Thiago Alcantara and Kevin Strootman can be Manchester United’s next Scholes and Keane

The one area of Manchester United’s excellent squad which Sir Alex Ferguson was never entirely able to fix over the last few years of his reign was the central midfield. Ever since the Roy Keane and Paul Scholes heyday of 1997-2004, United have always had one strong option, but never a satisfactory partner. The likes of Darren Fletcher and Owen Hargreaves seemed to be the successors to replace Keane, but neither of them were ever quite able to become what they expected due to illness and injury. They never quite reached those Keane levels of drive, leadership and work.

Ever since his signing, Michael Carrick has been a solid and consistent presence in midfield, able to keep the ball moving and setting a nice tempo. That bit is Scholes-like, but he has never been able to replicate, or even come close to, Paul Scholes’s goal tallies. He’s a tidy player, who has just had a career season, but he will be 32 in July and is unlikely to improve further. Anderson and Tom Cleverley have been given the chance to play the role of the goal-scoring midfielder, but neither have seized the opportunity.

However, with a new manager in David Moyes, comes an ideal opportunity to sign two players who look like the best answer to the Keane/Scholes conundrum since the men themselves – Thiago Alcantara and Kevin Strootman.

Is Alcantara the perfect replacement for Scholes?

Thiago Alcantara of Barcelona would very much be the Paul Scholes of this pairing. Like Scholes in his prime, he combines elegance and sophistication on the ball, tenacity and willingness in the tackle, and has a real eye for goals. His hat-trick in the European Under-21 Championship final merely served to underline this ability. At Barcelona, he has been groomed to take over from Xavi in deeper areas; but with Spain, he had more attacking license which he used with discretion to devastating effect. His decision-making and problem-solving are amongst the best in the world despite being just 22.

In his pomp, Scholes was renowned for his flawless, peerless technique and ball striking, his range of short and long passing and, most importantly, his decision making. Plenty of players can strike a clean ball or pick a pass, but what set Scholes apart was his ability to do it all the time. Watching Thiago Alcantara, you get that same impression. His reading of the game, another Scholes trait, is so good and so quick, that he sees things before they are happening.

In United’s 1999 treble-winning season, Scholes had a telepathic understanding with Ryan Giggs and David Beckham out wide. He knew when they were going behind the defender, or when they were coming short, seemingly without looking. It opened up the whole field, and the quality of cross the two of them provided made them unstoppable at times. Thiago Alcantara has this same ability.

Hugely respected British football writer Patrick Barclay once said that Scholes had ‘a hundred years of football in his blood’ and Thiago is cut from that same cloth. His father Mazinho won the World Cup in 1994 and this innate understanding of the game is what sets him apart from other pure technicians. He is the closest thing to Paul Scholes since Paul Scholes himself.

Next to the box of wonderment that made up Scholes’s game was the relentless drive and world-class all-round midfield game of Roy Keane. Keane was never a player who would be described as the best at any one thing; but what made him special was that he was very good at everything. His ferocious desire to win was all-consuming, and he dragged a team of young players to the Premier League title and then the Champions League. Keane often beat his midfield opponent before the game had even started. His manic presence and constant harassment of the opponent made him as difficult to play against as the most gifted of technicians.

Keane strode or smashed his way through midfield after midfield and dragged his team with him. His pressing and tackling was without equal, his passing was tidy, and he managed to score 33 goals from midfield. The way Keane dominated his opponents with sheer force is reminiscent of PSV’s Kevin Strootman.

At just 23, Strootman is the captain of PSV and is expected to take over from Robin van Persie as the Holland captain in due course. He is a very strong leader and has an irrepressible influence on his team mates. This year, he dragged a flimsy, but talented and young, PSV side to second place in the Eredivisie. He led from the front, and led by example. He showed them how to win, much like Keane in the mid-90s.

Strootman has the same qualities that made Keane so dangerous in his prime

Strootman leads like Keane, and also plays like him. He is very tough, an excellent presser and tackler, and underrated when in possession. He keeps things simple and uses his physique, fitness and desire to win. He even gets more goals than Keane, with a specialty in arriving late to finish sweeping moves.

If Manchester United were to sign Thiago Alcantara and Kevin Strootman, they would potentially get themselves the successors to Paul Scholes and Roy Keane that they need to win the Champions League once more.