On a day when Paul Scholes 'passed Manchester City to death' Gary Neville was on hand to give his team-mate the kiss of life as United's title tilt was resurrected at Eastlands.

A week in which the Salford-born schemer agreed to prolong the most illustrious of careers for another season at least was concluded by the most majestic of headed winners that rolled back the years and had United supporters celebrating like it's 1994.

Plenty to ponder for Capello

When Scholes first pulled on a United shirt, on September 21 against Port Vale in a League Cup tie (he scored twice in a 2-1 win), Alan Partridge could have been the the man with the microphone at Vale Park as it was in 1994 that Steve Coogan's most loved comedy creation, then a sports reporter, made a debut of his own on The Day Today.

The year's big movie was Forest Gump, while in the charts it was Oasis versus Blur as Britpop's defining albums Definitely Maybe and Parklife were released as soundtracks to a changing Britain that was ready to embrace New Labour down the tracks.

Oasis and Blur have come and gone (and come back again in the case of the latter), Coogan is still greeted in the street with 'Ah-ha!' by complete strangers and New Labour - well we all know what happened to them.

Scholes, though, remains the real deal. Bands, comedians and politicians are all subject to the fads of fashion but for footballers it is normally dodgy knees or ankles that determine shelf life. Not so for Scholes.

Ah-ha!

In an era where most footballers look as though they probably employ a bronzer when they take off their shirts to reveal physiques that have Arnold Schwarzenegger saying 'that's a bit much', wasn't it gloriously refreshing to see a short 35-year-old asthmatic score a 92nd minute winner? There's hope for us all yet.

Sir Alex Ferguson has long since accepted Scholes is no longer the box-to-box midfielder of yesteryear, save for the weekend, and if he ever shouted 'run, Scholes!, run!' he'd probably get the same single digit gesture his playmaker usually reserves for Father Time. But unlike a box of chocolates, you always know what you're going to get from Scholes: quality.

Sitting in front of United's back four on Saturday, Scholes was happy to allow Darron Gibson and Darren Fletcher to bomb past him in support of Wayne Rooney. Ferguson's decision to employ Rooney as a lone striker for much of the campaign has rejuvenated Scholes' career to the extent that Fabio Capello, in the stands at Eastlands, may just be ruing his premature decision to call time on his international career back in August 2004.

A five-man midfield complements Scholes' adapted game to a tee, providing him with the type of protection, and time, to use the ball as he does so exquisitely. Had United matched City's 4-4-2 he would persistently have been harangued in receiving the ball further up the pitch in a congested central third. Nigel De Jong was excellent as a destructive influence for City but the Dutchman knew he couldn't press Scholes further up the field as it would have left City's remaining middle three, which consisted of two out-and-out attacking wingers and Gareth Barry, overrun by United's midfield.

In that sense City's ambition was also their undoing. The limitations of their noble but foolhardy attacking approach allowed Scholes to give a master class in the art of passing. In the first half in particular he was on a different plane to the other 21 players on the pitch.

England calling

Like an NFL quarterback he set up every United play and while his wide receivers Ryan Giggs and Antonio Valencia were not always at their cutting best, there was much to admire in the approach play. Whether going short or long Scholes treated the ball like an old friend, to be respected not rushed. In total he made 52 passes, of which 48 were successful.

Where much of what enveloped him was frenetic and characterised by loose passing, Scholes was impervious to the occasion as like a puppet on a string he had the ball play to his every whim. Whether employing back or top spin, raking a fifty yard pass from left to right or simply ticking things over intelligently, Scholes reminded everyone, amid the persistent profligacy, that possession is nine tenths of the law.

Lee Westwood was in attendance and the US Masters runner-up can't help but have admired Scholes' manipulation of the ball. The United man always hit the fairway as he conducted proceedings in that unassuming but steely way of his; the iron fist in a velvet glove indeed.

Even his infamous tackling hit the mark on Saturday; his thunderous challenges which usually conclude with a yellow card rather than the ball were conspicuous only by their absence.

Given he'd rather take another smacker on the kisser from Gary Neville than be subjected to the media's glare it seems unlikely Capello would be able to convince Scholes to do a U-turn on his decision to hang up his international boots on 66 caps.

But what if, after a season in which he has patrolled Champions League games with similar relish, a final swansong on the world stage appealed. There is no player with a lesser ego but to be wooed by a nation may just hold some sway for the Ginger Prince.

The Italian tactician made it his principle aim upon taking the England reins to gets his charges playing in a patient style that is more in keeping with international football; an entirely different species to that of the Premier League. Who better than Scholes than to occupy the Xavi role?

Who would be better suited to the slower, refined perimeters of international football - where to give the ball away cheaply has been England's Achilles heel since the dawn of time - than Scholes?

What if...

Given Capello looked set to include David Beckham in his squad prior to his injury it's hardly unfathomable to imagine he's pondered the idea of an international recall for Scholes, while Gary Neville's form over the past few months will also have given him food for thought. Although I'm not sure they'd be allowed to room together.

In some of the eulogies waxing lyrical over the weekend he's been tagged the ultimate footballers' footballer but perhaps such a moniker does him ill-justice. In many senses Scholes is the antithesis to the modern day footballer.

In eschewing the ostentatious pursuits of the Bentley Boys, in resisting the lure of nightclubs and WAGS and dedicating his life to his craft, his art, Scholes is a class apart.

"My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder. Scholes is undoubtedly the greatest midfielder of his generation." Zinedine Zidane.

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