Giggs sets sights on derby delight

Dead_Man_Inc SG

Hernandez arrived at Old Trafford this summer from Guadalajara. He made a goalscoring substitute appearance in the Community Shield victory over Chelsea at the weekend and has generally impressed throughout his short time with his new club.

And what Scholes has seen of the 22-year-old has had him reminiscing about former team-mate Solskjaer.

"He looks like an out-and-out goalscorer,'' said Scholes. "That's not to say he can't play outside the box as well, because when the ball comes up to him his touch is good as well. But he's a threat in behind defenders, and hopefully he'll score a lot of goals this year.

"People say he's like Ole, and I thought that the first time I saw him in training. We did a finishing session and everything was in the bottom corner. He scores whenever he gets a chance. He comes on and looks lively. He's adapted to the pace of the game already.

"He's capable of scoring goals and if he's anything like Ole, we'll take that.''

Defender Nemanja Vidic has also been impressed.

"He looks sharp. He likes the ball played in behind the defence, he has pace and has scored already, which will be great for his confidence,'' he said. "He seems like he's enjoying himself, he speaks English well and that's helped him to settle more quickly. It's like he's been here for three years.''

Rock^Star SG

too early to say.....i think he'll be heavily marked. Ole played in the EPL of the 90s. Standards have changed.

Rooney9 SG

Paul Scholes has admitted he wished he had gone to the World Cup with England and not opted to turn down Fabio Capello's offer of a place in the squad he took to South Africa.

The Manchester United star has flourished so far this season, proving exactly why Fabio Capello wanted him in his England squad in South Africa.

Scholes rejected the option of a retirement U-turn, chiefly because Capello, who made contact through his trusted right-hand man Franco Baldini, only gave the 35-year-old a couple of hours to make up his mind.

England's lack of creativity was clearly obvious this summer and it is hard to believe Scholes would not have made a major difference.

Scholes is not the kind of character to dwell on such events but, as he looks back now, he admits despite the time he would have been forced to spend away from home, he made a mistake by turning his back on the Three Lions, having initially retired in the wake of Euro 2004.

"I wish I had gone," he told Football Focus. "I did feel as though I had made the wrong decision. I had only been given a couple hours, so it was a bit of a rush job, but the World Cup is the biggest tournament you can be involved in. There was a touch of regret but it doesn't matter now. It has gone."

Rooney9 SG

Paul Scholes demonstrated his fitness for Manchester United against Newcastle United. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto

Sir Alex Ferguson has backed up Danny Murphy's glowing praise of Paul Scholes by saying the midfielder is as fit at 35 as he has been in years.

"If he looks stronger it's possibly because he went through last season without picking up any serious injury," Ferguson said. "He's done well, because he's had plenty of injuries over the years and been out for three- or four-month spells. His fitness was great last year, as the season went on he got better and better, and he's carried on the same way. He and Ryan Giggs have yet to miss a training session and we've had 40 since the start of pre-season. I don't know how long he can carry on, but I can't see any real deterioration in his game."

Looking to today's game, the United manager added: "We lost to Burnley last year, as well as Fulham. We didn't expect that. It was our own fault, we had 19 chances and didn't hit the target. It was careless, whereas we knew Fulham might be a step too far with emergency centre backs. We were doing OK [in the 3-0 defeat at Craven Cottage] until we went a goal down, then we ended up conceding three. Losing at home to Aston Villa for the first time since I came here was hard to take too, and that didn't help, but we were fragile when we went to Fulham last season. If we had drawn that game I think we might have won the league.

"Mark Hughes has got a good experienced squad, and continuity as well. There aren't too many players who have reached the stage of saying this is my last year. Even Danny Murphy is young enough to play for a few seasons yet."

iceFatboy SG

scholes turned his back on England and reserve his last years for United. if he were to go back, I doubt with the rigours, he can perform to his best for united. so any talk of going back should not be make in haste.

yes, he is enjoying his best form now, but as we all know, form can go up and down and esp for older players, it may (touch wood) go down longer than it stays up.

i hope SAF can rotate him, and probably generates/creates a successor (worthy) to this gingerhead soon..

Rooney9 SG

Gary Neville can see no end in sight to the stellar careers of fellow Manchester United veterans Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.

As Neville waits to learn whether the one appearance he needs to reach 600 for the Old Trafford outfit will come in the Champions League clash with Rangers tonight, the question of how long his long-time team-mates can go on for has cropped up again.

Sir Alex Ferguson admitted United would almost certainly need to "stretch" themselves in the transfer market when the time comes for Giggs and company to call it a day.

Ferguson has not given up hope of getting another two years from those ageing legs, although given his own injury problems, Neville's career seems likely to come to a close first.

Towards the end of last season, Neville felt he was three games away from retirement, only for Ferguson to hand the full-back a new contract.

That same decision had already been made for Giggs and Scholes.

And after starting the current campaign in impressive fashion, Neville feels the pair still have plenty of service to give.

"I don't see why Ryan and Paul cannot continue what they are doing given how well they are playing at present," he said.

"Ryan is 37 in November and I can't see any difference. It is incredible really.

"I certainly don't see any players better than them.

"They manage themselves brilliantly, on and off the pitch.

"The manager is looking at 25 to 30 games a season off them now, not 55 so they could play on for another few years."

Rooney9 SG

Ryan Giggs insists that Manchester United can get their season back on track with victory over rivals Liverpool this weekend.

Neither side has made a glittering start to the new season, with United throwing away late leads at both Fulham and Everton.

Now Giggs admits they can use Sunday's match could ignite their season.

"The crowd will light up," said the United legend. "It's usually a quick game and it's usually a ferocious game, so hopefully it's the kind of game that sets us back on the winning trail.

"No matter how the teams are doing, it's always the big game of the season. It's always the one you look forward to, the atmosphere will be brilliant here and all the players will be up for it.

"You just feel that intensity when you play Liverpool, no matter how they are doing.

"Chelsea and Arsenal are big games - but a local derby against Liverpool and the history between the two clubs makes it special.

"The Liverpool game is always important at United, but it is not going to make or break our season no matter what the result is.

"There's not a lot wrong. We should have won at Everton last week, so we are generally in good form I think.

"We just haven't finished teams off, just like against Rangers, when we were a bit sloppy at times."

Chelsea are already four points clear of United and Giggs admits they cannot afford to let them extend that further, saying: "That's probably been the case over the last six or seven years, so we're wary of that.

"I honestly feel we just haven't had the breaks.

"The concentration lapses are a concern, but we're not too far away.

"If we finish our chances off, we will be beating teams four or five nil."