United stunned by resilient Bolton

That was the point. Scholes needs a boost. His body language is that of a man wrestling with his form and it showed in his poor passing against Greece earlier in the month.

There is a real danger that by changing his role in the United side to accommodate Roy Keane and Juan Sebastian Veron, Ferguson has undermined the confidence of a player who has often been as influential for club and country as David Beckham has.

While Scholes is clearly uneasy with his role behind Ruud van Nistelrooy in Europe, he looked equally confused at being part of a three-man midfield against Bolton as Ferguson abandoned his 4-4-2 to play Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke in attack.

Clearly, the manager is not going to abandon Veron and Keane, even though their best roles are similar. One way around the dilemma would be to play Keane in the back four, allow Scholes to revert to his favoured midfield place and bring in Yorke or Cole alongside Van Nistelrooy. That would fortify a defence that is handing out goals as if they are Smarties and would reshape United for what, at home, should not be a dangerous hurdle.

United's defensive frailties were exposed superbly by Bolton with two glorious goals - the winner coming from an error by Wes Brown, one of the villains of last week's debacle against Deportivo La Coruna.

Bolton manager Sam Allardyce had focused his preparations on the porous state of United's defence. He said: 'We discussed the fact that they have conceded 19 goals this season and that, as a unit, they are not as tight as they used to be. That gave the players a little more hope. I picked the quickest players I had up front and used them in a system they know well.

'I knew that if we got the first pass right, we would have the opportunity to get at their back four. Though we didn't do that too well in the first half, we did it superbly in the second when we carved out more chances than you would expect to get at Old Trafford.

'There are not enough words in my vocabulary to describe how I feel about the result.'

Allardyce has performed a near-miracle with Bolton over the past two years and this was a defining moment for his side, a victory that will surely give them the confidence to start performing at the Reebok Stadium as effectively as they have on their travels.

Ferguson, who can be very generous in defeat, said: 'Sam has done a good job. I said to the players before the game that Bolton's results at Elland Road and Highbury marked them down as a formidable side away from home and difficult to play against. They should have no fears this season.

'It could have been more, because they deserved a penalty. I thought our players looked tired. They lacked the spark you need in games like that where the ground was a bit soft and tacky.

'They have absolutely no excuses because I don't think we made one clear chance in the second half.'

By getting players behind the ball, Bolton frustrated a United attack without the cutting edge you get by playing football week in, week out. The truth is that Cole has started only six league games this season, Solskjaer three and Yorke two.

For Bolton, the glory and a victory for the scrapbook. For United, time to turn over a new leaf.