25 years ago today

[Falcow]

Scholes had those moments for United, Barcelona at Old Trafford being one of them. He was never given the chance to do for England what Zidane did for France. France built their squad around Zidane, Scholes was pushed out to the left wing for England. He retired from international duty because in his words, his performances out on the left weren't good enough and they wouldn't stop picking him so he took matters into his own hands.

Scholes was every bit the player Zidane was and more. Check Zidane's statistics out also, they're actually quite underwhelming.

For me Zz is probably next to Messi and Ronaldo as the third best player over the last 25 years, there is a gap from 2nd to Zz in 3rd and then a gap to the rest. That's where I would rate Zz but appreciate not everyone else might, Iniesta perhaps up there as well but just not on same level as Zz ability wise.

There is no way you could have a world 11 over last 25 years without Zidane.

I dont mean to disrespect Scholes but if Zz was English they wouldn't have pushed him out to the left to accommodate those two planks Lampard and Gerrard, of that I'm certain.

Of course France built their squad around him, every team he played for did the same, same cant be said for Scholes however.

I'm not knocking Scholes by the way, it's just that I dont believe that he was as good as Zidane, no shame in that.

 

[FujiVice]

I think Scholes is one of the greatest players I've ever seen, but Zidane was a step above him. Zidane is a step above most for me. One of the few players to score in a Champions League final and a world cup final. You cant beat those performances.

I think in this age of social media and everyone has a voice, we tend to get a bit over the top when someone is rated higher than someone else. There's absolutely no shame not being as good as Zidane.

 

[Dante]

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[lex talionis]

Someone here stated that Scholes was overrated. Jaysus.

No one can deny that Zidane > Scholes, but Zidane is a player who's part of any all-time XI conversation.

A shame Scholes was such a horrific tackler and defender. And what a shame he was mismanaged by his NT managers.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Someone here stated that Scholes was overrated. Jaysus.

No one can deny that Zidane > Scholes, but Zidane is a player who's part of any all-time XI conversation.

A shame Scholes was such a horrific tackler and defender. And what a shame he was mismanaged by his NT managers.

I've always felt that Scholesy knew exactly what he was doing when tackling. There's something to be said for leaving one on your opponent.

 

[edcunited1878]

Scholesy knew exactly what he wanted when he caught you on a challenge! That's the Ginger Ninja in him while also being the Ginger Prince at the same time.

Whatever people want to say about Zidane and Scholes, you don't hear that about Zidane and Gerrard or Lampard.

Scholes was able to prolong his career because you couldn't get the ball off him, he could pass from any spot on the pitch and cut any team open, and could control the tempo of entire matches. So in that respect, he was better than Zidane and many others because he was able to adapt as he physically declined. He played as a SS/10, 8, and a DLP. It was an honor and privilege to see a player 5 foot 6 inches dominate, dictate, and destroy teams.

 

[bsCallout]

I must be one of those overrating him. He was the reason I support United and I genuinely don't believe anyone was better in the prem, for as long. He is the definition of a player that controlled games. He is a player that could have been in any 11 ever, including the team with Xavi and Iniesta.

To some extent I feel the peaks of other players/teams make them look better than they were, Scholes just quietly maintained that class for 10-15 years, in one of the most successful teams, irrelevant to who was next to him, Keane, Cleverly, Carrick or Djemba Djemba.

 

[90 + 5min]

Great player, but overrated

So far from the truth. I though Keano was spot on
“No celebrity bullshit, no self promotion – an amazingly gifted player who remained an unaffected human being.”

Just look what other stars said about him and suddenly you get the picture that he was worth 10 times more then he was. You see young generation hail players like Pogba but I would say that Pogba is not even half a player Scholes was.

I still remember that goal at Aston Villa.

 

[Sassy Colin]

*Good player - too many touches then predictable diagonals were basically his game for years; Keane and Carrick were far more effective/important with their default progressive passes into feet.

Very talented kicker of a ball, but that was the extent of it; had Hargreaves and Fletcher been able-bodied, and the Glazer transfer austerity not occurred, he’d have become insignificant a lot sooner.

Obvious WUM is obvious.

Supports Shitty.

 

[Cee90]

I still remember that goal at Aston Villa.

Quality goal that, but I think I prefer his goal against Bradford on the volley from Beckham’s corner.