Paul Scholes Tribute

ALEX FERGUSON took real flak for the team he picked. A bunch of unknown kids in an important cup game.

No, we are not talking about Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final.

The date was September 21, 1994 when a certain Paul Scholes lined up alongside the likes of Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and David Beckham for his debut.

He would score twice as Manchester United won 2-1 at Port Vale in the Coca-Cola Cup second round.

Questions were asked in Parliament about Fergie belittling the competition with the team he picked. Soon, though, nobody argued with those four playing.

Fast forward 15 years and Scholes will make his 600th appearance for the Red Devils in tonight’s Prem game against Portsmouth at Old Trafford.

One of the greatest but most unassuming figures to play the game, the 34-year-old continues to turn it on.

There can be no higher praise than that coming from United legend Sir Bobby Charlton, who places Scholes as his all-time favourite player.

Sir Bobby said: “Many great players have worn the shirt of Manchester United. Players I worshipped, then lost with my youth in Munich.

“Players like Denis Law and George Best who I enjoyed so much as team-mates and now, finally, players I have watched closely in the Ferguson era.

“And in so many ways Scholes is my favourite. I love his nous and conviction that he’ll find a way to win, to make the killer pass or produce a decisive volley.

“When a game reaches a vital phase, these qualities seem to come out of his every pore. He’s always on the ball. He’s always looking to bring other people into the action and if he loses possession you think he must be ill.”

Boss Fergie said: “His contribution and his quality and some of the fantastic goals he has scored have been great.

“Even on Sunday in the FA Cup semi-final when he came on, his first touch of the ball was better than anybody else on the park had done for the whole previous hour.
“He has that wonderful velvet touch on the ball. Amid the mayhem that can happen in a game it is wonderful to see.

“To reach 600 games is fantastic, considering he has had three or four long injuries in that career. He has had two knee operations and his eye problem a couple of years ago. He has probably missed more than a year of football so that would have put him nearer 700.”
Scholes is fourth in the all-time United list for appearances behind only Bill Foulkes (688), Sir Bobby (758) and, at the top, Ryan Giggs (798).

Scholes has hit 142 goals for United and is one of the best volleyers and long-range shooters the game has seen.

He has always been a one-club man. The Salford-born player joined United when he was 14 and has been there ever since.

Ferguson said: “Funnily enough, we have never had one enquiry for Paul and you know why? Because they all know. They all know he would never leave. That said, he could have played in any league in Europe. No problem.”

Tonight Scholes will no doubt wonder what all the fuss is about. A devoted family man who loves playing football, yet hates being a modern footballer.

The midfielder said: “Part of me will be glad to finish.

“I can’t say I can’t wait to finish but I’m looking forward to finishing and everything that goes with it.

“The only thing I will definitely miss is the football. The general life of a footballer I will not miss at all.

“People are just very invasive aren’t they? They are always wanting to know what you have been doing and what you’re going to do.

“I’m sure I’ll go to watch United. My lad Owen is absolutely mad on Man United. But that’ll be as far as it goes.” Scholes has given himself one more season after this before he finally hangs up his boots. He will not go overboard about the medals he has won but the one he treasures most is last season’s Champions League gong.

Scholes, like Roy Keane, missed the 1999 final through suspension. He was awarded a medal but it never meant anything to him.

He said: “I don’t view myself as a double Champions League winner.

“You’ve got to play in the final for it to count. So it meant everything to win it. It was a great night.”

Scholes earned 66 England caps, scoring 14 goals and retired from internationals after Euro 2004.

He said: “I am lucky in that I’ve had everything I need. I’m at Manchester United. What more do I need?”

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Scholes has been hailed by some of soccer’s greatest names over the years.

ZINEDINE ZIDANE: “My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder. Scholes is undoubtedly the greatest of his generation.”

EDGAR DAVIDS: “I’m not the best, Paul Scholes is. We can all learn from Paul Scholes.”

MARCELLO LIPPI: “Paul Scholes would have been one of my first choices for putting together a great team — that is how highly I have always rated him.

“An all-round midfielder with quality and character in abundance.”

LAURENT BLANC: “I tell anyone who asks me — Scholes is the best English player.”

THIERRY HENRY: “Without any doubt the best player in the Premiership has to be Paul Scholes.

“He knows how to do everything, and he is the one who directs the way his team plays. On top of all that, he has indestructible mental strength, and he is a genuine competitor.”

PETER SCHMEICHEL: “His reading of the game is unsurpassed. He has the best eye for a pass, for what the play or the game needs at that precise moment, that I have never seen anyone else have.

“He controls and distributes the play and the game better than anyone I have ever seen.”