'Paul Scholes is a genius'

Scholes is incredible - Giggs has been getting a lot praise in the last year or so but i think scholes is a better player and as good a servant to the club.
 
nickm said:
'Genius' is a much better description than:

1. the little fella (c) Big Ron
2. the little ginger fella (ditto)
3. the ginger ninja
4. Paulscholeshescoresgoals (yawn)

...any more?
Click to expand...


The Ginger Prince
 
Who was it that said that when Scholes has the ball at his feet, he could tell you where anyone of the other 21 players out there were?
 
ZINEDINE ZIDANE- "My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder".

SIR BOBBY CHARLTON - "Paul Scholes is my favourite player. He epitomises the spirit of Manchester United and everything that is good about football"

SIR ALEX FERGUSON - (whilst having a list of Manchester United players over 30 read to him) "You forgot Paul Scholes - and he is my best player."

PATRICK VIEIRA - "The player in the Premiership I admire most? Easy - Scholes"

LAURENT BLANC - "I've said it before and i tell anyone who asks me; Scholes is easily the best English player. Intelligence, strength, unbelievable technique - all the attributes are there. At Manchester United I saw what he can do and all I could say is "wow".

EDGAR DAVIDS - "Every one of us is just trying to become as good as him. Everyone can learn from Paul Scholes"

THIERRY HENRY - "I can't understand why Scholes has never won the player of the year award. He should have won it long ago. Maybe it's because he doesn't seek the limelight like some of the other "stars".

GORDON STRACHAN - “He can score goals, hit crossfield passes, play one-twos, beat people and win headers in the opponents' box, so if you take that whole package I don't think I've seen anybody as consistent - and he's been doing that for 10 or 11 years."

CESC FABREGAS - "He is the one whose level I aspire to. He is the best player in the Premier League".

ANDREI SHEVCHENKO - "They have two of the world's best young players in Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, but the player who most impresses me is Paul Scholes. He is United's most important player, he makes most things happen on the field."

ROY KEANE - "Superb on the field, modest and sensible off it. No celebrity bullshit, no self-promotion or glory-hunting, an amazingly gifted player who remained unaffected as a human being."
 
marchi-91 said:
He's been fantastic this season. Seems to have re invented himself like Giggs.
Click to expand...

Not really

His form dipped a little off for a while that's all, and some wrote him off far too quickly. And just like before when people do that, he makes them look silly

Is and always has been a bloody genius. And he's still got years in him don't let anyone tell you otherwise
 
Its been a privilege watching the likes of Scholes and Giggs from the youth team to the twilight of their careers. Both awesome players, and very unassuming characters off the field.

It will be a sad day when they retire.
 
That's high praise from Strachan, considering Robson, Gazza, Souness, Gerrard, Lampard, and others.

I hope he has a good season because the last one was disappointing by his standards.
 
ALX8725 said:
The Genuis Ginger Prince is many things, but a complete midfielder he is not :lol:


Zidane:wenger:
Click to expand...

So define your complete midfielder then?

I would go for a player with near a perfect first touch, excellent vision, great box to box engine, good distribution and passing ability plus a good goal scorer.

The thing Scholes does well that competitors struggle with is control the ball and pass it in a split second. Vieira once said he was impossible to mark because the ball was always gone by the time you shut him down.
 
mjs020294 said:
So define your complete midfielder then?

I would go for a player with near a perfect first touch, excellent vision, great box to box engine, good distribution and passing ability plus a good goal scorer.

The thing Scholes does well that competitors struggle with is control the ball and pass it in a split second. Vieira once said he was impossible to mark because the ball was always gone by the time you shut him down.
Click to expand...

Charlton was the archetypal complete attacking centre midfielder. Prior to moving to midfield he'd been a high-class striker and winger, so was already an all round forward. Rooney might be able to do this one day. Scholes lacks the speed and ability to beat a player that Charlton had. And he doesn't score as many goals. However, Scholes is still the best we've had in the last 30 years.
 
mjs020294 said:
So define your complete midfielder then?

I would go for a player with near a perfect first touch, excellent vision, great box to box engine, good distribution and passing ability plus a good goal scorer.

