Meanwhile, a certain United legend is also working hard on his fitness Scholesy is getting ready for Soccer Aid in September and looks sharp Some of the Reds' most successful players of all time signed for the club 30 years ago today. One of our favourite sons announced his arrival on the international stage against the Azzurri in Marcus's strike against Liverpool lifted him on to another leaderboard at Old Trafford.
Skip to Main Navigation Skip to content. Paul Scholes. Biography You must have a rare and special football talent to impress the great Sir Bobby Charlton. Latest View More. Oct '21 published time Oct 21 Clips. Who were the best Reds to change position? Having said that, he did retire from international football at only 29 years of age and more or less failed to leave his mark on the national team. Regardless of who you want to put the blame on for that, the story of Scholes and the Three Lions is quite a peculiar one.
Back to what I previously said in the intro, for a player that causes such a divide amongst fans, his fellow professionals both teammates and rivals seem to universally sing high praise for him. The great Pele once stated that if he had played with Paul Scholes, he would have scored way more goals. Back in , Xavi Hernandez once called him the greatest central midfielder he had seen in the past 15 or 20 years.
For someone with such a larger-than-life reputation, it would only make sense that his ego and demeanor was similar in stature, right? This man was as boring as they come. And I mean that in the most sincere and complimentary sense of the term. An astute professional that was there to do his job and nothing more. Roy Keane approves. Born in Salford, in , Paul Scholes was a rather gifted sportsman. He excelled in not only football, but also cricket.
Nonetheless, football was his main passion, and as you can imagine, he supported Manchester united from a very young age. So, as expected, he was extremely excited when he began training with United at 14 years old, joining them as a trainee at This group consisted of a few select members of the legendary man united youth team that won the FA Youth Cup.
No, Scholes was actually part of the class of 93, Alongside Phil Neville. At the start of his career, many may forget that Scholes was primarily an attacker.
Mostly deployed as a second striker. Being the auxiliary attacker in what was typically a , sometimes a , he would often interlink with the midfield, as well as his more advanced striking partner with deadly efficiency. And finally, his composure and finishing ability were also huge assets. However, Andy Cole had recently been brought into the club. And with one striker spot still left, Paul Scholes filled the gap. United retained the title the next season, but due to the arrival of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the return of Eric Cantona, competition up top was fierce.
And Dwight Yorke followed the very next season. Scholes is undoubtedly the greatest midfielder of his generation — Zinedine Zidane. Those two quotes alone — given who they came from — tell you everything you need to know about how good a player Scholes was. But the fact Scholes became as revered as he is for his technique, despite being small, asthmatic and short-sighted, speaks volumes about his attitude and character.
More chilled than the Neville brothers; more gifted than Nicky Butt; in some respects, Scholes could be seen as a more placid Roy Keane. After all, only Roy Keane can be as intense as Roy Keane and yet still remain a fully-functioning member of society. The two certainly shared a disdain for certain aspects of the modern game that some of the Against Modern Football fans also hold.
Scholes would just shrug and go about his business of switching play 60 yards while landing the ball onto a pre-specified blade of glass. Many great players have worn the shirt of Manchester United. Players I worshipped, then lost with my youth in Munich. And in so many ways Scholes is my favourite. When a game reaches a vital phase, these qualities seem to come out of his every pore.
Scholes shunned the limelight that came with being a top footballer and focused solely on his job on the pitch. He has since been a regular TV pundit and had a brief stint as manager of Oldham but that lasted mere seven games.
Scholes will be remembered as one of the greatest of his generation that his peers aspired to be like.
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