It was strange to see Paul Scholes become so outspoken after a playing career which saw him shy away from the camera more often than not.
Some would put it down to an ex-player finding a way to remain central to the game in his retirement. But whatever you think of Paul Scholes you have to say that he seems to get it right more often than not with his views on players.
He spoke time and again, for example, about how Toni Kroos and Cesc Fabregas would have been great players for Manchester United.
‘I love watching Toni Kroos,’ Scholes enthused, ‘I think he’s brilliant.
‘I just wish Man United had signed him. Yes, it is good to see United bringing in new players, but they haven’t signed anything like the quality of Kroos.’
I think that there are a lot of players at United who have left United are never really missed because the club always seem to kick on. Cesc Fabregas is a top, top player, he has been with Arsenal, he knows the Premiership and it would be a dream really to sign somebody like that. He is a player who can score goals and has set them up for Robin van Persie. That would be nice and hopefully we can do it.’
Both have since proven their worth to become stand out performers for Chelsea and Real Madrid while Manchester United’s own new playmaker, Ander Herrera has taken time to adapt.
You do feel that a midfield of Kroos and Fabregas would have Manchester United far further forward in their development at this point in time, had they signed.
So perhaps we should pay particular attention to his feelings about Wayne Rooney’s best position.
The England team we were in at Euro 2004 would have beaten Portugal in that quarter-final had Wayne not got injured and got past the Netherlands and into the final.
Quite simply, at that tournament, the opposition could not handle his energy and his goalscoring.
My view has not changed. He is best as a centre-forward in a position where he can score goals.
We love to see Wazza at number ten where he can get involved in the game from deep and splay lovely passes all over the field. But he is a natural finisher and perhaps he would be even more productive for the team if he was told to stay up top.
Manchester United fans: Where would you play Rooney?
