Football News

It would be fair to say that many people in England view the Club World Cup as a somewhat pointless competition, an unnecessary distraction from more pressing domestic matters.Paul Scholes would seem to be one of those people. Ahead of his club's appearance on Thursday in the competition in Japan, the former England midfielder has spoken of how he'd much rather be at home helping his club retain their Premier League crown.

"It's a big competition and we want to win," admitted Scholes, before going on to express reservations about the tournament.
"But obviously, we'd probably rather be here, playing our league game and not have so many fixtures in January like we've got.

"It's one of those things. We managed to win the European Cup last year and sometimes afterwards you have to do things maybe you don't want to do."

United will face a hectic January fixture schedule as a result of competing in the FIFA tournament, and by the time they return current league leaders Liverpool could have forged a nine point lead over the Old Trafford outfit.

Saturday's 0-0 draw with Tottenham Hotpsur also did little to help United's cause, despite their rivals from Merseyside being held at home to a 2-2 draw by Hull City.

United are now six points behind Liverpool having played a game more, but Salford-born Scholes was remaining upbeat.

"We would have liked to win but coming to a place like this is tough and we will take a point," he continued.

"It is a bit frustrating not to be closer to those at the top but Liverpool were expected to beat Hull so our point is probably better than theirs."

Scholes is returning to fitness following a knee injury, and despite his reservations about the Club World Cup, is pleased with the opportunity it provides to help him with his match fitness.

"I am not far off," he explained. "Maybe I can try for 70, 80 or even 90 minutes in Japan and can come on from that."

Manchester United play Gamba Osaka on Thursday, their first appearance in this year's competition.