Paul Scholes and his "stupid" Man Utd decision that nearly saw Sir Alex Ferguson sack him

Paul Scholes will go down in history as a Manchester United legend, with countless trophies to his name, but things could have gone very differently if Sir Alex Ferguson had reacted differently when the midfielder committed what he says was "probably a sackable offence".

Back in the 2001-02 season, United found themselves in the unusual position of playing two games in as many days, with a league meeting with Liverpool followed by a League Cup clash with Arsenal. Scholes was benched for the first game, making a late cameo, in place of David Beckham, but Ferguson has planned to use the midfielder in a rotated XI for the trip to Highbury.

Scholes, however, took the unusual decision of telling the manager he wouldn't play in north London. Looking back on the incident, the former England international has admitted he was lucky to get away with a fine for his "stupid" decision and suggested he would have reacted differently is he was the manager.

"It was something stupid that I created myself," Scholes told former teammate Gary Neville on Sky Sports Retro. "I didn't really get the wrong side of him - I refused to play a game.

"I think it was Arsenal away in the cup. We'd played Liverpool a day before and he'd left me out of the game, and as you are in those days - or as I was - you're stupid, you're young, and you probably feel you're more important than you actually are.

"We were getting beaten 2-0 in the game as well and there was no sign of him bringing me on, and I was thinking he should have done. But I had a feeling he was trying to wind me up and trying to save me for the game the night after, which was really basically a reserve game."

United's XI at Highbury was undoubtedly a weakened one, with Danny Webber and