After 676 appearances and exactly 150 goals, Manchester United’s Paul Scholes has finally decided to hang up his boots. At the age of 36 and with his best behind him, it’s no surprise that the most unassuming of Fergie’s Fledglings has stepped down: famously publicity shy, Scholes only ever wanted to play football. Whilst the feeling persists at Old Trafford that he could still play a part, the player himself disagrees – not happy to be on the periphery and frustrated that his abilities are not what they were, he has moved into a coaching role at his only club.
Whether Scholes instinct for the game can be transplanted into the next generation of United’s youngsters remains to be seen. The impeccably timed runs which saw the diminutive Mancunian bullet home so many important headers seem almost un-coachable. The knack of popping up on the edge of the box to fizz pile-driving shots into the top corner is not easy to teach. But above all else, it will be his vision which is so difficult to replicate and replace.
No less a player than Zinedine Zidane once described Scholes as ‘the greatest of his generation’, but perhaps it’s most telling that the man who makes the world’s best midfields tick, Xavi Hernandez thinks of him as ‘the best central midfielder of the last 15 or 20 years’. It’s telling that Xavi’s passing and movement have only come to be appreciated in England in the last few years as Barcelona and Spain have dominated club and international football. Scholes, too, was underestimated for some time.
A host of international coaches failed to get the best from Scholes on the world stage. Despite a swirling World Cup goal against Tunisia, a hat-trick against Poland and a vital brace against Scotland at Hampden, the midfielder never played in his best position for his country. Shunted around the pitch – and often to the left wing – to accommodate the thrust and bluster of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, Scholes called time on his England career at the age of thirty. It was a sad loss which saw the national set-up lose their best passer and most creative player in favour of a midfield axis which has never convinced.
Of course, England’s loss was United’s gain. His retirement ensured that the latter part of Scholes’ career was punctuated by rest periods as his club-mates reported for international duty – and that he added a longevity which seemed unlikely when he first burst onto the scene with a league-cup double against Port Vale. Skinny, pale and short, he looked like a kid who’d wandered down from the stands and onto the pitch. Suffering from asthma and reportedly allergic to grass, he hardly looked like a figure built for the rough and tumble of the Premier League.
Initially playing up front and contributing plenty of goals, Scholes gradually moved further back as injuries and suspensions hit United. When Eric Cantona received an eight month ban for his kung-fu attack on Matthew Simmons, it was Scholes who moved into his position behind Andy Cole. And from there he retreated still further when Roy Keane mangled his knee in that infamous challenge with Alfe Inge Haaland. And there he stayed.
As part of arguably United’s greatest ever midfield, alongside Keane and fellow youth-team graduates David Beckham and Ryan Giggs, Scholes played a key role in the treble-winning team of 1999. A typically terrible tackle ensured he missed the Champion’s League Final, but he scored vital goals in every competition, including one in the FA Cup Final at Wembley.
Scholes’ goalscoring was nothing short of phenomenal. For years he popped up on the end of crosses, cut backs and blocked shots to bullet shots into the net. He belied his diminutive stature to pop up with numerous headers. But most impressively of all, he hit rocket after rocket into the top corner. It’s almost impossible to pick the best of his long distance howitzers: the semi-final screamer against Barcelona; the thunderous thirty-yard volley versus Villa; the first-timer from Beckham’s corner against Bradford; the list goes on.
Of course, it’s not so easy to pick out the passes. There were cute backheels and scooped lobs (including a particularly fine one for Wayne Rooney versus AC Milan) and raking long-ranger after raking long-ranger. Switching play from one side of the pitch to another with a fifty yard pass was such an important part of Scholes’ (and United’s) armoury that it’s possible to imagine Ferguson’s fascination with wingers being intrinsically linked with his midfield maestro’s passing range. It’ll be interesting to see just who supplies Nani and Antonio Valencia with the ball in Sat-Nav’s absence.
But Scholes wasn’t just a passer and a goalscorer. He was also a nasty little bastard. For years he got away with being a filthy little shit. For some reason his skill and ability seem to have blinded commentators and pundits to his vicious streak. An early Scholes ‘reducer’ was often accompanied by a chuckle and a chortle which entirely absolved him of blame for a ‘tackle’ which was often premeditated and more often deliberate. Manchester United fans loved him still more for it. And he didn’t always get away with it – he was the first England player dismissed at Wembley, missed the aforementioned Champion’s League Final through suspension and was sent-off another nine times.
Despite his aggression and flair on the park, Scholes was the most unassuming presence off it. Always the first out of Old Trafford after a game, he was rarely available for an interview and shunned the limelight. He didn’t employ an agent and once reportedly refused a pay-rise, instead just signing an extended contract. He married his childhood sweetheart and once described his typical day as, "Train in the morning, pick up my children from school, play with them, have tea, put them to bed and then watch a bit of TV."
Paul Scholes: famous for being a fabulous footballer. And that’s the way it should be.
Honours:
Premier League: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11
FA Cup: 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04
League Cup: 2008–09, 2009–10
Community Shield: 1996, 1997, 2003, 2008, 2010
Champion’s League: 1998–99, 2007–08
Intercontinental Cup: 1999
Club World Cup: 2008
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