Yesterday we learned that Manchester United legend Paul Scholes will have surgery on his knee on Thursday (Nov 1) and will be out for 3 months after that.
It brings back memories of 05/06, when Manchester United lost Scholesy for a whole season and a squad battered with injuries fought above and beyond what was expected of them, just falling short of giving Chelsea a real scare for the title. What could Manchester United have done if Scholes did not have his vision problems then?
I hope we don’t have to ask ourselves this question again at the end of the season. There was always a chance that Scholes would miss the Saturday game against Arsenal but to miss 3 months is a blow. Nevertheless, Manchester United have the quality and strength in depth to cope.
In a returning Owen Hargreaves they have a midfield general who hustles his players – something we haven’t seen since Roy Keane. Hargo, like Carrick, wants the ball all the time but the biggest difference between those two is that Hargo shouts for it, Carrick merely moves into position and expects it. With Scholes out I expect Hargo to become the first-choice midfielder (assuming he stays fit) and once Carrick returns, he should partner him in midfield.
The injury will mean that Anderson will get his fair share of games this season (starting from the game at Emirates), and hopefully he can do justice to the hype surrounding him the same way Nani has.
This season’s squad has the depth that’s been missing for the last few seasons – others may complain about the money being spent but the fact is that we’ve not only brought in quality players but we’ve bought potentially world-class players who will grow together with our current superstar duo, Rooney and Ronaldo.
Any team boasting Rooney, Tevez, Ronaldo, Anderson, Nani and Hargreaves as their front six have a good shout at scoring at the Emirates, no?
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