Paul Scholes - Pure Class, Silk in a Glass

[TheReligion]

Thread is actually inspired by watching Scholes absolutely bossing it in the Soccer Aid game. Still oozes class and having seen him in a few legends games post retirement you half wonder if he could still do a job at the top level.

Anyway why is Scholes so underrated in world football? Was it because he retired early from international football? Or because he was a one club man? It seems in England he's looked upon less favourably than others whilst you have the likes of Xavi and Iniesta openly admitting how much they admired him and modelled their game on his.

Such a quality player. Technically superb. What I'd give to have him at United right now.

 

[Bobski]

He is not underrated FFS, nearly every time he is mentioned we have him talked of as one of the best ever, on a par with guys like Zidane(which takes it too far imo, having watched them play against each other on numerous occasions)

 

[Crustanoid]

One of the all time greats. And I don’t think that’s biased

 

[TheReligion]

He is not underrated FFS, nearly every time he is mentioned we have him talked of as one of the best ever, on a par with guys like Zidane(which takes it to far imo, having watched them play against each other on numerous occasions)

Oh he's rated by United fans but seemingly outside of that he doesn't get the respect he deserves.

 

[Gary_Walsh_Nou_Camp_Hell]

Oh he's rated by United fans but seemingly outside of that he doesn't get the respect he deserves.

People know how good he is. Opposition fans just on the wind up.

 

[adexkola]

He is not underrated FFS, nearly every time he is mentioned we have him talked of as one of the best ever, on a par with guys like Zidane(which takes it to far imo, having watched them play against each other on numerous occasions)

Zidane was probably more inconsistent in Serie A/La Liga than Scholes in the PL...

 

[Drainy]

Funny that Liverpool fans keep using penalties as a cope to downplay Bruno's footballing talent when Scholes scored more non-penalty goals than Gerrard while also being a slow, small, asthmatic ginger bloke and being a better creative passer, touch player and deep lying playmaker etc.

 

[hellhunter]

People know how good he is. Opposition fans just on the wind up.

At least here in Germany, he isn't rated that much. Compared to Gerrard or Lampard, he's horribly underrated over here. No one seems to see the genius he was.

 

[TheReligion]

At least here in Germany, he isn't rated that much. Compared to Gerrard or Lampard, he's horribly underrated over here. No one seems to see the genius he was.

Why do you think that is?

 

[hellhunter]

Why do you think that is?

No idea, maybe it's stats, the flashiness of Gerrards Hollywood balls, bit of a german connection with Hamann, Babbel and Ballack being teammates of the others while United avoided Germans like the plague.

Thinking about it, it could be that the PL wasn't watched that much when Scholes was in his pomp, and the other guys delivering better highlight reels while you really have to watch Scholes to appreciate him.

 

[Berbasbullet]

Funny that Liverpool fans keep using penalties as a cope to downplay Bruno's footballing talent when Scholes scored more non-penalty goals than Gerrard while also being a slow, small, asthmatic ginger bloke and being a better creative passer, touch player and deep lying playmaker etc.

Is that true? I didn’t expect that.

 

[Frosty]

Oh he's rated by United fans but seemingly outside of that he doesn't get the respect he deserves.

Absolutely. I always felt he was rated higher in Spain and Italy than he was in England. Remember the Barcelona players competing over who would swap shirts with him after the CL finals?

 

[Frosty]

The fact he was horribly used by the national team led a lot of fans to think he was shite.

 

[redrobed]

Was running rings round Lee Mack and that bloke from Love Island. And still there’s people that think Gerrard/Lampard were up there with him.

 

[TheReligion]

No idea, maybe it's stats, the flashiness of Gerrards Hollywood balls, bit of a german connection with Hamann, Babbel and Ballack being teammates of the others while United avoided Germans like the plague.

Thinking about it, it could be that the PL wasn't watched that much when Scholes was in his pomp, and the other guys delivering better highlight reels while you really have to watch Scholes to appreciate him.

I think that's a bit of a myth. Scholes scored some absolute belters right up there with anything Gerrard and co put together. He also played at the top level much longer.

I'd say a Scholes highlight reel trumps most players regardless of nationality.

 

[El Jefe]

He is not underrated FFS, nearly every time he is mentioned we have him talked of as one of the best ever, on a par with guys like Zidane(which takes it too far imo, having watched them play against each other on numerous occasions)

Exactly. He was underrated during his playing career but overrated in his retirement. The title of of the video alone shows the kind of overrating that has been happening in the last few years.

 

[VanDeBank]

He is not underrated FFS, nearly every time he is mentioned we have him talked of as one of the best ever, on a par with guys like Zidane(which takes it to far imo, having watched them play against each other on numerous occasions)

Yeah Zidane is a stretch. But if you can put another player with him in the same sentence without sounding ridiculous, that says a lot about X player.

I think he's rated just right.

 

[hellhunter]

I think that's a bit of a myth. Scholes scored some absolute belters right up there with anything Gerrard and co put together. He also played at the top level much longer.

I'd say a Scholes highlight reel trumps most players regardless of nationality.

Of course he has impressive belters to his name, but I think his best quality, especially in the later years, was the way he controlled games. And that doesn't translate very well to highlights. Either way, I don't really know, just speculating.

 

[Shane88]

The most overrated underrated player ever at this point.

 

[sukhy]

He was underrated when he played, but he's becoming overrated after retiring.

Pirlo pre and post beard was the same.
Xabi Alonso pre and post beard was the same.

If Scholes grew a beard, he might have got more love while he was playing.

 

[ZolaWasMagic]

Was running rings round Lee Mack and that bloke from Love Island. And still there’s people that think Gerrard/Lampard were up there with him.

