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Review: Ryan Giggs

/noticias.info/ Amid rain-sodden scenes in Wigan and Moscow, the beaming smile of Ryan Giggs was enough to ensure no spirits were dampened. How fitting that in the two games when the veteran winger matched and then overtook Sir Bobby Charlton's appearance record, he made vital contributions.

A title-clinching second goal at the JJB and the decisive penalty conversion in the Luzhniki Stadium made for an unforgettable end to the season, and also ensured his status as the most decorated player in English football history.

Wing artistry is sometimes considered a young man’s game and often thought to be dependent on the kind of speed and trickery that can often fade in players who are over 30. But Giggs is one of those rare specimens who seems as fit, fast and elusive at 34 as he did when he first wowed the Stretford End as British football’s rising star back in the early '90s.

“Ryan’s playing like he did when he was 17 and first came through,” said Gary Neville at the end of last season. And he began this term the same way, by scoring United’s first of the campaign in the Community Shield against Chelsea at Wembley. Although he notched only three further goals in all competitions, these included his 100th league strike - scored against Derby in December.He’s also an essential component in the Reds’ offensive forays. How often do we see him form part of United’s lightning fast attacking moves by linking up with Rooney and Ronaldo? When all three are on their game, the interplay is one of the most formidable sights in European football.

When people talk about United’s ‘strength in depth’, they’re usually talking about the talented squad players. These are the footballers who won’t necessarily feature in every game but who, as substitutes, are often every bit as effective and invaluable as the players who have started the game.

Yet Giggs looks likely to be one of those squad players from now on, as Sir Alex uses him sparingly, like a cat to be let loose among the opposition’s pigeons. He’s a man whose presence on a pitch will always cause defenders to break out in a cold sweat. And even if some of his younger team-mates more regularly hog the headlines these days, it’s at those kind of times that he will pop up with a dazzling run or a crucial goal, and we’ll all be reminded just why Ryan Giggs will always be loved by the Reds, and feared by the rest. notas_de_prensa_archivo