The thing Scholes does well that competitors struggle with is control the ball and pass it in a split second. Vieira once said he was impossible to mark because the ball was always gone by the time you shut him down.
Click to expand...
The complete midfielder would be a combination of Giggs atm (specifically dribbling, driving play forward), Scholes at his goalscoring prime, Scholes at his playmaking prime, and Keane at his prime. Seeing as how Scholes never embodied all of these traits all at once, I do not view him as the complete midfielder. Scholes was the complete playmaker and most complete orchestrator for several years, but he was never once the complete midfielder. He was/is a defensive liability at times, cannot tackle, and isn't the best when it comes to disposessing an opponent. And while tackling/dispossessing is not the be-all-end-all of what takes to be a complete midfielder, it is a very important skill for a midfielder to have and being superb at it is one step closer to being a complete midfielder. A complete midfielder, if cloned, would make the perfect CM pairing. Two Keanes, two Vieiras, etc. Never once during his career did Scholes make me think "if only he could be cloned, we would have the perfect CM pairing"

roodboy said:
hmmm ... shall I back the opinion of Zinadine Zidane or some spaz from the caf? tough call
Click to expand...
if you honestly think Scholes is THE complete midfielder then you need to take off your red-tinted glasses. Plenty of footballing legends don't know what they're talking about when it comes to football, Pele and Maradona are prime examples of this.
 
Giggs.....:lol:

FYI the ball is quicker than the man....dribbling is not the first trait you would want in a midfielder.
 
mjs020294 said:
Giggs.....:lol:

FYI the ball is quicker than the man....dribbling is not the first trait you would want in a midfielder.
Click to expand...
it's not the first trait, but it is a trait I would want in a midfielder. Being able to dribble at an above average speed makes a midfielder extremely dangerous, why do you think Giggs is so effective in the CM?
 
ALX8725 said:
it's not the first trait, but it is a trait I would want in a midfielder. Being able to dribble at an above average speed makes a midfielder extremely dangerous, why do you think Giggs is so effective in the CM?
Click to expand...

Giggs is a pretty good all round player. He has been a good defender throughout his career, and he knows how to close down the angles. Even at his age he still has exceptional speed and balance. Those traits are far more important to his success in CM than dribbling.

If we listed the best ten CM in the English game of all time I would be surprised if more than a couple(if any at all) were known for their dribbling. Bottom line dribbling is not a vital skill in CM.

You need a good first touch, good vision, and a solid passing ability. It isn't by coincidence that Scholes has had one the the highest pass completion percentages in Europe during his better years.

I think I will go with the testaments above from people that have played with him and against him, and agree he is one of the very best CMers of the last two decades.

Maybe I am biased but he would be the first on my team sheet from the Fergy era.
 
Fergie has gone on record to day before that Scholes is one of the best Top 5-7 United Players Ever in United's history. That says everything for me.
 
surf said:
Charlton was the archetypal complete attacking centre midfielder. Prior to moving to midfield he'd been a high-class striker and winger, so was already an all round forward. Rooney might be able to do this one day. Scholes lacks the speed and ability to beat a player that Charlton had. And he doesn't score as many goals. However, Scholes is still the best we've had in the last 30 years.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree with any of that. Scholes was also a striker prior to moving to midfield. What he lacks in speed and dribbling ability is more than made up for with his first touch, speed of thought, vision and distribution.

We have been very blessed with some amazing CMers over the years. I would have loved to have seen Scholes play alongside Robson or Charlton in their prime.
 
He's been great so far. Has to be considered, along with Fletcher as first choice CM's?
 
KingMinger22 said:
He's been great so far. Has to be considered, along with Fletcher as first choice CM's?
Click to expand...

Scholes and Fletcher at thier best is a VERY good CM partnership. Not quite as good as the Scholes:Keane partnership but not that far off IMO.

Unfortunately Scholes is unlikely to be "at his best" consistently these days.
 
Hope Scholesey wins this year's 2009-2010 Player of Year Award. That will really engender a cyber-suicide frenzy in RAWK forums.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.