Paul Scholes is my favourite player. He epitomises the spirit of Manchester United and everything that is good about football.

I love watching little Paul Scholes, he's so in control of what he's doing and is always so accurate and pinpoint with his passing - it's just beautiful to watch.

It was a fair decision, the penalty, even though it was debatable whether it was inside or outside the box

In the sweep of its appeal, its ability to touch every corner of humanity, football is the only game that needed to be invented.

Beckham is unusual. He was desperate to be a footballer. His mind was made up when he was nine or ten. Many kids think that it's beyond them. But you can't succeed without practising at any sport.

Duncan Edwards is the one person who, even today, I really felt inferior to. I've never know anybody so gifted and strong and powerful with the presence that he had.

I have no hesitation in putting a name to the embodiment of all that I think is best about football. It's Paul Scholes. Players like Denis Law and George Best who I enjoyed so much as team-mates and now, finally, players I have watched closely in the Alex Ferguson era. And in so many ways Scholes is my favourite. I love his nous and conviction that he will find a way to win, to make the killer pass or produce the decisive volley.