Paul Scholes has always been an elusive player, but no one had guessed he could give time the slip. At 37 years old, the Manchester United midfielder can still have moments of excellence that bear the touch of mischief that characterises an outstanding footballer. That type of contribution was seen on Sunday, when he suddenly snapped a shot into the corner of the net to clinch the 2-0 win over Queens Park Rangers.

It is a surprising re-emergence, since most people thought it prudent of Scholes to make the transition to coaching United's reserve team. He will still be imparting knowledge to those players, but mostly by setting an example to them with his current displays. There must be a sense of happy disbelief for a footballer whose first outing of the campaign saw Manchester City ejected from the FA Cup at the Etihad Stadium, with Scholes in action from the bench.

He deserves the appreciation even if the enduring impact makes it all the more galling that his talent was rarely at its most acute when he was in an England shirt. Old Trafford is his comfort zone, although the examinations set for him can be as demanding as any confronting the national team. It takes more than just Scholes's grand reputation to secure success, but his part in United's sequence of 13 Premier League matches unbeaten (with points dropped only at Stamford Bridge) has been critical.

United and their fans will revel in such form, yet the reservations are never entirely concealed. Following the satisfaction of that Cup win at City, Sir Alex Ferguson still had to defend his decision to bring back Scholes. In its way, the explanation made sense. "How can it be regressive?" Ferguson asked. "You're getting a player for nothing who's been part of the club for 20-odd years. He's not going to play every game but in terms of composure and passing ability, is there a better player going around? Definitely not."

That was still far from a perfect explanation. There might have been poignancy when Scholes felt it was time to stand down as a footballer, but no one appeared to believe he was being rash. Even now, when the Old Trafford crowd and Ferguson are indebted to him again, there must be misgivings about the context in which such events can take place. It does reflect a tapering off in the calibre of the Premier League.

Even Scholes had a little wariness to him at the start of this postscript to a career. Then, he kept closer to his back four, saving his legs and tapping his vast experience. Now, he may be wallowing in a period of unexpected achievement. He merits accolades for the desire to take the field and be so expressive once more.

Nonetheless, the glow around him is all the more marked because of the dowdy backdrop. United have been thorough in making their limitations known. No one could speak of ill-luck when Basel eliminated them from the Champions League and there was more to come when Athletic Bilbao knocked them out of the Europa League. That tie was lost 5-3 on aggregate and the Spanish side might have scored twice as many.

Scholes did not feature for even a moment of the tie with Athletic, getting no closer to the action than sitting as an unused substitute at the San Mamés for the second leg. Ferguson is too much of a realist not to have known that it would be better to save Scholes for the Premier League, where such challenges have been rare since City mislaid their gusto.

All the outlay at the Etihad has failed so far to have a proportionate impact. That, to a degree, can be put down to the disruptiveness associated with Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli, but it is also true that City showed no capacity to make their mark in either the Champions League or Europa League. Ignominy has been spread around, with Arsenal beaten 4-0 by Milan at San Siro before they predictably put on a stirring show in the return that did not suffice.

Chelsea survive and have their Champions League semi-final with Barcelona, but, broadly speaking, English clubs have slipped into decline.