Paul Scholes the pundit

LilyWhiteSpur

New Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2017
Messages
12,370
Location
Northern Ireland
Supports
Tottenham
He's getting money for nothing. When he was a player he dodged the media as often as he could. Keano said in his book that Scholes, even though it was his turn, always managed to dodge post match interviews, consequently other players always had to stand in for him. Erm I mean even Wazza did it when he had to.
Now however, he's quick to get on the media and critisize. Certainly not pundit material lacks expression, always looks miserable and has zero charisma.
This is pretty much where I am on him he knows his stuff and says it how it is but constantly looks miserable and incredably monotone. To be a pundit, good or bad, you either need to be engaging and knowledgable like Neville or entertaining like Keane.
 

Posh Red

Full Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2013
Messages
3,438
Location
Peterborough, England
Does that gives him the right to be immuned to constructive criticism.

I don't see anything wrong with what Scholes said, he's just like any concerned fan here who doesn't think we are on the right path to win trophies.
So you don't think he singles out Pogba whatsoever? Did you ever see him dig out Rooney like that, a player who performed far worse on a more regular basis?

It seems as though because he's a big money signing and has a big social media presence he should be held to a higher standard to anyone else. Personally I don't think that's fair but that's just me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SteveJ

njred

HALA MADRID!
Joined
Nov 3, 2001
Messages
7,172
Supports
Liverpool
Why do you lot get slag off former players who criticize united? These are pundits who care about the team and are obviously upset with the downward spiral Jose is dragging united into.
 

luke511

Full Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
6,887
The thing is he's doing exactly what we do on this forum, instead he's doing it in front of a camera. It comes across as being whiny but he's just a fan speaking his mind, you can't really blame him for that.
 

EngimaMK

New Member
Newbie
Joined
May 23, 2018
Messages
645
I think the media furore over Pogba is a little over the top - BUT, does he (and his agent) court it?

For Raiola to take on Scholes is laughable. If Paul Pogba was half as good as Scholes we would be lucky. Scholes doesn't know leadership he said. Ha ha. Scholes, who worked under Alex Ferguson and formed relationships with Keane, Cantona and Schmeichel doesn't know what leadership looks like. Yeah, right...

Screw Pogba and his agent and all of these modern day Twitter, meme-following, Fortnite dancing, dabbing, label following, wannabe designers before footballers embarrassments to the game.
 

simplyared

Full Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2017
Messages
4,349
Location
somewhere ouside the UK
Why do you lot get slag off former players who criticize united? These are pundits who care about the team and are obviously upset with the downward spiral Jose is dragging united into.
It's easy to critisize when you're on the sidelines in a studio. That's all Paul Scoles does. Very little positive comes out of his mouth.
 

Himannv

Full Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2017
Messages
5,726
Location
Somewhere in the draft forum
It's easy to critisize when you're on the sidelines in a studio. That's all Paul Scoles does. Very little positive comes out of his mouth.
I do think he's naturally a bit grumpy, but I don't see anything wrong with what he said. He's paid to give an opinion about a match, and that last one will even have the fair-weather fans ranting, because it really was an absolute horrendous performance by us.

Also, you have to take the context of his comments into consideration as well. I watched that whole studio session and it only looks like he singled out Pogba because his comments came right after Pogba's interview where he said "my attitude wasn't right". Also the host was the one who posed the question about Pogba and both Scholes and P. Neville said almost the same things and were replying to the questions posed.

I'm not sure why the agent singled out Scholes for criticism because Phil Neville was saying almost the same things, except he sounded a bit more heartbroken. They were both struggling to defend why a United captain would say "my attitude wasn't right" and they both even offered Pogba an out saying it could have been lost in translation. I remember thinking they were being more than fair because at that time I remember thinking it sounded more like mutiny.
 

Jib

New Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2015
Messages
1,767
Scholes has an agenda against Pogba since 2012.
 

