Whether Paul Scholes plays his last game for Manchester United in Saturday’s Wembley showpiece remains to be seen, but it will be a grave shame if it is the last time we see him of the ‘Ginger Prince’ at the top of level of the English game. Scholes is arguably the greatest midfielder of his generation in England and one who has been treated extremely poorly by his country.
It is an absolute travesty the way the national team wasted Scholes’ talents. Only in England would we put our most talented ball playing midfielder on the left wing, largely down to the crazy belief that Gerrard and Lampard would provide the better midfield axis. Sven Goran Eriksson has a lot to answer for in my opinion and you can fully understand why Scholes felt enough was enough and brought an end to his International career. Zinedine Zidane called him the ‘complete footballer’ and one he wished he had the opportunity to play alongside, yet our national manager felt Lampard was the better option. In truth it is an utter disgrace and one of the underlying factors behind England’s great failings in the last few tournaments.
One of the other likeable features of Scholes is that even in this modern era there is no ego or arrogance about him. Unlike some of his fellow United team mates he doesn’t court the media, doesn’t seek to be controversial and is simply the consummate professional in an era where there is very few. Scholes is arguably a managerial dream and I wonder how many times he has felt the Fergie hairdryer, if he has at all? He possesses an incredible will to win and according to Nani the Ginger Prince certainly doesn’t hold back, even in the 5 & 7 a sides.
It is this 100% attitude that defines him as the player he is and why it will be incredibly sad to see him hang up his boots, if he does so after Saturday’s showpiece. I certainly can’t think of a better English footballer in the last 15 years – it is just a shame that he was continually let down by the very people who needed him the most.