I thought that he was simply magnificent in that half a season. You never know how good something is until you lose it — the way he controlled the game and effortlessly spread the ball around... It's a shame that we've fecked up that title run, he deserved it.
Paul Scholes's 2012 return - What do you make of it ?
- Thread starter Luke1995
- Start date
It was fine because SAF was a genius and could pull it off. It'd be madness for any other giant in Europe to do that though, can you imagine Barcelona bringing back Xavi at nearly 40 because they've no options in midfield. Especially if they had a teenage Paul Pogba rearing to go.
I don't know why people bother themselves so much with club's future investment etc at times like that. Football is for entertainment and Scholes was one of the best to watch, so I was delighted to see him back for a while.
Were those thoughts really going through people's mind at the time? Must be boring being you, if so.
Were those thoughts really going through people's mind at the time? Must be boring being you, if so.
Remember buzzing my tits off the night it was announced and then he came on. Knew straight away it was a stroke of Fergie genius.
His return would've been considered a masterstroke by Fergie and his own reputation would've been much higher had we managed that PL title. Which also reflects the outcome oriented approach towards judging individual contributions.
Having said that, there's also an argument that Pogba could've been given a fast-track into the team which might've worked out better in the longer run and saved us 90 or so million.
Having said that, there's also an argument that Pogba could've been given a fast-track into the team which might've worked out better in the longer run and saved us 90 or so million.
A match that happened when he was still retired?
Had an absolute Stromer after the return, We won every game he started except for that city game when we fielded him and Giggs as CM pairing. 4-4 draw against Everton and 1-0 lost against Wigan on that run in which cost us the title, he was rested. He also scored 4 goals on half season playing in the middle two at that age. And on that Bale running past him in 12-13 season, on second half of that game we had like 81% possession and utterly dominated the game with Scholes controlling and dictating. I also remember him turning the game around in Anfield after coming off the bench in the same season.
At the time I was pretty angry that Fergie's refusal to sort out the midfield problem had come to that. It was still great to see him back though.
not just the 90m
we wouldn’t have had to sign another midfielder (Fellaini) so it’s closer to 120m
it really was so short sighted of the club and why I believe (earlier) it’s up there with one of SAFs biggest mistakes.
Scholes was awesome. Indeed my fav player but in the end it was fruitless with us not winning the league. Pogba should have been promoted and who knows, the story could have been a lot different.
I remember a game we lost to Spurs 3-2 at home, where Scholes in the second half was unbelievable.
Between 2001-2004 I can’t think of more than 14 players better than Scholes was, I’d most likely have Scholes as top 10 during that period.
Because I'm bored
In 2006-07 he was a top 3 player in the league. And was part of a team that went to the CL semifinals. You can't name 10 players that were better than Paul Scholes in that season.
Ditto for the year he scored 20 odd goals in a season.
I remember this picture being posted everywhere soon after his return, pretty sure most of you know about his one.
Shit picture but good old days.
This matched my feelings. To go years without buying good midfielders was so frustrating.
I remember being crazy excited when I saw his name on the subs bench for the City game. It was like it won us the game automatically in my head.
I'm struggling to remember what he did in 12/13 for some reason.
I'm struggling to remember what he did in 12/13 for some reason.
It's all based off opinions but some of these guys could argue had better or as good seasons individually.
Pirlo, Kaka, Ronaldo, Messi, Drogba, Seedorf, Ronaldinho 38 G + A), Lampard (42 G + A), Rooney (started shit but finished strongly with (38 G + A), Van Nistelrooy, Rio, Gerrard etc. but yeah Scholes did indeed shine bright that season
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At the time, maybe all the world class midfielders weren't available for prices the club could afford to pay.
He was clearly a bit off the pace when he came back, but he still had it and was crucial to our resurgence that season.
I don't agree with the idea that he should have quit after that season, him getting another trophy was great, and he still made a great contribution. The away match against Southampton was ALL about him getting subbed in, even RvP who scored a hattrick said that Scholesy changed that game.
I don't agree with the idea that he should have quit after that season, him getting another trophy was great, and he still made a great contribution. The away match against Southampton was ALL about him getting subbed in, even RvP who scored a hattrick said that Scholesy changed that game.
Sounds like contrarian bollocks to me but we all have opinions
Which season? When was he top 10-15 players in the world.Say what? Peak Scholes wasnt Top 10-15??
The interesting thing is, if you had said he was in the top 10 players in the world at any point during his career, you would have been laughed at.
It's only post his career or at the tail end when his powers waned that Scholes being on the elite world class level was even considered worthy of discussion.
It was a great comeback. Although him and Carrick didn't form the best partnership. Would have been interesting to see Paul Pogba more.
Saving money.