Keeps It tidy

Hates Messi
Joined
Jun 6, 2013
Messages
17,638
Location
New York
So you don't think he singles out Pogba whatsoever? Did you ever see him dig out Rooney like that, a player who performed far worse on a more regular basis?

It seems as though because he's a big money signing and has a big social media presence he should be held to a higher standard to anyone else. Personally I don't think that's fair but that's just me.
He has criticized Rooney in the past. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/27801310
 

Keeps It tidy

Hates Messi
Joined
Jun 6, 2013
Messages
17,638
Location
New York
Scholes does not seem to be a good pundit. He seems like he went to the Keane school of punditry. Where he just says the "the team did not want it enough", "they had no desire", etc, etc. But, it always amazes me that people here criticize the club, the manager and the players all day on here but, are shocked to hear someone like Scholes whose job it is to give opinions about Football be critical of the club, the manager or the players. He does not work for MUTV if he thinks the club is playing poor he will say it.
 

12OunceEpilogue

In perfect harmony
Scout
Joined
Oct 2, 2016
Messages
18,392
Location
Wigan
Scholes does not seem to be a good pundit. He seems like he went to the Keane school of punditry. Where he just says the "the team did not want it enough", "they had no desire", etc, etc. But, it always amazes me that people here criticize the club, the manager and the players all day on here but, are shocked to hear someone like Scholes whose job it is to give opinions about Football be critical of the club, the manager or the players. He does not work for MUTV if he thinks the club is playing poor he will say it.
Agreed, if you want to take issue with his style and delivery that's fair game but what he's saying is bang on most of the time. Jose is in trouble if results and performances don't improve, he may not be here in 12 months, Pogba has been below par, City are certainly stronger favourites than us for the league. He's a United legend but that doesn't mean he has to be unerringly positive about us when, let's face it, there is little to be positive about in the grand scheme of things.
 

Posh Red

Full Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2013
Messages
3,438
Location
Peterborough, England
He has criticized Rooney in the past. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/27801310
Yeah I get that. What I'm trying to say is that Pogba seems to get an unfair level of stick in comparison to others. I don't think anyone believes Pogba has been playing consistently well since he signed but he seems to be the go to name for pundits and fans when united don't play well.
 

HJ12

Full Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2016
Messages
967
I watched the post-match studio discussion with Scholes and Neville after the loss to Brighton, and it's very difficult to listen to Scholes. Fair enough, he is upset at the loss as are all United fans/ex-players, but it affects his composure and responses to the questions to a degree that you don't see coming through from Phil's responses as an example (Phil by contrast is far more measured, and actually takes a moment to think before saying something - Paul just blurts stuff out). The end result is that he just goes on putting the boot into the club in a public domain all the time (which granted he is allowed to do), but all it does is feed the already negative media narrative against United.

Again, as posters above said, he is correct in his assessments a lot of the time, but there needs to be a better balance in how he delivers that criticism.
 

Nuts

Full Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2012
Messages
1,288
Scholes has an agenda against Pogba since 2012.
If Pogba consistently played to his potential - ie: was the best midfielder in the league over a season - do you think Scholes would still be criticising him?
 

3KDré

Full Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2015
Messages
6,575
If Pogba consistently played to his potential - ie: was the best midfielder in the league over a season - do you think Scholes would still be criticising him?
Is anyone in our first 11, bar De Gea performing to their potential? Maybe Lukaku and Matic and that's it. If there are so many players not doing as well as they could...
 

