They received wisdom is that, with his retirement, Manchester United needs to find a long term replacement with midfielder Paul Scholes.

There’s little doubt that Paul Scholes was the best passer of the ball that England has produced in the last twenty years (you could make an argument for Paul Gasgoigne, but he self destructed too much). And no that he’s gone, the team needs replace. And yes, it would be nice. The manage, Sir Alex Ferguson (SAF) likes to play with a central midfield pairing of sometimes described as a passer and runner. In other words, a player whose job it is to maintain possession, pick out the occasional spectacular pass, and also make the decisions that shape how a particular attack or counterattack will develop. A sort of midfield general. The runner is the water carrier, in this scenario, with the passer staying pretty close to the center circle and the runner both chasing after opponents and also running forward to provide and outlet for the passer.

Barcelona do this. Xavi Hernandez is the passer and Andres Iniesta is the runner. But behind them is Sergio Busquets, the destroyer (actually, he’s not a classic destroyer, delivering crunching tackles, but his job is to screen the defense and use his positioning from a deeper position than Xavi and Iniesta to intercept opposition passes and generally break up opposition attacks).

SAF doesn’t have any midfielder behind his duo.

In his defense, he does take his central pairing with more defensive duties than Xavi and Iniesta are given. And he usually plays a 4-4-2, but with striker Wayne Rooney dropping deep into the midfield to help add a third body to the ‘passer and runner’ pairing.

But looking at recent games, it’s simply not enough.

Manchester United don’t necessarily need more creativity. Rooney is very creative in his free role as an attacker, roaming wherever he sees space to pick holes in the opposition. Their wing players are loaded with attacking talent. Antonio Valencia, despite being from Ecuador, is a classic English style winger, using pace and direct running to get down the right side and place accurate crosses into the box and cutting inside and taking shots just often enough to keep defenders honest. Ashley Young provides a similar role on the other side, but with more variety and greater goal scoring threat. And Nani, who can play on either wing, is the kind of unpredictable (and admittedly erratic) and hugely talented player that defenders hate because you can never be sure what he’ll do.

In the center of midfield, they have a clever passer in the still inexperienced Tom Cleverely (who may grow into the next Scholes); possession oriented, deep lying playmaker in Michael Carrick; they have forward driving, box to box midfielder in Anderson (whose creativity in underestimated); and they have the grit, energy of Darren Fletcher, who will harry the opposition attackers for the full ninety minutes.

What they don’t have and who they have never replaced is the great Roy Keane. He was a devastating tackler (sometimes too devastating; a lot of red cards in that career), but also a smart, tactical player who understood the best way to interrupt opposing attackers goes beyond just hassling the guy with the ball.

Too many teams are ripping through Manchester United’s midfield and getting into goal scoring positions. They’ve given up more shots from distance than any other team in England’s top flight – which suggests that no one is properly screening that no man’s land between the center of the field and the defense.

With so much attacking creativity in the wide positions and in Wayne Rooney, what the team needs is a platform to let those players focus on using that creativity, knowing that someone back there is covering for them.

They need to play a holder and runner. A holder, as in a holding midfielder to halt opposition attacks through a combination of possession (the opposition can’t attack if they don’t have the ball), but also interception (positioning) and tackling. A runner who will help out with the tackling and harrying, but who will also burst forward into the opposition box and lend a hand in the attack.

If they want a plain old destroyer, Lassana Diarra at Real Madrid could well be available. Lass, as he’s called, has experience in England and would provide a steady base for the rest of the team to build from. For a little more culture, another Real Madrid player, the Argentine Fernando Gago could be had. He’s less of a hard man and more of a tactical player, but that’s not a bad thing. Both would resolve Manchester United’s needs and both a quality players who are surplus to requirements at Real Madrid.

For more money, someone like Yann M’Vila at the French club Rennes could be had. He’s young, devastating in the tackle, but also with a great tactical mind and good passing skills. Expensive, but well worth it.

But for heaven’s sake, when the transfer window opens in January, pick up someone. Even if it’s an older player, intended just to fill a need for six months or so until a long term replacement can be found in the off season.