Scholes injury update

[Motterman]

Groin op - out 3-4 weeks.

Cheers,

Motterman

[Pinesol13]

this is such a freakin rough scene.

the couple of weeks he was out earlier this season, it was obvious that we needed him on the pitch. He is a huge asset to the team.

so Scholes is out for 4 weeks, Solksjaer won't be back untill Christmas....this sucks

[Potomac Red Devil]

Curious...is this the op that they put off having earlier?

[gildarkevin]

I'd bet that this is actually an adductor problem, which is very often confused with either/both a groin problem or a hernia. It's very common on soccer players -- when I was going through months of physical therapy on my broken ankle, the then-Georgetown captain was dealing with this. It can often be healed through therapy, which is why they probably held off on surgery. He was actually in and out of there so much he eventually chose PT as his major and took an internship at this rehab center!

Of course, it's often just chronic and never really heals no matter what you do. So cross your fingers if this is the problem.

[haven]

I ordinarily hate to pile on...

...but SAF *#*#*#*#ed up terribly this time. He held Scholes out for 3 weeks... when a surgery would have kept him out for 1.5 to 2 months... and now he's going to have the surgery after all.

So, Ut'd's now without the only player who's been consistently excellent this year outside of their goalkeeper. Oh, and one of the two players for whom they have absolutely no back-up. Oh, and their best overall player.

Doom. Oh well, at least finishing lower than 3rd seems unlikely. I'm really usually not a pessimist... but I really think Utd are screwed for the season.

Maybe at least it'll lead SAF to experiment with Ronaldo (who isn't a winger, damnit). I'd really like to see him played as a withdrawn striker.

[Potomac Red Devil]

Agreed, Haven. Time to play Fletcher on the wing and Ronaldo behind Ruud.

[sch2383]

I think we are gonna be spending some big money this winter.

[yossarian]

Originally posted by gildarkevin
I'd bet that this is actually an adductor problem, which is very often confused with either/both a groin problem or a hernia. It's very common on soccer players -- when I was going through months of physical therapy on my broken ankle, the then-Georgetown captain was dealing with this. It can often be healed through therapy, which is why they probably held off on surgery. He was actually in and out of there so much he eventually chose PT as his major and took an internship at this rehab center!

Of course, it's often just chronic and never really heals no matter what you do. So cross your fingers if this is the problem.

Sorry, I'm really not trolling in your forum. Just wanted to agree with your post. I've had adductor problems for nearly 2 years now. It gets better with rest but one wrong lunge and it's hurt again no matter how much stretching you do beforehand. Despite the fact that my loyalties lie elsewhere, I hope Scholes heals up okay. Injuries aren't fun.

[Mac_Howard]

And the matches he will miss:

Liverpool, Chelsea in November as well as two Champions League ties against Rangers and Panathinaikos. :rolleyes:

[johno]

Originally posted by Potomac Red Devil
Agreed, Haven. Time to play Fletcher on the wing and Ronaldo behind Ruud.

With Fortune's good play thus far he could move up to left wing sliding giggs behind Ruud and keeping Ronaldo out wide with fletcher as back up. Dj Dj and Keano in the middle and P.Neville or Oshea or Silvestre at Left back or next to Rio. But I still like Ronaldo behind Ruud that could be a dangerous combo.

[haven]

Originally posted by mtkillamanjohno
With Fortune's good play thus far he could move up to left wing sliding giggs behind Ruud and keeping Ronaldo out wide with fletcher as back up. Dj Dj and Keano in the middle and P.Neville or Oshea or Silvestre at Left back or next to Rio. But I still like Ronaldo behind Ruud that could be a dangerous combo.

But the real problem with this is that it lacks a truly creative player to influence play from midfield. Keane, once early in the season, took over the role of creator. That gave me hope that there was life without Scholes. But he's failed to do it since. Dj and Keane break up attacks well, and Keane distributes well... but there's no attacking impetus there.

And while I think Giggs is good as an off-striker, he isn't much of an AMC. He usually seems less interested in the attack flowing through him, than personally cutting apart the defense. W/Scholes, it seems... he's willing to take what the defense gives him. If he has to switch the play to the wings - fine. Through ball to RVN? No problem. Lob over the top? Sure thing. No attacking opportunities? Fine, hold the ball or give it back to Keane. Giggs just doesn't bring all that. He'll take on a man, and put in a good pass... but the creativity just isn't on the same level. Giggs also, for obvious reasons, has a propensity to go out wide too much. When you're playing sole striker, *and* you're playing behind the striker... that's not really all that effective.

Ronaldo's obviously not there yet, but at least he potentially could be a long-term solution there. If nothing else, his footwork would buy him more time before the ball gets taken away. He'd just have to learn not to take on the entire defense each time if the attack was going through him.

[johno]

So we have two players with the same propensity almost, neither of them really fit... I would play the more experienced Giggs there, I also know that Giggs is a better shooter, and has better vision, his trough balls may be a bit more penetrating as well...
Of course against Portsmouth we could experiment with this...

-----------------RVN--------------
-------------Giggs----Ronaldo-----
Fortune----------------------Fletcher
-----------------Keane-------------

[Potomac Red Devil]

"-----------------RVN--------------
-------------Giggs----Ronaldo-----
Fortune----------------------Fletcher
-----------------Keane-------------"

I like that...I like it a lot.

Really...I do.

And you are all right about Fortune...playing like a man possessed lately.

[haven]

Originally posted by mtkillamanjohno
So we have two players with the same propensity almost, neither of them really fit... I would play the more experienced Giggs there, I also know that Giggs is a better shooter, and has better vision, his trough balls may be a bit more penetrating as well...
Of course against Portsmouth we could experiment with this...

-----------------RVN--------------
-------------Giggs----Ronaldo-----
Fortune----------------------Fletcher
-----------------Keane-------------

But Ronaldo's bigger, and therefore won't go down as easily under... oh, wait. Scratch that ;).

I like that set-up. Defense may have looked bad against Fulham, but it's held up well. No need to play 2 defensively minded DMC's... scoring is a more pressing concern.

[Ferris]

Originally posted by mtkillamanjohno
But I still like Ronaldo behind Ruud that could be a dangerous combo.
As do I. I think Ronaldo is a striker, no doubt. However, he has still to show that he can consistently pass the ball when it is wiser to do so...he needs to be able to get to ball to Ruud.

[bigtoga]

What's the scoop on Kleberson's injury? I think he should be healthy about now, right? He should fit right into the spot Scholes fills when he hangs a little further back, no?