© EuroFootball.com
Strategist Sir Alex Ferguson insists that the new contract with Paul Scholes is not a step back.
The 37-year-old veteran ended his career after the last season, but returned to the team at the coach's request on Sunday and unexpectedly appeared on the field in the English Cup match against "Man City."
"For some people, this caused a negative reaction - they say we took a step back," Ferguson said. "But how can that be? We got a player for next to nothing, who represented the team for 20 years. He won't play in every match, but could we find another player so cool-headed and adept at distributing balls? Definitely not."
The Englishman was already registered on Friday, but even the "Man Utd" players initially didn't know about it.
"I don't know how we managed to keep it a secret," added the Scotsman. "But we didn't want the effect to diminish. We had the support of 5 thousand fans, and having found out just before the match that Scholes was included, they were fantastic."
