Paul Scholes retires.

Discussion in 'Manchester United: History' started by Dark Savante, May 31, 2011.

  1. mhtwins113

    mhtwins113 Member

    May 9, 2005
    Club:
    Lincoln City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Greatness personified. He will be missed, but I'm excited to see what he can do coaching our midfielders.
     
  2. johno

    johno Member+

    Jul 15, 2003
    in the wind
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Yup. I'm ELATED to hear that he'll be with us.

    Seriously, he'll be a better footballer than everyone he coaches.

    Yup, what I'm picturing is 10 years down the road, some 16 yo is gonna be bumping his gums 50 yards away and Scholes, having warned the child on numerous occasions will deliver a stinger to his solar plexus :D

    How old are his kids? Maybe that's exactly what he's planning! 10 years time imagine a young ginger with seemingly a spider sense coming through the ranks. God, the name alone would scare off opponents.
     
  3. sdotsom

    sdotsom Member+

    Manchester United
    Mar 27, 2005
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    With all due respect though, you can teach alot of what he does - telling people to keep their heads up, try to anticipate runs. But you can't teach the kind of skill, touch, and control that Scholes has. Sure he'll be able to get the kids up to a certain level - but after that point it's gonna be their own talent that decides whether they can go on. Scholes can't really teach the gifts he's been blessed with.
     
  4. Playboy Red Devil

    May 3, 2010
    West Hollywood
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Legend.

    Seriously, Scholes is one of the most underrated player I have come across. He is total class and one helluva player to ever wear a Man United jersey.

    I will miss him.

    Thank you, Paul Scholes.
     
  5. johno

    johno Member+

    Jul 15, 2003
    in the wind
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    He reads the game though, that vid you posted - there's a move at 1:19 that is unbelievable. He plays the ball back to Rio and without looking at Anderson, he waves for him clear out of the space he has created by coming back to his own goal. He does this whilst making eye-contact with a player 30 yards in front of him who he hits with a first time ball when Rio returns it to him. But because Ando has cleared out the space and moves as if he's showing for the ball - a pass that makes way more sense than returning it to Scholes who has his back to 2/3 of the field - the CM is sucked up the pitch. The aforementioned first time ball makes its way back to Scholes who has loped into the space left by the man closing down Anderson.

    Scholes basically puppeted Ando AND the Spurs midfield while only touching the ball twice. You can't teach that - a player is born with that. You can get better sure, but that level of chicanery usually accompanies a prison term!
     
  6. MtP07

    MtP07 BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 3, 2005
    From the pics at OT of the trophy presentation, his oldest boy looked to be around 11-12 years old.
     
  7. johno

    johno Member+

    Jul 15, 2003
    in the wind
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Good. It will only be a few short years till we have a replacement for Scholes. We already got our 2 Nevilles, so I'm expecting another Giggs and Scholes any time now.
     
  8. Bronaldo

    Bronaldo Red Card

    Apr 8, 2007
    Canada
    Does Scholes get a testimonial?
     
  9. sdotsom

    sdotsom Member+

    Manchester United
    Mar 27, 2005
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    August I believe. Think a date is set.
     
  10. Bronaldo

    Bronaldo Red Card

    Apr 8, 2007
    Canada
  11. sdotsom

    sdotsom Member+

    Manchester United
    Mar 27, 2005
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Don't think a team has been set.

    Oldham Athletic?
     
  12. SirManchester

    SirManchester Member+

    Apr 14, 2004
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany

    I'm curious what he will bring as coach. He isn't outspoken and if he gets a position in which it demands that element, he'll surely suffer no?
     
  13. pgr17

    pgr17 Member+

    Sep 26, 2003
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Paul Scholes - what an absolute legend. best English player of his generation.

    sad day but probably the right time. still - i would have loved him to stay on another year. Rio mentioned it in his tweets today but it is one of the things i love watching when Scholes play is the way he views everything around him before receiving a pass. and when he gets it and makes his pass, his movement off the ball was a joy to watch.

    there will be a lot of haters i'm sure (which amazes me) but you only have to look at what other top footballers around the world say about Scholes to know how he was respected by his peers and what they thought of him as a player.

    seeing him play in person in '09 was awesome. i love this pic i took of the boot room:

    [​IMG]
     
    1 person likes this.
  14. JC7rox

    JC7rox Member+

    Manchester United FC, LAFC
    Jun 11, 2004
    West Coast, Cali!
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Although I saw this coming, I was a little bit shocked when I heard about the news. I did not shed a tear, though. With Scholes, for a lot of the time (there was a time where I thought he should be sat for Kleberson to get a chance :shame: ), you look at Scholes and think, "He scores goals!" Yay! The more you come to understand the game, the more in awe you become of what he does and can do. You go back and watch those old matches and see just how much apart Paul Scholes was from everyone else. His skill creates a separation from the usual players we see out there. I'm saddened that I'll never get to watch him play again, but just the fact that such a brilliant man gets to go riding out on a high brings joy to me. I'm happy for him. When he's done coaching, he can ride off with the gods, where he truly belongs. I can't cry for that.
     