Sadly this in part is true, still he was that good I was happy to see him play again.
Plus he was immense and kept us in the race that season.
Edit: we wouldn’t have signed a better player anyway, we still haven’t and won’t.
You don’t replace a Paul Scholes you simply try to fill the void.
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We did have some money to spend at least. We just wasted it on Young, when the wings were the one position we were fairly stacked in. I'd argue going into the season, Jones wasn't really a priority too - we were fairly covered. But that was the year we had that CB injury crisis & even then Jones eventually became part of the annual crisis rather than a solution to it.
Was just about to post this. Completely dictated the game from deep. Absolutely everything ran through him and he did something everytime.
I do agree to some extent, although Young was good in his initial period and although somewhat of an icon to us fans of a poor period of squad quality, he was, overall, a good and versatile professional.
I believe sir Alex wanted to sign what seemed to potentially be the future England centre back partnership of Smalling and Jones. However the latter has been a disaster.
Jones is a bull in a china shop and ironically is made from china. So he ends up breaking himself every time we allow him, through desperation, out of the barn.
Saw an article when Scholes said at 29 or so, sir alex asked him to sit and to not get forward as much. Pre that, getting forward and trying to get goals was a big part of his game.
Most players enter their twilight years at that age, but for me, that’s really when Scholes went to another level; when he stopped moving about as much and really took control of games. He was truly untouchable in that role
Most players enter their twilight years at that age, but for me, that’s really when Scholes went to another level; when he stopped moving about as much and really took control of games. He was truly untouchable in that role
I've only been at Old Trafford once in my life. I believe it was just a few weeks after his return, so I was pretty happy about that, as I thought I'd never get to see my favorite player live. It was vs Stoke, but it was magical to see how smart he was and how well he dealt with lack of time and space. Totally the highlight of the trip for me.
I can agree with this. But even that season I'd struggle to put him top 10-15 in the world.
Really?
In that time period he was fighting with veron for his position and its only 02/03 where he was really great. Even then he wasnt even too 3 players in our team.
I wasn't too keen on his return to be honest. I loved Scholes, was one of the best midfielders in the world in his day and a quite the unique talent when compared to other midfielders who have played in the premier league. But I'm a firm believer in never letting a team grow old together, and in what was an interesting moment in our history at the time, a time where we needed to be looking to the future and how to develop a new team, I felt falling back on Scholes was a move in the wrong direction. Still, this isn't Scholes's fault if he felt he could still play.
In some way I was proved wrong because he was different class when he came back. He scored a few goals, but my favourite display by him was the game against Liverpool where he just had Gerrard and co on a leash all game, just toyed with them for long periods and couldn't get near him, his legs might have gone but his footballing brain was still in full motion and unmatched. So for that one stint at the back end of the 2012 season, I think it worked out very well.
In some way I was proved wrong because he was different class when he came back. He scored a few goals, but my favourite display by him was the game against Liverpool where he just had Gerrard and co on a leash all game, just toyed with them for long periods and couldn't get near him, his legs might have gone but his footballing brain was still in full motion and unmatched. So for that one stint at the back end of the 2012 season, I think it worked out very well.
I definitely remember leaving Old Trafford not too annoyed that we lost (well I was annoyed, but not as much as I usually am when we lose at OT) because a) we were good in the second half and probably deserved to draw and b) I got to watch Scholes be absolutely ridiculous.
02-03
Should have been a giant danger signal that our squad was lacking in investment. Pity so many people (including me, since Scholes is one of my favorite players) got carried away with the hype.
He was barely top 3 In our team.
Giggs, Beckham, ruud van nisteroy, rio all had arguably equal or better seasons.
Ruud certainly 44 goals, top scorer in the league and CL, wouldn’t have been unjust had he won the ballon d’or that year
Absolutely. Him, Pirlo and Xavi, an easy top three for me in terms of who you want running the show in midfield at the peak of their powers.
Schmeichel in an interview once made the point that what sets the truly top tier apart for him is consistency. And with players like Scholes, year in year out, you knew they’d not be a weak link. I remember being younger and wanting flashy names, and then Fergie would talk about character. I think we’re seeing more and more with the current United how much that really matters.
I was coming home from a running race, and put the radio on, to be shocked to hear both that we were 3-0 up away at City, and that Scholes was playing, as it was kept a massive secret in a way that's quite rare for this generation.
I think he gave a ball away and they went and scored, but after that he bossed it for the rest of the season, in his late 30s!
Glad he got out when Fergie did, I bet that Moyes season was painful for Giggs.
I think he gave a ball away and they went and scored, but after that he bossed it for the rest of the season, in his late 30s!
Glad he got out when Fergie did, I bet that Moyes season was painful for Giggs.