5 greatest Manchester United midfielders in the Premier League Era

David Beckham
Beckham's ability at set pieces was second to none

#1 Paul Scholes (1992-2011, 2012-13)

Manchester United v Bolton Wanderers - Premier League
Scholes is seen by many as the most gifted English midfielder of his generation

Though Scholes is now known for his brilliant (in my opinion) punditry on BT Sport, in his playing days, he was largely heralded as one of the best ever English midfielders. Nevertheless, like Giggs before him, Scholes was better in a United shirt than his country.

Scholes had it all: mesmeric passing abilities, a thunderous shot and great technical ability, which is a rare skill for English midfielders. Just like his United colleague Rio Ferdinand, Scholes was a rare commodity in English football- the finished article.

Arguably the older Scholes got, the better player he became. At the start of his career, he played mainly as a second striker to support Eric Cantona though he dropped back into central midfield, alongside Roy Keane.

However one of Scholes' best ever seasons in a United shirt came in 2002/2003, where he played as a second striker with Ruud Van Nistlerooy as United won the Premier League at a canter. It was his most prolific season in front of goal (scoring 20 goals in all competitions).

10 years on from that, Scholes came out of retirement to play for United again halfway through the 2011/12 season and he pulled the strings again (though in a lesser capacity) to inspire United to further success, winning 11 Premier League titles with United. Even in his final season, Scholes still had an amazing 92% pass accuracy.

In-between that period was the best time of Scholes' career where he orchestrated proceedings from midfield and could control a whole game on his own.

His scoring rate declined but he still chipped in with some spectacular strikes- such as an amazing volley against Aston Villa in 2006 and delivering the knockout blow to Barcelona in 2008.

Scholes boasts an impressive record of 155 goals in 718 appearances for the Reds, despite playing in midfield for the majority of those games.

He may have been an unassuming character, but he remains one of the best (if the not the best) ever midfielders to play for Manchester United.

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