He used to look around as the pass was coming to him and pre-empt most stuff? Knew when to quickly lay off, turn or hold.
Genius player and in my all time XI
Paul Scholes - Pure Class, Silk in a Glass
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Genius player and in my all time XI
Nobody whoever watched Scholes play live would ever underrate him. The most genius player I ever watched at OT.
You'd just sit there shaking your head watching him play. Even in his last few games he was the best player on the field.
You'd just sit there shaking your head watching him play. Even in his last few games he was the best player on the field.
Players like Scholes who can single handedly control a game are one of the rarest sights in football, which is why I regard him as one of the best midfielders I’ve seen.
My favorite player ever. Had absolutely everything in his locker and made the game look too easy. He was simply the best. Insane vision, brilliant movement, an absolutely ridiculous passing range and always a threat from long range.
For me he is underrated as many fans like to compare him to Gerrard and Lampard which is a joke. But then I rate him ahead of every midfielder I’ve seen in my two decades plus of watching football as he could excel in any system, formation or approach. And yes, I do get a bit sentimental when discussing Scholesy but dammit it’s the truth.
Also name me one other player who could play the pass in the above clip at the 33 second mark. Cross field diagonal on the volley at nearly head height. Had barely a millisecond to think about it and just pinged it inch perfect. Outrageous.
Absolute legend.
For me he is underrated as many fans like to compare him to Gerrard and Lampard which is a joke. But then I rate him ahead of every midfielder I’ve seen in my two decades plus of watching football as he could excel in any system, formation or approach. And yes, I do get a bit sentimental when discussing Scholesy but dammit it’s the truth.
Also name me one other player who could play the pass in the above clip at the 33 second mark. Cross field diagonal on the volley at nearly head height. Had barely a millisecond to think about it and just pinged it inch perfect. Outrageous.
Absolute legend.
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Great player, world class without question. His only real weakness was defensively, outside of that he had all you really want from a midfielder. He also wasn't going to drive through the opposition midfield, but his passing game and shooting technique was on point. Perhaps the decision for him to be a box to box midfielder let him down a tad bit, had he played like he did in 06/07 through his career he'd probably be rated higher.
You just have to hear what the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Zidane, even Messi have said about him to know how bloody good he was. Few, if any, were as technically gifted as he was in the premier league at that time.
I've had the privilege of seeing Scholes play since 1993 both live and on TV. If he was in this United side, we'll be winning the league. No question.
It depends on which stage of Scholes' career you are comparing to Lampard's. Scholes had a very long career at the top and he played different roles at different stages. He ended his career as a midfield maestro, controlling the tempo and playing defence splitting passes from deep. However, there were also times when he played much closer to goal akin to a second striker and much more similar to the role Lampard played in.
The way he protects the ball with his body feints and simple movement is second to none, maybe Xavi in his prime can top that.
However, the way the modern game plays, I can see him struggling due to the higher fitness average and the level of average talent in the PL nowadays.
However, the way the modern game plays, I can see him struggling due to the higher fitness average and the level of average talent in the PL nowadays.
He is underrated because at the time, there was no appreciation for his type of game in the English football world. Xavi and Pirlo did the same things and they were widely lauded as one of the true greats of all time in their position AT THE TIME. Scholes wasn't. He was seen as a "great passer". But not the typical English super midfielder like Robson, Gerrard, Lampard... etc. He was widely regarded as a brilliant player on par with Pirlo and Xavi in Spain and Italy. Just not in England. The disrespect was so deep that they played him LEFT MIDFIELD FOR ENGLAND! He was a conductor extraordinaire. Was never talked about in the same breath as Lampard, Gerrard and Keane. Keane is different but the point is Scholes was less the powerhouse and more the Rolls Royce. True United fans who've watched him game in and game out totally adore him. Pin-point long balls over and over and over and over again. It's not just the accuracy but the gorgeous weight! The spin was perfect. EVERY TIME. Incredible shifts in movement that changed the flow of the opposition press. Touch, pass and find a space to create an incisive pass. You will not find many clips of opposition midfielders dominating him. He was a transcendent deep lying playmaker. Deep lying in his later days of course, he was the all action type early on. But when he settled to conducting instead of actively trying to score goals, he became the heartbeat of the team. A team of superstars at that. Silent but deadly efficient. But when he let go and absolutely blasted a long one... it was a thing of beauty. What I'd give for another Paul Scholes. Him over Pogba every, single day of the week. Not to forget some absolute worldies with the head as well. He is the absolute master of coming late into the box just at the right time. Maybe Lampard was better but that's it. Underrated!
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Many England teams were built around him though. From 1997 through to 2002 he was the heart of the team. First Hoddle jettisoned Gazza to make Scholes the no10 in his 3-5-2 from 1997/98. Then Keegan gave him free licence to bomb on from midfield from 1998-2000, and again for Eriksson from 2000 to 2002. It was only latterly - when Scholes conceded himself that his own England performances weren't up to scratch - that he was shuffled around the midfield for Euro 2004.
In fairness I think he could have made a big contribution to the England side around 2006-2010 as the deep-lying playmaker he'd now become. England didn't really control midfield because of poor tactics and too many similar players. And he certainly would have provided that control, whilst helping to free up the box-to-box machines ahead of him. But by then he'd retired and didn't want to come back.
