SOCCER:ALEX FERGUSON'S improved relationship with Arsène Wenger reverted back to type last night, when the Manchester United manager accused his old adversary of disrespecting Paul Scholes. The Scot is unhappy about Wenger's description of the midfielder as having "a dark side", the Arsenal manager's comments provoking the kind of withering response that used to epitomise one of the oldest feuds in football management.
“I don’t know why Arsène Wenger said that,” Ferguson said. “It is very easy to look into the dark side of any player. I could say the same about one of the Arsenal players in particular, but I don’t need to do that. He (Wenger) should focus on the strengths and abilities (of Scholes) and the contribution he has made to English football over an 18-year period, because it is phenomenal.”
Wenger, in fairness, had been delivering a long eulogy to Scholes, but Ferguson was bemused that the Frenchman should follow that with criticisms about the player’s habit of making reckless tackles. He would not name the Arsenal player he was talking about, but added: “If you are talking about someone with the ability and performance levels of Paul Scholes, you know he is not the best tackler – but he has not injured anyone in his time here.”
The United manager ruled out the idea of Scholes, who will be 36 in November, playing for England again, having retired from international football six years ago at the age of 29 – “I don’t think it will happen; definitely not,” he said – but he is increasingly beginning to think this will not be the midfielder’s final season.
“The fact he has stayed clear of injuries is important,” Ferguson continued. “He had an eye problem and a knee injury a couple of years back, which cost him two-and-a-half seasons. But he is fit now and has trained every day. You can, if you look after yourselves, have a long career in the game, but I must admit that if you had asked me 10 years ago I could not possibly have imagined that Paul would have been playing at 35 or 36.”
Wayne Rooney is fit to face West Ham at Old Trafford this evening after missing Sunday’s draw at Fulham because of a stomach bug.
Ferguson also reported that Rio Ferdinand has trained all week and is ahead of schedule from a knee injury, giving him an outside chance of being involved against one of his former clubs.
Ferguson then launched a strong defence of Bebe after what he described as “vicious” reports that United’s coaching staff had been underwhelmed with their first impressions of a player signed for €9 million without the manager having seen him play before. Anderson came back from a six-month layoff in the reserves game against Manchester City on Tuesday, but Ferguson said Bebe had not been sufficiently fit to play, even though the 20-year-old had already appeared in six pre-season games for Vitoria de Guimaraes.
Tottenham Hotspur, meanwhile, are stepping up their pursuit of Ashley Young and are considering tabling a formal offer for the England international as they seek to capitalise on the growing uncertainty at Aston Villa.
Young has been on Harry Redknapp’s radar for some time and Spurs hope their progress into the Champions League group stage and Villa’s defeat in the Europa League will help to convince the winger he would be better off at White Hart Lane.
However, Randy Lerner, the Villa chairman, is determined to keep Young after finally losing James Milner to Manchester City last week and will strongly resist any approach.
