powerful nostalgia. for it is he that has kept paul scholes as the fulcrum of the manchester united midfield, despite the quite obvious wane in his powers. as last season wore on, you could see scholes slipping, his efforts clearly undermined by his advancing years. there can be no better symbol than the champions league final: a promising opening that declined very rapidly into anonymity. scholes couldn't get a grip on the game, and was one of the main reasons that chelsea got better and better as the clock ticked down. it wasn't as if this came as any surprise - ferguson's admission he would definitely play scholes in the final was shocking, especially after similarly anonymous performances against barcelona in the semis. admittedly, the goal he scored to settle that tie was absolutely vintage paul scholes - a swerving, venomous strike from 20 yards out bringing back hazy memories of the turn of the century when he would seemingly score 10 of them a season - but other than that there was a real lack of influence from him. that, and that alone, could be no greater indictment of his play.

at this point, the hub of manchester united's passing game is michael carrick. i remember watching the team struggle in the manchester derby last season, listless and lacking that metronomic rhythm that carrick brings. the ex-spurs man is an underrated defender - about twice as good as scholes ever was in that facet of the game - and combines that with an excellent range of passing and tremendous awareness. undoubtedly, united have sorely missed him at times, none more so than against liverpool when they completely lost any grip they had on the game when he was finally forced off with an ankle injury. that day, javier mascherano hassled, harried and dominated the midfield on his own, particularly in the second half, and scholes trudged off, two-thirds of the match completed, a man who had singularly failed to cope. obviously, his midfield partner anderson was also culpable, but scholes in particular was powerless to stop the argentine running riot. but this season, there has been no coronation, no changing of the guard: fergie had simply played them both. this was always a flawed strategy, as now scholes is essentially the defensive deficient version of carrick, who despite his better-than-perceived defensive skills, still is primarily a ball-playing midfielder. both sit deep, and can't offer the workrate or dynamism that you would really want in the two-man partnership.

and now, scholes is out, injured with knee ligament damage. not a tear, which would see him sidelined until at least the beginning of next season, but a sprain or some other tweak that will rule him out for around two months. with scholes playing the way he is this certainly isn't a loss, and given who will replace him united may well be better off.

so who will replace him? with carrick also out and owen hargreaves struggling with his chronic tendinitis, anderson will continue, ryan giggs may get some playing time and rodrigo possebon might also have a bigger role to play, providing that he isn't still feeling tha after-effects of emmanuel pogatetz's assault on his ankle. but the crucial figure here is the much-maligned darren fletcher.

having spent the early part of his united career essentially viewed as a clumsy oaf never really good enough to be wearing the shirt, fletcher has developed into a very fine player indeed. he combines a superb workrate with good defensive abilities, and although his passing will never see him confused for a playmaker, he has developed his technique to the point where he is absolutely deserving of a place in the same team as his more illustrious contemporaries. as his early-season cameo against portsmouth demonstrated, the scot also possesses great movement and surprisingly good timing and instinct around the box. for united, he can help by doing the dirty work that no one else is capable of - the pressing & harrassment of the opposition - whilst managing to keep up in other facets of the game. combined with anderson, all long, fluid strides and stunning assuredness, his presence will undoubtedly be of benefit to a side that seemed to lack a real sense of purpose and determination in a few games earlier this season.

and this is why paul scholes being out could end up helping ferguson. by removing the clearly fading veteran, united are now looking at a midfield with considerably less romance, greatly reduced recognition and markedly increased effectiveness. well, in theory.