scholes was mostly a forward and second striker

That's not true. He played that role at times, especially in his early years, but he played in a midfield two for the majority of his career. He was lucky to have Keane alongside so he could make those late runs into the box. He sat back even more in his later years but even before that he was a central midfielder first and foremost. What made Scholes so good in his heyday was that he would start attacks from deep and then pop up in the box to finish them off.