Sir Alex Ferguson has paid tribute to Ryan Giggs, Paul
Scholes and Rio Ferdinand as the trio near personal milestones for
United.
Giggs will make his 600th Premier League
appearance if he is involved against Wigan, while Scholes and Ferdinand
are one shy of 700 and 400 senior outings for the club respectively.
Sir
Alex credits the players’ longevity to the way they have looked after
themselves and believes Giggs is perfectly capable of playing into his
40s.
"My personal feeling is that Ryan can play for another couple of years," the Reds boss said.
"Paul's
a different physical specimen to Ryan and he's had his injuries – two
knee injuries, an eye injury – and yet he's playing his 700th game. It's
phenomenal.
"Rio's also playing his 400th game. It's a landmark
for the three players and it's a great example to the younger players
about what can be achieved if they
sacrifice in football. These players have done that or they would never have got to this stage."
While
Giggs and Scholes can no longer play every week, they undoubtedly still
have plenty to offer the side, as the latter proved in his
inspirational cameo at Southampton in United’s last game.
The pair
have spent two decades under Sir Alex’s tutelage and the boss counts
himself fortunate to have been able to work with them for so long.
"You
can’t judge Ryan’s performances at the moment because I haven’t played
him!" said Sir Alex. "But he will be involved in a lot of games this
season, as normal, and I’m sure we'll see his ability.
"Paul came
on against Southampton and it was like opening a door to another room.
He brought order to the game. His selection and accuracy of passes
changed the game.
even though he was only on the pitch for 25 minutes. Southampton didn't know what to do with him.
"That's
a great credit to the lad. He'll always produce quality. He could be
playing in 10 years in a former players’ game and still show what a
fantastic player he is.
"I'm lucky to have worked with them both.
It’s not a matter of being proud to have had them. It’s more a matter of
saying, 'I'm lucky to have had two devoted players like that'. It's
been brilliant."
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