Scholes leaves himself out of his all-time Man Utd XI

Paul Scholes has left himself out of his best Manchester United XI consisting of players he played with and opted to include David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane in midfield instead.

Scholes played more than 700 matches in a stunning career for the Red Devils and won 11 league titles, three FA Cups and two Champions Leagues.

The 43-year-old played with a host of world class players during his time at Old Trafford and was given the unenviable task of naming a team of those he played alongside.

Scholes named former Danish No 1 Peter Schmeichel in goal with a back four of Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Jaap Stam and Dennis Irwin in front of him.

Any all-time United team without Scholes in midfield would raise a few eyebrows but the man himself opted to put Beckham and Giggs in there alongside the tough tackling Keane at the base.

The attacking trio contains very few surprises with Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo playing in support of Dutch star Ruud van Nistelrooy.

There was further attacking firepower on Scholes' bench with Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer among the substitutes.

After naming his team, Scholes went on to discuss United's title chances this season and insisted the Red Devils remain a fair distance behind rivals Manchester City.

'When you look at Manchester City, possibly Liverpool, I don't think they [United] have the quality of those two teams at the minute,' Scholes admitted.

'Liverpool have made some really good signings. United finished above them last season.

'I just don't see United getting closer to City. City are a really good side, great manager, some great players, a way of playing that they all know about and Manchester United seem to be not too sure what's going on.

'You don't really know the team, you don't really know the players, you don't know how they're going to perform from one week to the next. So I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see them challenging for the league this year.'