He was taking 30 seconds to book a player. He was needing a rest. It was ridiculous.

David Beckham is Britain's finest striker of a football not because of God-given talent but because he practises with a relentless application that the vast majority of less gifted players wouldn't contemplate.

He has an awareness of what's happening around him on the edge of the box which is better than most players. As a kid he always had a knack of arriving in the penalty area just at the right time, but he's proving just as effective from outside the box because he's using his experience in the right way. It doesn't matter who I am thinking about bringing into my midfield, Paul Scholes will be included, as he would in any side in the world.

Look at me – it's taken 10 years off me today. It's these tablets, they're great!

I think Rafael Benítez was an angry man. He must have been disturbed for some reason. I think you have got to cut through the venom of it and hopefully he'll reflect and understand what he said was absolutely ridiculous.

It was the most emphatic display of selflessness I have seen on a football field. Pounding over every blade of grass, competing as if he would rather die of exhaustion than lose, he inspired all around him.

Everywhere I go the coaches all tell me that Scholsey is the player they admire. But if they think they'll get him they're wasting their time! Paul is a Manc lad pure and simple. He loves the club and there's no chance of him leaving here. If ever he decided to go there would be a stampede, but he won't be going, he's here for life.