Paul Scholes retires!!!!

[tfco]

Xavi is no longer the best...for Xavi.

[tfco]

Scholes no longer the "best" for Xavi

He also said Lionel Messi - winner of four Ballon d'Ors and widely seen as one of the greatest players ever - would have been even better in the Premier League.

"I think he'd be even better in the Premier League because it is not so defensive ... Leo would find more spaces than in La Liga."

https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/pre ... --sow.html

would he be needing Xavi and Andres to provide those spaces?

[cic old boy]

[wiseone]

When asked which player he wished he had played with, Thierry Henry immediately replied "Paul Scholes". Yup, that Paul Scholes guy is just an overrated water carrier that foreigners don't rate and have never heard of.

[/video]

[ohsee]

Everyone can see and agree on the skills and abilities of a Zidane, an Iniesta, a Xavi, a Yaya, a Christiano, even a Beckham. Why can't everybody see the "world class" abilities of Scholes? Mgbo EPL fanboys?

[wiseone]

Did you read the earlier posts in the thread where the players you mentioned below raved about Scholes, saying he was either the best midfielder they played against or saw? Zidane, Ronaldo, Socrates, Xavi, Messi, Vieira, Lippi, Guardiola, and multiple Champions League winning coaches et al are raving about the guy. Messi (AKA greatest player of his generation) actually said that coaching sessions at Barcelona's La Masia academy focused on Scholes, and the Barca coaches repeatedly stressed that Scholes was the role model midfielder that Barcelona's academy players should emulate.

Everyone can see and agree on the skills and abilities of a Zidane, an Iniesta, a Xavi, a Yaya, a Christiano, even a Beckham. Why can't everybody see the "world class" abilities of Scholes? Mgbo EPL fanboys?

[wiseone]

http://www.eurosport.co.uk/football/pre ... l#uk-yh-rf

Thierry Henry has said that Manchester United legend Paul Scholes is the greatest player of the Premier League era.
I'm not the Prem's best ever, says Thierry Henry - that'd be Paul Scholes

By Toby Keel
Last update 9 hours ago - Published on 28/10/2015 at 12:45

Speaking to Sky News, the French striker had little hesitation over who is the greatest footballer in the English top flight following its re-branding in 1992. "I would have to go Paul Scholes," the 38-year-old told Sky News’ Kay Burley.

"I don’t think people have given him the credit he deserves. One of the best, if not the best, I’ve played against, he could do anything. "Unfortunately for him, when he was playing for the national team, for England, sometimes people didn’t see it like that.

"If I had a Paul Scholes in my team, everything would be around him. "At Manchester United, they saw it like that, but I think Paul Scholes is one of the best I’ve played against in this league, and seen anywhere."

[tfco]

Speaking to Sky News, the French striker had little hesitation over who is the greatest footballer in the English top flight following its re-branding in 1992. "I would have to go Paul Scholes," the 38-year-old told Sky News’ Kay Burley.

English media conspiracy.

was the interview in Fr or English?

[cic old boy]

Henry also said that Bergkamp was the best player he played with. Not Zizou, not Messi!

[wiseone]

Good one.

Speaking to Sky News, the French striker had little hesitation over who is the greatest footballer in the English top flight following its re-branding in 1992. "I would have to go Paul Scholes," the 38-year-old told Sky News’ Kay Burley.

English media conspiracy.

was the interview in Fr or English?

[wiseone]

and now Nani says that Scholes (not his Portugal teammate Ronaldo) was the best player he played with at Man Utd.

​Former Manchester United winger Nani has said that Paul Scholes was a better player than Portugal teammate Cristiano Ronaldo during their time in a Red Devils' uniform, according to the ​Mirror.

Nani - now at Fenerbahce - played with Scholes over five years at United, also playing two seasons with Ronaldo before he left for Real Madrid in 2009. The Madrid man would score 68 goals over those two seasons, however, Nani claims that Scholes was the one he really enjoyed playing with.

Nani did acknowledge that Ronaldo is at the very top right now, however, he insists that it was Scholes who left the biggest impression.

"So many good players. Ronaldo, the best player in the world right now but at that time Scholesy was great," the Portuguese said in a Facebook Q&A earlier this week.

“I learned a lot from him in training. There were others, too, but he was the highlight during that time.”

Robin van Persie, also an ex-United man playing at Fenerbahce, took part in the Q&A as well. The Dutch striker agreed that Scholes was a true great, but also mentioned Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

“I played with Scholes for one year, but he was injured for a couple of months. Even in training you could tell that players like Scholes, Giggs... I really enjoyed playing with them," Van Persie added.

