Beckham vs Scholes. Passing.

Yagami

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I think it's closer than most think.

During Beckham's time here he was our playmaker. Everything went through him, and Scholes, whilst still great, wasn't as expressive with his passing.

After Becks left and Scholes transitioned into a deeper role I think he ended up surpassing Becks's passing.

So id have to go with Scholes, but I think it's close and don't blame anyone for choosing Becks.
This pass you mentioned was absolutely sublime.
That right there is my favourite assist ever!
 

Jaqen H'ghar

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Scholes was the far better passer.
Beckham was great at crosses and deadballs.
 

joker00

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Beckham was a great passer, one of the best in football histroy.
But Scholes was our only player who makes you feel that he's watching the game from a TV camera :D , a panoramic vision of the field that allows him to see the player ahead even if he's out of the action.
 
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ivaldo

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I’d say Scholes edges it but neither were as good as Gerard in his prime. Lol.
 

Matt007a

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Scholes was obviously better at short passing and had a quicker football brain than Beckham. He could play quick and intricate football better than most.

Beckham however is probably the best crosser of a ball the game has ever seen. He was also a better passer from the dead ball and at least equal to Scholes over long distance.

I wouldn't say either was better really, very different players with different passing techniques. Both were world class players in their primes.
 

ThierryFabregas

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Completely disagree. Scholes had better short passing, but it was his long passing that set him apart from any other midfielder. There have been midfielders, Pirlo, Xavi etc who have had better short passing, but none I can think of that had better long range passing. It's a different thing playing through the middle. It's a weird comparison really. If the question was, who had the best right foot, I might actually be inclined to say Beckham because his crosses and set pieces set him apart, but from a passing perspective, Scholes was better in every regard - I don't count crossing as passing, but as, well, crossing.
I suggest watching more players, Pirlo was arguably the best ever long passer


Barce mainly play a short game but Xavi can ping an inch perfect long best with the best of them


Fabregas would be far more noted as one of the best ever long passers if he didn't play with some of these donkeys


Beckham


Xabi Alonso


David Luiz

 

Drz

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I would have clips of Scholes, Becks, Keane and Giggs on repeat on random panels in the corridors at Carrington and Old Trafford.
Am I the only one that feels emotional watching the Scholes compilations? What a footballer!
 

roonster09

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I suggest watching more players, Pirlo was arguably the best ever long passer


Barce mainly play a short game but Xavi can ping an inch perfect long best with the best of them


Fabregas would be far more noted as one of the best ever long passers if he didn't play with some of these donkeys


Beckham


Xabi Alonso


David Luiz

One player is standing out like a sore thumb.
 

Rossa

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I suggest watching more players, Pirlo was arguably the best ever long passer


Barce mainly play a short game but Xavi can ping an inch perfect long best with the best of them


Fabregas would be far more noted as one of the best ever long passers if he didn't play with some of these donkeys


Beckham


Xabi Alonso


David Luiz

You basically just come off as arrogant, saying I should watch more players. To quote Padme, you assume too much.

There are players that have the same long range accuracy as Scholes, such as Xavi and Beckham. However, Scholes had more speed on his passes and they weren't as lofty, thus not allowing opposition players to close down the attacker. Xavi was better as a short passer, but not long range. You are entitled to your opinion of course, but in my opinion, Scholes' ability to basically shoot a pint point pass with such speed, accuracy and under pressure puts him apart. If you look at Beckham, he mostly had more space due to where he operated.
 

El Jefe

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By the way some go on about Scholes you would think he was the best at every type of pass. The truth is there are different types of passers. Becks, Gerrard, Lampard and KDB are the masters of the final pass, then you have the No.10s like Silva, Ozil and Bergkamp who dictated the play higher up the pitch and finally the midfield controllers like Scholes, Xabi Alonso and Fabregas who controlled midfields from the centre of the park with both long and short passing.

The best passer IMO is the one that combined all of these the best and that is Cesc Fabregas.
 

ThierryFabregas

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You basically just come off as arrogant, saying I should watch more players. To quote Padme, you assume too much.

There are players that have the same long range accuracy as Scholes, such as Xavi and Beckham. However, Scholes had more speed on his passes and they weren't as lofty, thus not allowing opposition players to close down the attacker. Xavi was better as a short passer, but not long range. You are entitled to your opinion of course, but in my opinion, Scholes' ability to basically shoot a pint point pass with such speed, accuracy and under pressure puts him apart. If you look at Beckham, he mostly had more space due to where he operated.
For me Scholes wasn't as creative a long passer as some of those names in that he'd tend to play it more to feet than rather than a perfectly weighted ball that a forward could run onto and hence Scholes has less assists.

Having said that Scholes and Giggs retirement alongside the ageing of Rooney, Vidic and Rio is as much to do with United's fall from grace as Fergie leaving.

People also forget though how much United detirated in the few seasons after Beckham left. He really was instrumental and a truly world class player that people retrospectively give the credit that he deserves. He had an incredible assist record at United
 

fps

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You basically just come off as arrogant, saying I should watch more players. To quote Padme, you assume too much.

There are players that have the same long range accuracy as Scholes, such as Xavi and Beckham. However, Scholes had more speed on his passes and they weren't as lofty, thus not allowing opposition players to close down the attacker. Xavi was better as a short passer, but not long range. You are entitled to your opinion of course, but in my opinion, Scholes' ability to basically shoot a pint point pass with such speed, accuracy and under pressure puts him apart. If you look at Beckham, he mostly had more space due to where he operated.
It's interesting how few of those long passes Beckham hit actually ultimately created goals. This is compared with his crossing in his prime United years, which was virtually worth a goal. He became obsessed with hitting these long pass through balls and switches but they weren't actually that useful.
 

fps

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By the way some go on about Scholes you would think he was the best at every type of pass. The truth is there are different types of passers. Becks, Gerrard, Lampard and KDB are the masters of the final pass, then you have the No.10s like Silva, Ozil and Bergkamp who dictated the play higher up the pitch and finally the midfield controllers like Scholes, Xabi Alonso and Fabregas who controlled midfields from the centre of the park with both long and short passing.

