Kevin McCarra looks at some of the reasons why the gifted Manchester United midfielder has struggled to recreate his club form for his country

Paul Scholes could be the face of English football in 2004 but he will never take the slightest interest in selling the image rights. Invisibility is his profession and his preference. In the penalty area he is as nerve-shredding as a poltergeist. Off the field, the Manchester United midfielder does another sort of ghosting to vanish into his private life.

Scholes was tagged yesterday with the player of the month award, but he can be counted on to make his practised escape from the publicists. It is as if he believes he can keep his stardom a secret. At 29, with Euro 2004 and the quest for the Champions League to come, this, however, should be the moment when his influence keeps him at the fore, to the benefit of club and country.

There have been no goals in 24 England appearances since a victory in Greece in June 2001. It is proof of his standing that the national coach views that arid sequence as a curiosity rather than a crisis. "I can't imagine an England team without Scholes," said Sven-Goran Eriksson. In the past couple of years with United, after all, the player has outsmarted defences which are more vigilant than quite a few he has come across at international level.

He is a delight to connoisseurs such as Lou Macari, who was also an expert of the goalmouth in his days at Old Trafford in the 1970s: "Scholes has always been my favourite of the current players there. He's got the timing, he's fearless, he can spring - balls in the air are no problem to him. It's a gift he'll never lose.

"If you look at both of his goals against Manchester City last month, he's only a yard or two behind Richard Dunne on each occasion as the ball comes in. His timing was perfect and he climbed higher than the central defender and also had the craft to guide the header. It wasn't just a case of meeting the ball, he knew he was going for the far corner and David Seaman had no chance. It's great for a manager to know that he's no trouble off the pitch and he's a marked problem to opponents on the pitch. When you're sitting there in that dug-out and the game is finely balanced, you'll know there's always a chance he's going to pop up and break the deadlock.

"There's a lot of great players at United. As the main goalscorer, Ruud van Nistelrooy gets all the plaudits and people think it would put a big dent in the team if he was absent. Well, that's always the feeling I've had about Paul. When those tricky games come around, he's the one that can take the team from a poorish position to a winning one."

Scholes can appear like a walking solution to every problem. When David Beckham was dropped for a match at Leeds United in 2000, it was Scholes who plugged the gap on the right as United won. Last season he knuckled down to the post of second striker Alex Ferguson had assigned him, but also bagged a hat-trick when given a loose role on the left at Newcastle.

The versatility tends to be treated as a manifestation of Scholes's keen and egoless attitude. People think of him, somewhat romantically, as a throwback to a more innocent time, and the impression is only deepened by sightings of Scholes and his son, Aaron, in the crowd at Oldham Athletic.

In the circumstances it seems almost churlish to wonder if the reclusive streak in his character might cut him off from greatness. Many feel he should be numbered with the great European midfield players, but Scholes himself shies away from those comparisons. Self-effacement can come at a price. It might even be the attention-seeking streak in someone like Beckham that allows him to impose himself on the international scene more than his former team-mate.

"Maybe he likes the Manchester United environment better than the England environment," said Macari, pondering the superior fluency at club level.

Scholes seems to have been at his most telling for his country before he was a senior member of the group. There were nine goals in his first 19 appearances with England and only four in the subsequent 40, as if there were inhibitions at international level that never arise at his club, despite United's dependence on him. In Istanbul he was presented with a chance that looked feasible for a man of his accomplishment but it was pulled wide in the goalless draw with Turkey.

There is every indication that the Salford-born Scholes is happiest in cherished and familiar surroundings. This is definitely not evidence for an undermining timidity.

"He can be horrible and that should be part of a midfielder's make-up," said Macari of a midfielder known as a person whose emotional engagement and commitment can be Keanesque in dimension. It is the instinctiveness that gets mislaid with England, and the lack of recent goals on the international stage could drain his spontaneity as he becomes ever more conscious of the dearth.

Yet a commanding Scholes who was not unduly affected by the summer heat in Portugal could excel at Euro 2004. "I see him as England's best attacking midfield player," said Bobby Robson. "He's a will-o'-the-wisp. I would say he's at his peak now. He's a good passer of the ball and he's neat and tidy. He always seems to do well against Newcastle. He gets into the box and he's got a finish. He doesn't pass it in, he thumps it."

The former England manager knows that Newcastle's nemesis could well strike again in tomorrow's Premiership match. Should Scholes rediscover that sharpness and freedom with England in June even his highly developed elusiveness might not be enough to spare him the attention, and gratitude, of his country.

Guardian Service

Manchester Utd v Newcastle Utd

Sunday, 4.05, Old Trafford

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