When I started watching football, United’s midfield read: Giggs, Scholes, Keane, Beckham! Each was more lovable than the other, but in terms of technical ability, Scholesy stood head and shoulders above the others.
Today, after an incredible 676 appearances, this one club man has decided it is time for him to hang up his boots. Sad day! Almost feels like someone’s dead.
The praise and adulation he received from some of the greatest names in the game is testament to his ability and performance. Just like we can never replace Roy Keane, we can never replace Scholesy.
Edgar Davids: “I’m not the best, Paul Scholes is.”
Edgar Davids: “Every one of us (midfielders) is just trying to become as good as him. Everyone can learn from Paul Scholes.”
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.”
Glenn Hoddle: “There isn’t a player of his mould anywhere else in the world.”
Terry Venables: “He’s the best one- or two-touch passer in the country. He sees the game unlike any other player.”
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.”
Tony Adams: “I really rate Paul Scholes, because he hasn’t got the high profile of many of the Manchester United players, he doesn’t get too much attention, but he is one very good player. He is an intelligent player, he works hard and he scores some great goals. He is not flamboyant and is a quiet lad off the pitch but he is a tremendous asset to Manchester United and to England. He has already got my vote as player of the year.”
Cesc Fabregas: “He is the one whose level I aspire to. He is the best player in the Premier League.”
Patrick Vieira: “The player in the Premiership I admire most? Easy – 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’.”
Zinedine Zidane: “My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder.”
Sam Allardyce: “There is not a better midfield player in the world.”
Kevin Keegan: “What United have got that Chelsea haven’t is Paul Scholes. I think he is different to anything else in English football.”
Marcello Lippi: “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. Scholes is a player I have always liked, because he combines great talent and technical ability with mobility, determination and a superb shot. He is an all-round midfielder who possesses character and quality in abundance. In my opinion, he’s been one of the most important players for United under Sir Alex.”
Ray Wilkins: “I’m saddened because I think we as spectators, not only in this country but right throughout Europe and the rest of the World, will be missing one hell of a footballer.”
Gordon Strachan: “Paul Scholes has been the best England midfield player for 30-odd years. You’d probably have to go back to Bobby Charlton to find someone who could do as much as Scholes. When the ball arrives at his feet he could tell you where every player on that pitch is at that moment. His awareness is superb.”
Veron while at Chelsea being asked in an interview who’s the best English player: “Paul Scholes.”
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.”
Peter Schmeichel: “Still the best player in that United midfield.”
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!”
Michael Carrick: “Paul Scholes is just fantastic. When you play alongside him, you realize what a special talent he is.”
Michael Carrick: “He is a legend and he’s going to be remembered for a long time. Just to play alongside him and learn from him has been an absolute pleasure. I think he is a footballer’s footballer; he has been at this level for so long. As long as he is part of us we always feel we have a chance. We appreciate the way he goes about his business. I have never met a character like Scholesy; certainly not someone who is that good.”
Park Ji Sung when asked by the club’s official home page which United player he would like to see in the red shirt of the Taeguk Warriors: “It has to be Paul Scholes.”
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.”
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.”
Rio Ferdinand: “I can honestly say Paul is the best player in the England squad. For me he is the complete player.”
Rio Ferdinand: “For me, it’s Paul Scholes. He’ll do ridiculous things in training like say, “You see that tree over there?” – it’ll be 40 yards away – “I’m going to hit it”. And he’ll do it. Everyone at the club considers him the best.”
Phil Neville: “Paul, for me, is the best player in the England team. It worries teams. Speak to any other international team and they will single Paul out as England’s key player. For me, he doesn’t get the full credit that he deserves. He is a world-class player and deserves to be up there with the likes of Zidane and Figo.”
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.”
Gary Neville: “Paul Scholes is the best player I’ve ever played with. There’s talent in every part of his game.”
Steve Bruce: “He’s the best player in Britain in my opinion and he has to get himself fit just before we are due to play at Old Trafford. I cannot pay Paul a bigger compliment than to say that he’s the most complete footballer in the country. The best bar none.”
George Best: “To be honest I think England have lost their best player. Certainly he’s the most consistent and naturally gifted player we’ve had for a long, long time.”
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. He could have had a lot more caps if he had carried on. And if I was the manager he would have ended up with more than I did – easy”
Sir Bobby Charlton: “He’s always so in control and pinpoint accurate with his passing – a beautiful player to watch.”
Sir Bobby Charlton: “Paul Scholes is my favourite player. He epitomizes the spirit of Manchester United and everything that is good about football.”
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.”
Sir Alex Ferguson: “He has an awareness of what’s happening around him on the edge of the box which is better than most players. As a kid he always had a knack of arriving in the penalty area just at the right time, but he’s proving just as effective from outside the box because he’s using his experience in the right way. It doesn’t matter who I am thinking about bringing into my midfield, Paul Scholes will be included, as he would in any side in the world.”
Sir Alex Ferguson: Sir Alex Ferguson gave evidence in court on behalf of one of his former trainees and listened to the prosecution barrister’s list of United’s top players.
“You’ve missed Paul Scholes – and he’s my best player,” Ferguson chided her.
Zinedine Zidane: “Scholes is undoubtedly the best midfielder of his generation.”
Roy Keane: “An amazingly gifted player who remained an unaffected human being.”
We’ll miss you Ginger Ninja. Your tackles and your thunderbolts. And your on-the-toe 60 yard crossfield passes.
Thanks for all the good memories Scholesy!