  15. Futbol_Head

    Futbol_Head Member+

    Manchester United
    Aug 18, 2007
    Bay Area, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Football just got a little less beautiful today... There will never be another Ginger like him.
     
  16. Cevno

    Cevno Member+

    Aug 27, 2005
    Shifting.
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    What A Legend!!!!!!

    Will miss him.:(
    Went out at the right time though and still stays on as a coach.:D
     
  17. benni...

    benni... BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 23, 2004
    Chocolate City
    Cant really say too much, other than underrated by casual fans, but respected by the real. Sad to see you go as a player, but for our team this could help us move on.

    A legend.
     
  18. Cevno

    Cevno Member+

    Aug 27, 2005
    Shifting.
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    It is also strange how Scholes is regarded so highly in the continent burnt not that highly among English fans .Maybe it is down to him being a Manchester United player or not being a typical English style player hustle buslte.

    Some quotes about him -

    “Paul Scholes would have been one of my first choices for putting together a great team - that goes to show how highly I have always rated him. He would have been one of the first players I’d have bought, given the chance”

    Marcello Lippi

    * I tell anyone who asks me - Scholes is the best English player.
    o Laurent Blanc.

    * I'm not the best, Paul Scholes is.
    o Edgar Davids.

    * An all-round midfielder who possesses quality and character in abundance.
    o Italian World Cup-winning manager Marcello Lippi.

    Thierry Henry when asked about the best player in the premiership -

    "Without any doubt it has to be Paul Scholes, Man United's midfielder.

    "He knows how to do everything, and he is the one who directs the way his team plays. "On top of that, he has indestructible mental strength, and he is a genuine competitor."


    Pep Guardiola in 2007: "Out of everyone at Manchester United, I would pick out Scholes - he is the best midfielder of his generation, I would have loved to have played alongside him."

    Jose Mourinho : “Scholes? Fantastic! Why isn’t he playing for England? It is crazy. Only in England. Scholes is a great, great player. So experienced and still, for me, one of the best in the world in midfield. Manchester United are lucky to have him.”

    Cesc Fabregas : "He is the one whose level I aspire to. He is the best player in the Premier League."

    Zinedine Zidane : "My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder."

    Zinedine Zidane : "Scholes is undoubtedly the best midfielder of his generation."

    Peter Schmeichel : "People say he is a great player, but you have to define what a great player is, For me, it is a player who has a bottom level that means his worst performance is not noticed.If he is having a bad game, a team-mate might feel Paul Scholes is not quite on his game, but a spectator wouldn't notice. Scholes, of all the players I have played with, has the highest bottom level. His reading of the game is unsurpassed.He has an eye for a pass, for what the play or the game needs at that precise moment, that I have never seen anyone else have. He controls and distributes the play and the game better than anyone I have ever seen."

    Laurent Blanc : "Scholes is the best English player. Intelligence, technique, strength... all the attributes are there. At Manchester United I saw what he could do on the training field. Phew!"

    David Beckham said that, among his teammates at Real Madrid, which included Zinedine Zidane, Raúl, Ronaldo, Luís Figo and Roberto Carlos, Scholes was the most admired opponent : "He's always one of those people others talk about. Even playing at Real Madrid, the players always say to me 'what's he like'? They respect him as a footballer, and to have that respect from some of those players is great."

    Kevin Keegan : "What United have got that Chelsea haven't is Paul Scholes. I think he is different to anything else in English football."

    Gary Neville : "I wouldn't swap Paul Scholes for anybody. He is quite simply the most complete footballer I have ever played with. He is the best."

    Sir Bobby Charlton : "I am sorry for England because they don't have any player like him. You can talk about others but there is no one else like him. He is the best technical player England has without any question."

    Sam Allardyce : "There is not a better midfield player in the world."

    Edgar Davids : "Everyone of us should emulate him. We can all learn from Paul Scholes."