Well id fully expect him to run rings around lee mack and a love island guy, hes an ex pro footballer ffs. And Lampard, the premier leagues highest ever goalscoring midfielder, is of course up there with him. And thats not bias, how can he not be?

 

[ZolaWasMagic]

Yeah Zidane is a stretch. But if you can put another player with him in the same sentence without sounding ridiculous, that says a lot about X player.

I think he's rated just right.

Zidane was better than Scholes for me, he was incredible. But Scholes was very good, too.

 

[TheReligion]

Well id fully expect him to run rings around lee mack and a love island guy, hes an ex pro footballer ffs. And Lampard, the premier leagues highest ever goalscoring midfielder, is of course up there with him. And thats not bias, how can he not be?

Scholes was the better footballer for me by a long way. Proper thinking player. It's like comparing two different players but I think Scholes was more gifted.

 

[ZolaWasMagic]

Scholes was the better footballer for me by a long way. Proper thinking player. It's like comparing two different players but I think Scholes was more gifted.

It's one of those ones where Scholes was better in some aspects, and Lampard was the better goalscorer and better attacking minded. Gerrard is below both In my very honest opinion

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

Scholes was the better footballer for me by a long way. Proper thinking player. It's like comparing two different players but I think Scholes was more gifted.

The goals give people something to point at but Scholes was actually far better than Lampard. I would absolutely love him in this current Utd side.

 

[TheReligion]

It's one of those ones where Scholes was better in some aspects, and Lampard was the better goalscorer and better attacking minded. Gerrard is below both In my very honest opinion

I'd put it like this. Scholes could do everything that Lampard could but Lampard couldn't do everything that Scholes could.

Obviously Lampard was a great player and statistically a monster. Much like Bruno. But Scholes by far more technical.

 

[Lay]

Was running rings round Lee Mack and that bloke from Love Island. And still there’s people that think Gerrard/Lampard were up there with him.

Anyway, Scholes overrated on here but underrated everywhere else.

 

[Tom Cato]

Oh he's rated by United fans but seemingly outside of that he doesn't get the respect he deserves.

He's very rated by his peers at least. But he does take the backseat when it comes to fans of other teams very often, he just wasn't a flashy or very public figure. He showed up for matches, trained, went home, and repeat.

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[Don Juan Matus]

The brother sure could put a tackle in

 

[Blood Mage]

Only Xavi and Pirlo were better than him at controlling a game and dictating the tempo.

 

[hellhunter]

Only Xavi and Pirlo were better than him at controlling a game and dictating the tempo.

Absolutely true, but both needed two additional players in midfield while Scholes could do it in a midfield 2.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

Only Xavi and Pirlo were better than him at controlling a game and dictating the tempo.

I still think Scholes was a better all round player than Pirlo. Xavi is a harder contest but I do think Scholes would have been regarded even higher if he played for that Barca team.

 

[Deery]

I don’t think he’s overrated on here at all I think he’s probably rated right, fantastic player and we will go a long way before we see another player as good at what he does..

 

[youngrell]

Simple answer for me is that they never seen him live. Watching Scholes from the stands was a joy to behold, something that does not quite translate so well on TV because you can’t see the whole picture he was seeing and the ease he was doing it with.

Still looked good on telly of course.

 

[Demyanenko_square_jaw]

He was great and one of my favorites later in his career, but as a casual United fan with less investment, i struggle to understand all the underrated talk over the years. Played for one of the biggest clubs in the world that were the strongest in his league for most of his career, only played in a less respected/ lower coefficient league (relatively) for the first few years of his career, CL wins and other finals, played for one of the big national teams...just a very highly visible and widely rated as excellent/great player in general.

The only way i can really see how he can be considered underrated is if you are in that huge club bubble of only discussing and comparing him to other similar size club contemporary legends like Zidane, Iniesta, Pirlo and Xavi who all had better international careers to go along with the great club one, so not surprising at all they end up with even more worldwide recognition. The players that might be genuinely underrated in a wider footballing context tend not to have been ones playing with the absolute elite clubs for year after year, especially when talent was more spread out. It's usually understandable why they are lower rated too, as they will often be less proven with not as many chances to showcase themselves at a level like CL and/or internationally because of being from a weaker nation.

 

[Heardy]

Ridiculously under-utilised by England managers. That aside, Scholes seems to be held in utmost regards by team mates and opposition alike.

 

[Sassy Colin]

Some things he might be underrated for is his ability to hold on to a ball under pressure.

The number of times you see him in the middle of the park, picking out his next pass, and someone comes flying in on him. A slight of foot, the attacker goes off in the wrong direction and Scholes pings the ball 30 yards to his teammate's feet.

 

[RUCK4444]

He was only underrated by England managers who made a complete mess of things time and again and by Gerrard or Lampard fanboys (I suppose you could class them one and the same), most sensible football fans and pundits appreciate him as arguably the best midfielder of the PL era.

Those England teams should have been built around him.

One of my all time favourite players, peak Scholes gave you a 9/10 performance week in week out, was the first name on most people’s team sheet during our most successful period ever.

 

[Cloud7]

Scholes was the better footballer for me by a long way. Proper thinking player. It's like comparing two different players but I think Scholes was more gifted.

Lampard was a very intelligent player IMO. His movement and timing in the final third was amazing. He could never control a game the way Scholes could, so in that sense I would say that Scholes was better at being a pure midfielder and doing everything that entailed, whereas Lampard was probably better at being a final 3rd midfielder, like Bruno is for us now.

 

[Jeppers7]

What a player. What you’d do to have him in every United team ever. Just a genius. He knew where he was going next before the ball even came to him. Phenomenal player. Easily makes my all time United 11.