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The Life’s A Pitch team assesses whether the moves of three Premier League veterans will be a success. Paul Scholes has been tempted out of retirement for the second half of Manchester United season, Arsenal have loaned club legend Thierry Henry from New York Red Bulls, and fellow MLS star Robbie Keane is poised to join Aston Villa temporarily.

“I think, unfortunately, this one will be a miss,” says the Daily Telegraph’s Jason Burt of Paul Scholes playing return at Man Utd. “It smacks a little bit of desperation getting him to come back at this stage. If you look at the minutes on the pitch he had at the end of last season, he didn’t play that often. There’s a reason for that: he became less important to the team in the vital games. I can’t really see, when the going gets tough, he’s going to be an important enough player to make an impact for Manchester United.”

But, speaking before Thierry Henry’s goal-scoring debut for Arsenal against Leeds, the Daily Mirror’s John Cross is convinced Thierry Henry’s brief spell for the Gunners will work out. “It’s such a vote winner with the fans, it will be really popular,” he says. “He provides good back-up to Robin van Persie. You read what he’s said about the move so far, it would appear he’s just happy to do a job to be someone on the bench, [and] play wide, if necessary.”

Dominic Fifield of the Guardian is confident about Robbie Keane’s proposed Aston Villa switch. “I don’t see where he’ll get into the team,” Dominic says. “You’ve got Gabby Agbonlahor playing quite well this season. If Darren Bent stays there, then surely those are your two main strikers. So where’s Robbie Keane going to play? If Darren Bent goes, all bets are off. But I can’t see that working for them.”

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