    Brian Kidd : "Paul Scholes had the best football brain I'd ever seen in a kid. Let's face it. Paul Scholes is in a class of its own"

    Sir Alex Ferguson : "Very few players can do that, but Scholes is one of them - and I knew he was one of them. That's why, without question, I think Paul Scholes is the best player in England. He's got the best skills, the best brain. No one can match him."

    Eidur Gudjohnsen : "I'm more an admirer of Paul Scholes than I am of Ronaldo. Ronaldo is a fantastic player, but he has 10 other great players around him every week...Scholes is one of the most complete footballers I've ever seen. His one-touch play is phenomenal. Whenever I have played against him, I never felt I could get close to him."

    Alan Shearer : "If you ask footballers to pick out the player they most admire, so many of them will pick Paul Scholes. He can tackle, and his passing and shooting is of the highest level. He’s the most consistent and naturally gifted player we’ve had for a long, long time."

    Patrick Vieira : "The player in the Premiership I admire most? Easy - Scholes."

    Xavi from Barclona on Scholes: ‘In the last 15 to 20 years the best central midfielder that I have seen — the most complete — is Scholes. I have spoken with Xabi Alonso about this many times. Scholes is a spectacular player who has everything.

    ‘He can play the final pass, he can score, he is strong, he never gets knocked off the ball and he doesn’t give possession away. If he had been Spanish then maybe he would have been valued more.’

    Zinedine Zidane again - “It’s only natural to want to select your best players and there is no doubt for me that Paul Scholes is still in a class of his own,”

    “He’s almost untouchable in what he does. I never tire of watching him play. You rarely come across the complete footballer, but Scholes is as close to it as you can get.

    “One of my regrets is that the opportunity to play alongside him never presented itself during my career.”

    “He was an extremely tough opponent to play against. You didn’t get any time on the ball when he was around. He would close you down and make your life terribly uncomfortable.
    “He is the type of player you want on your side, not in opposition because he could do so much damage.

    “He is very gifted. He makes the game look easy because he’s so much natural ability.”

    Pep Guardiola on Scholes Again recently before the CL Final -

    "Out of everyone at Manchester United, I would pick out Scholes – he is the best midfielder of his generation,"
    "I would have loved to have played alongside him."
    "He is someone i would love to Sign for Barcelona still"

    And it goes on and on.

    I agree with what Xavi says .The Spanish would have indeed valued him more.
    England teams should have been built around him to be honest. But instead at one time before he retired he was shifted to left midfield to accomodate Frank Lampard. What a Joke!!!.
     
  19. MtP07

    MtP07 BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 3, 2005
    :eek: :eek:






















    :p
     
  20. SirManchester

    SirManchester Member+

    Apr 14, 2004
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Those quotes sum him up perfectly. Cheers for posting that Cevno. I'd give rep but BS won't allow it now for some reason. I have recently posted similar ones on the Bayern forum because it was necessary.

    Amazing how he is still not appreciated. He was never one to be fully hyped by the English press like a Rooney, Lampard or Gerrard so most of his reputation was carved purely by his own abilities and most importantly by his peers and coaches.

    This really infuriates me because it brings out the casual fans whose opinions have absolutely no background in wanting to interpret the game properly and bullshit misconceptions arise.

    For me Scholes was and will always be bigger than life. One of those footballers and personalities that will stands the test of time and changed the way I watch and play the game.
     
  21. johno

    johno Member+

    Jul 15, 2003
    in the wind
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    You know how when you are a kid you imagine yourself as different players and try to emulate them to have fun? Well, once I understood the game more, the only player I ever tried to emulate was Scholes. The game, it flowed through him.
     
  22. JC7rox

    JC7rox Member+

    Manchester United FC, LAFC
    Jun 11, 2004
    West Coast, Cali!
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    the only thing Scholesy I could emulate were the tackles.
     
  23. urbnzy

    urbnzy Member+

    Aug 13, 2007
    Slovenia
    And even that he does it with such style, that can't be replicated.
     
  24. biro

    biro Member

    Oct 3, 2006
    To think, Erikson moved him to the left of midfield so he could play Lampard and gerrard in the centre.....

    And most of the British media thought it was a good thing because he hadn't scored in a while.....
     
  25. topnoevili

    topnoevili Member

    MUFC, Hartford Athletic
    Apr 11, 2006
    Wilmington, DE
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Tough news to digest but as others have said we've been preparing for this day.

    I'm especially grateful that he will be on the coaching staff. His professionalism is always praised and that is something that can be "taught" to the youth coming through the ranks that are blessed with the physical gifts to be a success. They may not quite live the monastic life he always has but it should at least temper the attitude that can come with always being the best player on the pitch.

    Legend.
     

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