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“I have no hesitation in putting a name to the embodiment of all that I think is best about football. It’s Paul Scholes.”
– Sir Bobby Charlton
This article is a tribute to arguably the greatest midfielder this generation has ever seen. A tribute to a true footballing genius. A tribute to Paul Scholes.
Paul Scholes is one of the most highly regarded footballers of this generation. Time and again he’s received adulation from peers and pundits alike for being one of the best they’ve ever seen. His passing, shooting and technical ability is simply unparalleled, and I can barely remember a few matches where my jaws haven’t dropped to the floor because of a typically Paul Scholes moment of brilliance. Be it an unimaginable 60-yard cross field pass, a thunderous first-time volley from a Giggsy corner, or the man’s sheer inability to let possession slip, Scholes is nothing short of just mind-blowingly spectacular. This has been true for his performances both at home and at the international level.
A one-club player, Scholes has stayed loyal to Manchester United for almost 18 years now, making 689 appearances in that time – the third highest number of appearances by any player for the club. He also represented the England national team for seven years, winning 66 caps, including two World Cup and two European Cup campaigns. Throughout this time, Scholes has always played a pivotal role in shaping his teams’ fortunes.
In the years that I’ve been watching football, I have never quite seen a player dominate the middle of the park as much as Paul Scholes. The only other name that possibly comes to mind is FC Barcelona’s Xavi Hernandez. However, even Xavi has confessed to Scholes being the best of this generation. For a player of his diminutive size, Scholes is a massive figure in the midfield. And it’s easy for this to go unnoticed considering that he has shared this space with such high profile players as Beckham, Ronaldo and Giggs, to say the least. However it’s Scholes who dictates the flow of the game time and time again. His close control and eerily accurate passing ensure United win the midfield battle game after game, season after season.
Here are the reasons that make Scholes a true legend.
Ball Control:
It’s almost as if he’s got a magnet on his feet. The ball just seems to stick to him every single time. This is a huge facet of his game because it ensures that he never gives the ball away. He maintains possession better than most I have ever seen and this allows him to maintain a firm grip on the way the game is going to move.
Passing:
Scholes’ ability to move the ball around is stellar. Nobody does it quite as well as Scholesy does and that’s a fact. There is a deadly accuracy to both his short passes as well as his long passes. It’s almost scary when he slices the ball across the entire field and right onto the feet of an attacking teammate. One could be inclined to believe that even the laws of physics bow down to the laws of Scholes when he does things like that. And this isn’t exactly a one-time thing. He does it over and over again till bewilderment turns into a surrendering acceptance of his ability. This season, Scholes has hit 9.9 accurate long balls per game on average and has a pass success rate of 92.5 percent. Only AC Milan midfield enforcer Mark van Bommel (11 accurate long balls hit per game on average) and Juventus star Andrea Pirlo (11.1 per match) are statistically better, but what Scholes has on them is a significantly higher pass success rate.
Creativity:
He is a player of great ability and vision. But sometimes this can count for nothing if the opposition is onto you. That definitely isn’t the case with Scholes. He mixes up his play brilliantly. The trademark Paul Scholes turn is evidence of this. He’ll rush with the ball one way only to quickly turn the other way and make a quick pass, thereby completely disabling the opposition. He sees plays that most defences wouldn’t even dream of and executes them to perfection. Whether it’s a cross-field pass from his own defence or that little dink over the back line, Scholes is a master at leaving the opposition defence reeling.
Shooting:
There are no words that would do justice to the shooting prowess of Paul Scholes. It’s no wonder that any time the red headed maestro is seen with the ball around the ‘D’, the crowd will yell “Shoot!” hoping to see yet another thunderous goal from the little man. He pops up with absolutely vital goals for both club and country. These can range from long range screamers as against FC Barcelona in 2008, to closer range efforts like his dramatic late header against City in 2010.
Paul Scholes is one of those players that can change the game in an instant
The reasons above are what make Scholes an absolute masterclass in midfield. What’s more is that he doesn’t just raise his own game but also brings out the best in the players around him. This season especially, his return seemed to have brought new life into the team and midfielders like Carrick, Valencia and Young saw a visible improvement in their games in his presence.
However, you can’t get through an article on Paul Scholes without mentioning his tackling. In 18 years you’d imagine an improvement in his somewhat woeful tackling but that just hasn’t been the case. Add to that a somewhat disagreeable disciplinary record and you’ve got 120 bookings in all competitions and some regretful suspensions; none worse than his suspension for the historic Champions League Final in 1999.
Yet Scholes, at 37 years of age, is still going at the very top of the game, still proving himself as a vital component of the greatest club in the Premier League era.
Not too many players in world football, could probably perform at the level Scholes is at right now given his age, especially after spending seven months away from any competitive football. And that is why I believe Paul Scholes deserves to be labelled as the greatest midfielder of this generation.
Paul Scholes has led a life that is perhaps a total antithesis of the life of the stereotypical footballer. He’s maintained a low profile throughout the span of his career. Despite his sterling talent, he’s always kept his feet on the ground, making him one of the most respected players in the game today.
When asked about Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo once said,
“When we were in training, I used to do a lot of tricks which hardly any players at the club could do. Once I was showing my skills to Scholes. After I finished, Scholes took the ball and pointed to a tree which was about 50m from where we were standing. He said, I’m going to hit it in one shot. He kicked it and it hit the tree. He asked me to do the same. I kicked about 10 times, but still couldn’t hit it. He smiled and left.”
Brilliant and understated – vintage Paul Scholes.