“They are players with their own style in their own position. I also really enjoyed watching Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. It’s difficult to point out one, two or even three.”

http://www.90min.com/posts/3022825-nani ... _aid=35507

[tfco]

lost in translation.

was the interview in English?

[cic old boy]

Has this guy been reading my comments??

Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes examples of post-retirement hype

After Steven Gerrard retired from playing, there was a gush of tributes from around the football world that might have embarrassed Diego Maradona or Pele.

Some of the biggest names in the game rushed to laud the 36-year-old. Even clubs got in on the act, with teams from Barcelona to Stoke City tweeting their praise. Few players have ended their careers in such a maelstrom of hype.

Much of it was deserved. Teammates from Liverpool and England expressed their admiration through social media. Opponents delivered their verdict on a rival whose explosiveness and ability made Gerrard a danger whenever he stepped onto the pitch. The eulogies, though, swamped any critical assessment of the former Liverpool captain's career. He was undoubtedly one of the finest players of his generation, but Barca's Arda Turan tweeting "thank you for everything you've done" adds to no one's understanding of the particular genius shown by the man from Huyton.

How good was Gerrard? He bears comparison with any player in Liverpool's history. At Anfield there is no question that he acquired the legendary status that so many were quick to attach to him when he hung up his boots. For a generation of fans, though, he will be defined not by his game-changing impact on the pitch but by the tsunami of plaudits that marked his retirement.

He is not the first player to undergo this process, one that is partly driven by social media. Take Paul Scholes. Five years ago, the Manchester United midfielder announced his retirement: he made a comeback the next season and played for another year. Samir Nasri led the tributes. In the course of one tweet, the French midfielder upped the ante on Scholes from "great player," which few would deny, to the more arguable "world class player." Nasri closed the tweet by declaring Scholes was "the English Zizou."

In less than 140 characters, Nasri elevated the Englishman to the status of Zinedine Zidane. Even Scholes' biggest fans might blanch at comparison to a man whose goals won the 1998 World Cup final and who led France to victory in Euro 2000, as well as scoring the winner in the Champions League final two years later when Real Madrid beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1.

Zidane was FIFA world player of the year three times, and any side he played in was built around him. Scholes was never the best player in any United team he was part of over his 20-year career. Not once. He was a fine and effective performer but some way short of the exalted company in which he has been placed.

The wave of hype that followed Scholes into retirement seemingly caused history to be rewritten. The midfielder won 66 caps for his country, a poor return compared with his Old Trafford team-mate David Beckham's 115 international appearances in the same period.

The debate over England's disappointing performances in the 2000s has also been reframed in recent years. Now, some contend that if the team had been built around Scholes during that decade, they could have gone further in tournaments -- a notion that would have been laughed out of Wembley at the time. The 42-year-old's reputation as a player has grown exponentially with every day of retirement. How good will Gerrard's become after a couple of years of sitting on the sidelines?

Frank Lampard will be next to give up playing, and he'll experience similar social media acclaim to Gerrard. Much of it will be justified, but as with his Liverpool counterpart, some of the praise will be overblown. For years to come, some fans will argue the relative merits of the pair by referencing the post-retirement eulogies rather than looking at the realities of the midfielders' careers.

When players are lionized by other figures in football -- former professionals, managers, opponents -- the knee-jerk reaction is to give the acclaim credence. But it can be a dangerous thing to do.

Take Zidane's views on midfielders. In 2009, the French great spoke about Gerrard. "Is he the best in the world?" Zidane wondered before answering the question. "He might not get the attention of Messi and Ronaldo, but yes, I think he just might be." Flattery comes in no more extreme form.
Two years later, Zizou took a different tack. "Scholes," he said definitively on hearing of the United man's retirement, "is undoubtedly the best midfielder of his generation."

The post-retirement veneration of players can be misleading. Men like Gerrard and Scholes are good enough to be judged on their careers, not the overwrought adoration that characterized their departure from the game.

It will only get worse, too. By the time Messi retires, it probably won't be Maradona and Pele who will be considered his peer group. The way things are going, he'll be pitched somewhere between Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein for his contribution to human history.
Don't believe the hype.

Tony Evans has been a sports journalist for more than 20 years. He writes for ESPN FC on the Premier League.
http://www.espnfc.com/english-premier-l ... ement-hype

[wiseone]

*MOVE TO WORLD FOOTBALL*

[TonyTheTigerKiller]

Mods, I can’t believe you guys left this thread on this forum for this long. What has Paul Scholes done for Naija or the SuperEagles ever or lately? Please do the needful


Cheers.