Yeah it's the latter period I'm eluding to mainly, once Scholes had established himself as a deep-lying playmaker at United. During that period there was always the debate about who should get onto the pitch between Scholes, Lampard and Gerrard. The ability to control midfield and the pace of the game and, as you say, freeing up box-to-box players would have been perfect for England, they should have done everything to get him back in the side at that time. That version of Scholes would be the perfect hub to build a team around in almost any national team on earth.
Granted Scholes seems a stubborn character and certainly seems the type that would have hated the whole England circus so perhaps he was unwilling to return, I can't help but feel that his teammates could have talked him around if the national team made enough of an effort to get him back though, always felt to me that they were happy to have Lampard and Gerrard to choose from and losing Scholes if anything gave them less of a selection headache, which if that was the case is criminal. Scholes wouldn't have wanted any part in that whole 'who's the best' debate between the three of them, no doubt he would have been happy to prove himself in the league time and again whilst Sven and co floundered. I'm also guessing SAF would have used the whole debacle to easily convince him to shelve his international career (I'm not saying he did that with players
but if I were him, selfishly, I certainly would have.)Speaking as a neutral (not English) it's always been a slight frustration of mine to watch on and see some super talented English sides wasted.
Not really, here in my country when we talk about the best central midfielders in the world of the last 20 years it's him, Xavi, Pirlo and Iniesta. We don't rate Keane though but I think he's up there.
On a technical level Scholes was one of the best i've ever seen but I think some people forget that Scholes was often used very much with the opposition in mind at certain points in his career (and not just in the later stages either). I don't think there was ever a massive shock or indignation among fans if he was left on the bench or subbed. Keane and Butt was often the midfield combo against Arsenal in the late 90s and (I think) against Juve and Inter in the champions league.
Keane by contrast was never on the bench and rarely ever subbed off unless for a rest. In his final match at Anfield he was rushed back to fitness after an injury and put right into the first team.
I said people in my country not me mate.
Sorry I didn't mean to infer that against you personally; i was just adding that there were often times when Scholes wasn't seen as integral as some of the other players mentioned.
My favourite ever player.
The care he used to take with the ball, he just never seemed to waste a pass or give it away, was amazing.
He was always amazing but I have to say I did love the early years of Scholes when he would score loads.
The care he used to take with the ball, he just never seemed to waste a pass or give it away, was amazing.
He was always amazing but I have to say I did love the early years of Scholes when he would score loads.
Scholes had one league season playing in the Lampard/Bruno role, and scored more non-penalty goals than either ever managed in a year.
If he’d spent his whole career that far up the field he’d be our top scorer. If he’d taken penalties as well he’d have made Lampard look like a chump.
02/03?
I have the slightest, just slightest hunch, that when someone says one of the best ever English players running rings around a couple of nobody chump celebs is a sign of his greatness, that they may just not have been being serious.
Put it this way, think of every great side in the modern history of football. Scholes would start in midfield in every one of them.
Yeah, I checked the last time a Chelsea fan was talking shite about Scholes and Lampard’s best was 12, whereas Scholes managed 14, which I think is a single season record he shares with Yaya Toure.
I don't understand the title, why would you put silk in a glass and what's that meant to mean?
Is that like a phrase or saying that i'm missing?
But yes, amazing footballer - makes it look effortless and incredibly difficult to replicate.
Is that like a phrase or saying that i'm missing?
But yes, amazing footballer - makes it look effortless and incredibly difficult to replicate.
People tend to completely lost on how big a menace in and around the box. Goals galore, finishing, headers, rockets and THEN controlling the tempo.
Phenomenon.
Phenomenon.
His name was Paul Scholes, he was a short, ginger Brit with zero charisma and marketability.. that was his «problem» compared to all the others in a football world with a lot more swag relative to the ones in this day and age. Always a few more exciting players in the team too, but few better of course. Suited him well I guess, he could do whatever he wanted and nobody cared, unlike Beckham et al.
I assumed it was just a little rhyme, there is something called silk glass though.
silk glass is one thing, silk in a glass is something else surely? It was just strange when I saw it thats all but making it rhyme makes a little sense
It's an old advertising tag line for John Smith's I think.
Ah got it, definitely something I would've missed then.
Makes sense for a beer, not sure it makes sense for a footballer, but who am I to judge.
I like the thread title personally, has a MF Doom quality too it.
MF & Scholes both being underrated media-shy talents of their genres certainly has legs for comparison.
That is just majestic. He was an absolute joy to watch. If there's one player from our past that this team needs it's a Scholes in the middle running the game.
Scholes and Michael Laudrup are two of my favourite players ever.
They make passing look so easy.
They make passing look so easy.
Bumping an old thread as It doesn‘t seem worthy of starting a new one for but thought this was nice clip from Iniesta‘s instagram worth sharing which shows the esteem he holds Scholesy in.
Did he get one from Stevie Me as well?
Scholes and Iniesta. Probably the two best midfielders I've ever seen live. Awesome.
"SHOOOOT!"
My overriding memory of our 2011 Wembley pasting, other than how gutting it felt, was iniesta and co all fighting over Scholes shirt. You can tell they loved him.
He was meant to but after Stevie signed it he ended up hanging it on his own wall instead.
He slipped on his way to the post box