Season 2005/2006, Roy Keane leaves Manchester United in November and Paul Scholes is ruled out for the second part of the season with blurred vision. United's midfield is in total shambles, with Alan Smith being a regular starter. Up steps a certain Mr. Giggs.
After losing two key midfielders in Keane and Scholes, Sir Alex Ferguson had very little to choose from. Quinton Fortune, now at Doncaster Rovers, was very injury prone, Darren Flecher was too young to carry any responsibility and Alan Smith was...well, a striker. But with Cristiano Ronaldo getting better and better all the time and Ji-Sung Park having a terrific debut season, there were some options to reshuffle the squad. To an average football viewer, Ryan Giggs and John O'Shea would look like the most unlikely midfield pairing, but it worked. United won 10 league games in a row near the end of the season and, with a strong second part of the season, finished second in the league behind Chelsea with 83 points. Which was a real light in the dark after finishing third the season before with 77 points.
Summer of 2006 saw United sign Michael Carrick to toughen up the midfield, so there wouldn't be any need to play players out of position. A year later Nani and Anderson arrived. Even more bodies to the midfield. The arrival of Nani and Anderson, were seen as long term replacements for Giggs and Paul Scholes respectively. Nani though didn't have the same impact in the team as his fellow countryman Cristiano Ronaldo, who ended season 07/08 with 31 league goals and with his first PFA Player of the Year award. Being encouraged by the results two seasons back, Ryan Giggs started to see even more playing time in the middle of the field, as Anderson struggled with home sickness in mid season.
Season 2008/2009 saw a total rebirth of Ryan Giggs. Having only started 12 matches all season in the Barclay's Premier League, most as a centre midfield player, Giggs was voted the PFA Player of the Year. Many saw this as more of a lifetime achievement award, but with the new season, Giggs has already started to silence the critics. As usual United's start to the season hasn't been the best. They're top of the table now, but goals and results have been tough to come. Last weekend saw a very resilient Bolton side at Old Trafford giving they're best, but their best was far away from the best of Ryan Giggs, who looked untouchable at times. Clever flicks, runs and passes, going past opponents with ease. And not for the first time this season, Ryan Giggs stole the spotlight from other United's stars. If he manages to maintain his from, he'll no doubt be in the running for the PFA Player of the Year again, he was already nominated for the European Player of the Year last Sunday.
