Scholes Wants To Earn His Place

Sir Alex Ferguson hinted that he might be forced to play Paul Scholes if United get to the Champions League final, because the 33-year-old midfielder missed our Nou Camp appearance through suspension. Well, Scholes is having none of it.

Quite rightly, the brilliant ginger ninja reckons he must get his place based on merit, not on past achievements or sympathy.

'If we get there, I want to be there on my merit. I don't want a sympathy vote,' he told the Daily Mirror.

'If I'm not playing well, the manager's not going to say, 'You missed the final 10 years ago, go and play for 10 minutes'. I wouldn't read too much into that one.

'I think whether you've missed a chance or not, it's a massive tournament for everybody involved, even players like Milan's Paolo Maldini who've won it five times.'

First, get to that final. In Rome Scholesy will surely not start given he completed 90 minutes in the last two games. But if we indeed reach Moscow and meet Liverpool or Chelsea there, we can start Scholes. Not against Arsenal, though. That kind of football would be too much for his aging legs I think. I might be wrong, though.