Mr PG

Full Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2014
Messages
1,514
His personal hatred of Pogba goes way back and he dislikes Mourinho for taking the job that was meant for Giggs. He will never be objective so long as they're still at the club.
Nonsense man. Scholes tells the truth...he’s not always right but was instrumental in rubbishing lvg football
 

Mr PG

Full Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2014
Messages
1,514
Pogba will likely always struggle at United unless we play a more continental style that suits him. Big players are not suited to the high number of lateral movements our style requires
 

Mr PG

Full Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2014
Messages
1,514
Gary Neville my favorite pundit. Phil Neville talks nonsense all the time... even Carragher is better
 

Jinn

Full Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
2,084
Is anyone in our first 11, bar De Gea performing to their potential? Maybe Lukaku and Matic and that's it. If there are so many players not doing as well as they could...
But the discussion is on Paul Pogba, not the rest of our squad. Anyway that argument is akin to 'if your friends jump of the bridge...'
Has it occurred to anyone that the reason why Scholes is so hard on Pogba is because he knows what it takes to excel in that position and he knows what it means to play for Utd. He sees the potential in Pogba and he is frustrated that a kid like that is not as consistent as he should be. We are all astonished at he's inconsistency. Paul Scholes was already a mainstay in Utd's midfield by the age of 25 so criticising Pogba is easy for him because he's been there and done that. Above all, the midfielders job is to make the play and give the forwards the best possible chance of attacking, at least that's what the midfielder of past Utd squads used to do. So if Pogba is inconsistent and playing with a relatively new player, the rest of the attack suffers. He needs to get he's act together fast.
 
Last edited:

Beagle

Full Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2013
Messages
1,185
Location
India
He is not an entertaining pundit but he doesn't have any agenda. He just calls it as it is, in a dull sort of way.
 

KennyBurner

New Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
4,673
Location
ATL
He is not an entertaining pundit but he doesn't have any agenda. He just calls it as it is, in a dull sort of way.
Thank you for this. I used to be annoyed with him last season but he just like the rest of us are tired of watching dull football. Most of what he says is spot on especially considering Pogba. Maybe he does it a bit too much but at this point I really cannot blame him. He has no agenda he just wants United to do well I believe.
 

MVBDX

Full Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2015
Messages
782
Supports
Real Madrid
As an outsider, generally like his views, think he's usually on point and mostly free of the bullshit that you'd see from most pundits, he isn't there to entertain the viewers or readers, and I love that.
 

deafepl

New Member
Joined
May 19, 2017
Messages
2,974
Spouting rubbish again

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...nchester-United-midfielder-Ander-Herrera.html

As the article these were Herreras stats.

Attempted Passes: 48
Successful Passes: 44
Pass Completion: 92%
Key Passes: 3
Assists: 1
I'm really fans of Scholes but he's out of control, putting too much pressure on a player like Herrera and tell them they are shit because of misplaced passes. Scholes act as if he never had a bad game and misplaced pass before.
 

Bestietom

Full Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2013
Messages
8,021
Location
Ireland
Scholes is right, we are shite and in need of better players. Herrera always plays the ball short or backwards.
 

Ekeke

Full Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2006
Messages
53,080
Location
Hope, We Lose
Scholes also claimed a few years ago that Ander can be our goalscoring midfielder. I think he said 10 goals a season from midfield or something. Sounds like he's never understood what type of player he is and is covering his own ass now he hasnt done what Scholes said he can do. Its not the fact he's not a natural goalscorer, no no, its because he plays simple passes. You know like Keane used to do next to Scholes. Or Carrick.
 

VeevaVee

The worst "V"
Scout
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
46,248
Location
Manchester
Scholes also claimed a few years ago that Ander can be our goalscoring midfielder. I think he said 10 goals a season from midfield or something. Sounds like he's never understood what type of player he is and is covering his own ass now he hasnt done what Scholes said he can do. Its not the fact he's not a natural goalscorer, no no, its because he plays simple passes. You know like Keane used to do next to Scholes. Or Carrick.
Opinions change, as do players.
 

Bestietom

Full Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2013
Messages
8,021
Location
Ireland
Scholes also claimed a few years ago that Ander can be our goalscoring midfielder. I think he said 10 goals a season from midfield or something. Sounds like he's never understood what type of player he is and is covering his own ass now he hasnt done what Scholes said he can do. Its not the fact he's not a natural goalscorer, no no, its because he plays simple passes. You know like Keane used to do next to Scholes. Or Carrick.
He plays more balls Backwards than he do forward.