The best passer IMO is the one that combined all of these the best and that is Cesc Fabregas.
I could never say Beckham or Gerrard were masters of the final pass. DeBruyne kills teams with his passing, and they made quite a big deal a couple of years back of his being the pass BEFORE the assist, the one that created the space that created a pass for a tap-in. KDB is a devastating passer. Beckham and Gerrard were very flashy at times, but how many assists were they honestly picking up for those big fancy long passes? Those aren't passes favoured now, certainly.
 

DCP

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Some of that Becks passing makes me cry, it's just magical. Absolutely criminally underrated by most people.
 

11101

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Scholes had the best range I've seen of anyone outside Barcelona. Short layoffs to cross field passes to awkward readjusted volleys, he could do them all to an incredible level.

Beckham was only truly great at long passes into the box but at that he was the best in the game.
 

El Jefe

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I could never say Beckham or Gerrard were masters of the final pass. DeBruyne kills teams with his passing, and they made quite a big deal a couple of years back of his being the pass BEFORE the assist, the one that created the space that created a pass for a tap-in. KDB is a devastating passer. Beckham and Gerrard were very flashy at times, but how many assists were they honestly picking up for those big fancy long passes? Those aren't passes favoured now, certainly.
Well I'll have to strongly disagree with you there. Torres and Owen as well as Yorke, Cole and RVN have Gerrard and Becks to thank for so many of their goals. They are among the highest assist makers in the PL so I struggle to see how they aren't masters of the final pass. I put KDB in that list too because I think he has the best assist to game ratio in the PL history.
 

fps

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Well I'll have to strongly disagree with you there. Torres and Owen as well as Yorke, Cole and RVN have Gerrard and Becks to thank for so many of their goals. They are amoung the highest assist makers in the PL so I struggle to see how they aren't masters of the final pass. I put KDB in that list too because I think he has the best assist to game ratio in the PL history.
Yes, and fair enough, the stats don't lie! I am putting on a technicality here that crossing and passing aren't the same thing, I suppose. With Beckham I need that distinction because his crossing was world class whereas the way he attempted to redefine himself as this deep lying long passer wasn't a real success IMO and didn't really lead to a lot of assists. The "50 OMG Beckham passes from Madrid", or whatever it's called, video above confirms something I've always felt about him from towards the end of his time at United which then continued at RM - he loved a long pass, but those weren't actually the best thing for the team. I also don't remember a lot of short passes from him which were assists. In contrast, Scholes controlled a game's tempo and flow from central midfield with his passing. 11101 has put it more succinctly than me above.

Gerrard, I may well be flat-out wrong on.
 

GenZRed

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Scholes.

Beckham in 1998/99 season was an amazing footballer though.
 

mitchmouse

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not even close... Scholesy was great at many things but Beckham's passing was way out in front
 

DrRodo

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Becks no crossing passes are ridiculously underrated. For me is not so easy to choose scholes. I think he barely wins over becks but for his playing apart from his passing. Becks was absurd and could pass with any part of his foot and in the late stages of his career he showed he was a machine in the center of the midfield also. Anyway both are a tier below god-passing where Pirlo is
 

Buster15

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Some great and detailed answers in this thread.

I still can’t decide who was better. But just imagine these 2 in our team now.
Just the thought makes my mouth water. Followed by my eyes watering thinking about the brilliance of a lot of those players compared with the mediocrity we have to watch now.
 

Billy Blaggs

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Beckham gets dogged down due to his celebrity, crossing and free kick ability.

Scholes gets bigged up because he was a no nonsense Manchester lad.

Neither one was better imo after a lot of thought on this.

The real question should be how good was Sir Alex Ferguson?
 

Lennon7

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I think Scholes was a more intelligent passer - sexy reverse passes, inch perfect switches, ridiculous through balls that no other player would’ve seen.

But Beckham’s passing was insane too. Consistent, reliable, varied... it’s very close!
 

Kostur

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Funny how now despite being in his 60s Scholes is still miles a better passer than anybody we've got on our team.
 

Summit

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Funny how now despite being in his 60s Scholes is still miles a better passer than anybody we've got on our team.
It's clearly a fluke :lol:

Was attempting to pass it where RvP was stood, the ball sliced off his foot, hit the floor and went into a space where RvP ran onto
 

RooneyLegend

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Effortless from Scholes.

Scholes for short passing, Beckham for long passing but even that is tight.
Didnt look like that when they were both here. Becks was passing balls from right back to left forward with outrageous accuracy. One of our favourite moves was big Pete snatches the ball from the sky, rolls it to Becks on the right hand side of the box and then he spanks one to the other side to a Giggs running or yorke. At times it was like we were cheating.
 

Champ

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It's clearly a fluke :lol:

Was attempting to pass it where RvP was stood, the ball sliced off his foot, hit the floor and went into a space where RvP ran onto
It clearly wasn't a fluke!
He even looked in the direction of the attempted pass before he actually kicked it.
Did scholes give the ball away at all last night?
Absolutely sublime player.
 

Swiss_Red89

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What a pass from Scholesy, that's just brilliant.

But why is RVP batteling his own (better positioned) teammate for the ball?:lol: