Scholes retires.

Manchester United's Paul Scholes has announced his retirement aged 36.

Midfielder Scholes made his United debut in 1994, making 676 appearances, and will now join the coaching staff.

The news came after he helped the club win a record 19th league title, the 10th of his career, and his last game was Saturday's Champions League final loss to Barcelona.

"This was not a decision I've taken lightly but I feel now is the right time for me to stop playing," he said.

The famously low key Scholes stated: "I am not a man of many words but I can honestly say that playing football is all I have ever wanted to do and to have had such a long and successful career at Manchester United has been a real honour.

"To have been part of the team that helped the club reach that 19th title is a great privilege."

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson paid tribute, calling him "a truly unbelievable player.

"Paul has always been inspirational to players of all ages and we know that will continue in his new role," he added.

Scholes was also held in high esteem by his fellow professionals - former world player of the year Zinedine Zidane called him "the complete midfielder" and "my toughest opponent.

"Scholes is undoubtedly the greatest of his generation," added the former France international.

Sir Bobby Charlton was also a huge admirer.

"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," he said.

United team-mate Rio Ferdinand said Scholes had gone "from a scoring midfielder to a dictator of the game" and "changed his game while still at top of the game", while Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere described him as "top class" and "a great role model for any young English midfielder."

Scholes was part of United's Class of 92, which also produced David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Gary Neville - another player who ended his United career this season.

United chief executive David Gill said Scholes had "established himself as one of the greatest players to ever wear the United shirt".

In addition to winning 10 Premier League titles, Scholes was a member of the team that triumphed in the 2008 Champions League final against Chelsea, but was suspended for the 1999 final win over Bayern Munich.

He also won 66 England caps before retiring from international football following the Euro 2004 tournament, aged only 29, but coach Fabio Capello tried to tempt him to change his mind for last summer's World Cup.

Scholes said he would have considered a U-turn but was not given enough time to make up his mind.

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Nosurprise to me in truth, I knew he was going to do it when he got his red in the cup semi final.

That said, the man is an absolute legend and it was an honour and a privilege to watch him play in the red shirt!

I thought this was going to happen when he got left out the Champions League final starting 11.

The most gifted English player I've ever watched.

prettyboykev wrote:I thought this was going to happen when he got left out the Champions League final starting 11.

The most gifted English player I've ever watched.

Couldnt agree more maybe one of the most gifted in the world, his passing and game control were a joy to behold and its a shame the English fans and media only realised in the last few years how good he was. Glad to see hes sticking around to teach the younger players a few more like him would be great

Hell of a Player

SatNav won many games for United

ronin47

One of the best players of his generation, a shame that they just don't seem to make em like him any more.

Good luck Scholesy in your new coaching role, those kids are in great hands.

Scholes was one heck of player,reckless at times but put his heart into playing week in week out.

All the best for him in his coaching role.

A quality midfielder in his pomp, and a great goalscorer earlier in his career too. That he changed his game into the patient passer we saw in the last few was testament to his footballing intelligence.

I do however sincerely hope he isn't teaching the kids how to tackle.

sodhat wrote:A quality midfielder in his pomp, and a great goalscorer earlier in his career too. That he changed his game into the patient passer we saw in the last few was testament to his footballing intelligence.

I do however sincerely hope he isn't teaching the kids how to tackle.

I never thought of that he needs an assistant. Roy Keane is out of a job oh wait that wouldn't be a good idea either. Need to have a think about that.

Yes he was a bad tackler at times!

Stewart Downing calls Scholes arguably the greatest midfielder ever to play in the premier league

He was an incredible player, I also think he could tackle if he wanted to and if he didnt get a red mist. There is no way a player with that much ability didnt know when and when not to make a tackle. Doesnt take anything away from the fact he has been the best English player of his generation.

Legend wrote:Stewart Downing calls Scholes arguably the greatest midfielder ever to play in the premier league

I would say he is definitely up there, who would you put ahead of him?

Legend wrote:Stewart Downing calls Scholes arguably the greatest midfielder ever to play in the premier league

I don't get the smilie tbh. Who would you put above Scholes?

Actually, come to think of it there aren't that many better midfielders. I was just thinking of it as 'players'. Fair play to him.

the goal against barca in the semi final of champions league in 2008 will live long in my memory. what a legend

Video of Scholes looking back on his career (recorded at some point during the season): http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/8933749.stm

Sad day I hope united buy big enough to fill the void as Mr Gibson won't cut the mustard.

OleH wrote:Sad day I hope united buy big enough to fill the void as Mr Gibson won't cut the mustard.

I wasn't aware having the ability to cut mustard was a requirement for top class midfielders. Their you go that is where Jermaine Jenas has been going wrong he needs to learn to cut mustard.

Glad, one of the worst footballers to play at united in the 'golden' era imo.

At a midtable side he would have been average at best. A dirty player with limited talent. Somehow has had a brilliant career tho

Gregers wrote:Glad, one of the worst footballers to play at united in the 'golden' era imo.

At a midtable side he would have been average at best. A dirty player with limited talent. Somehow has had a brilliant career tho

Total and utter nonsense. You obviously don't watch much football.

Come on kev, he was never world class. As I said I've always thought he was overrated and liable to badly injure someone.

Nowhere near the top 25 midfielders in the prem, let alone top 10 as some people like to portray him.

How anyone can say he was Giggs, Beckham, Keane level is beyond me.

Gregers wrote:Come on kev, he was never world class. As I said I've always thought he was overrated and liable to badly injure someone.

Nowhere near the top 50 midfielders in the prem, let alone top 10 as some people like to portray him.

How anyone can say he was Giggs, Beckham, Keane level is beyond me.

Best midfielder to ever play in the EPL for me. How can you slag him off for being liable to hurt someone then rate Keane above him?

In his prime he could score goals and his passing range was excellent. He changed his game when he got older and wouldn't get box to box as much but was still a goal threat and his passing probably improved.

Gregers wrote:Come on kev, he was never world class. As I said I've always thought he was overrated and liable to badly injure someone.

Nowhere near the top 25 midfielders in the prem, let alone top 10 as some people like to portray him.

How anyone can say he was Giggs, Beckham, Keane level is beyond me.

What a ridiculous statement.

Keane was a better passer, better technically, read the game better.

Best midfielder in the EPL (no particular order)? Gerrard, Lampard, Giggs, Beckham, Ronaldo, Petit, Ginola, Roberto Di Matteo, Viera, Keane...

Phil McNulty: Paul Scholes the master will be sadly missed. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philmcnulty/2011/05/the_cause_was_a_losing.html

For a start Giggs and Beckham were wide midfielders so it's not worth comparing them. Ronaldo and Ginola were wingers/front man so that's unfair as well.

Petit and Di Matteo? Have you been drinking?

As for the rest with the exception of Stevie G they do some things better than Scholes but for me Scholes had a better all round game than Lampard, Keane and Viera.

Forme Stevie G is the closest to him but I don't hink Stevie has Scholes intelligent short killer passes from the edge of the box that Scholes did better than anyone I have seen. His vision was unbelievable.

Zinedine Zidane, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of our time, has claimed that Paul Scholes is as close to the complete footballer as you can get and regrets never getting to play alongside him.

“He’s almost untouchable in what he does,” said Zidane. “I never tire of watching him play. You rarely come across the complete footballer, but Scholes is as close to it as you can get. One of my regrets is that the opportunity to play alongside him never presented itself during my career. He was an extremely tough opponent to play against. You didn’t get any time on the ball when he was around. He would close you down and make your life ­terribly uncomfortable. He is the type of player you want on your side, not in ­opposition because he could do so much damage. He is very gifted. He makes the game look easy because he’s so much natural ­ability.”

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Enough said!

Well I'm sorry for having an opinion

gregers is eirther a wum or somebody who hasnt seen paul scholes play, keano better passer than scholes !! oh dear! scholes walks it as the best central midfileder in EPL history. the guy could do everything bar tackle.

you normally know how good a player is by the praise he receives from his peers and zidane said scholes most the most complete player he's seen and toughest oppenent. thankyou mr zidane summed it up perfectly

compelling and rich wrote:great minds freek show

Cheers mate. I'm sure Xavi made a similar comment about Paul Scholes not so long ago as well.

Gregers wrote:Well I'm sorry for having an opinion

Same thing happened to me when I mentioned his tackling ability on the chat box, if people are willing to defend his tackling, they're going to defend the rest of his game too.

Derbyblue wrote:

Gregers wrote:Well I'm sorry for having an opinion

Same thing happened to me when I mentioned his tackling ability on the chat box, if people are willing to defend his tackling, they're going to defend the rest of his game too.

He couldn't tackle but the guy could play better than most. He made a bad tackle from time to time but so did Viera and Keane. Stevie G has made a few as well in his time as well.

thing with scholes tackles they were stupid and reckless at times but not very often malicous. top of my head can only think of city this season that was a real bad one. there are far worst tacklers out there than scholes but some people cant handle how good he was and that he played for united so they would prefer to concentrate on one small area of his game because its the only thing he couldnt do

compelling and rich wrote:thing with scholes tackles they were stupid and reckless at times but not very often malicous. top of my head can only think of city this season that was a real bad one. there are far worst tacklers out there than scholes but some people cant handle how good he was and that he played for united so they would prefer to concentrate on one small area of his game because its the only thing he couldnt do

I'm no United fan but you're right if he played for any other club n England he wouldn't get the same stick about it because he wouldn't have as many winners medals.

The same stick? One person has said he's not in his top 25 midfielders ever and we've pointed out he can't tackle, are we being too mean to him? OR do we just have different opinions?

I don't think my view on him is biased because he played for Manchester United, or because he's got winners medals, I just like to see tackling be done properly. I appreciate he's great with the ball at his feet and his passing is amazing, he probably could continue for another year if he wanted too, and he'll be very hard to replace for Man Utd. I can't really comment on how he has changed his role within the side over his career as I don't remember much of his career.

if you havnt seen much of his career then perhaps your opinon isnt as valid as others who have seen all of his career

compelling and rich wrote:if you havnt seen much of his career then perhaps your opinon isnt as valid as others who have seen all of his career

Or maybe that's why I only commented on the time of his career I've seen/remember? Also most of my post was very complimentary, the one point most posting on this thread so far will disagree with was I said I like tackling to be done properly, I don't have to have watched every game of his career to be able to notice that he does plenty of bad or "mis-timed" tackles.

ive seen gerrard in plenty of tackles jumping in two footed, does that mean he cant be rated highly either. nobodys claiming that scholes could tackle but dont understand why your singling out scholes. adams, keown, terry, vidic, viera, de jong all knew/know how to kick people and know a bad tackle, do you rate them unfairly as players aswell because of it?

compelling and rich wrote:ive seen gerrard in plenty of tackles jumping in two footed, does that mean he cant be rated highly either. nobodys claiming that scholes could tackle but dont understand why your singling out scholes. adams, keown, terry, vidic, viera, de jong all knew/know how to kick people and know a bad tackle, do you rate them unfairly as players aswell because of it?

I'm "singling out Scholes" because this thread is about him. I have never mentioned how highly Scholes should be rated, and therefore you're just assuming I am downgrading him on such things, for all you know I believe him to be the best midfielder ever I just like to point he wasn't the complete package. Yes if I'm taking into account how Scholes tackles then I take into account how those I can remember seeing tackle or tackled too.

Rating them unfairly? Yet again I'll put out I've never said where I rated him, and I apologise for having a slightly different opinion.

where you rate him then derby blue?

I would say he is somewhere in the top 20, probably top 10 or around that area.

of midfileders in the EPL history?

Derbyblue wrote:The same stick? One person has said he's not in his top 25 midfielders ever and we've pointed out he can't tackle, are we being too mean to him? OR do we just have different opinions?

I don't think my view on him is biased because he played for Manchester United, or because he's got winners medals, I just like to see tackling be done properly. I appreciate he's great with the ball at his feet and his passing is amazing, he probably could continue for another year if he wanted too, and he'll be very hard to replace for Man Utd. I can't really comment on how he has changed his role within the side over his career as I don't remember much of his career.

It wasn't a top 25 ever though it was top 25 in the history of the EPL. His tackling was used as the main reason for this view while putting people like Keane and Viera above him who made malicious tackles at times not reckless one like Scholes.

Actually gregers felt he was overrated, and then mentioned that he always felt he was liable to injure someone, he didn't say the main reason he wasn't in his top 25 was his tackling ability. Also isn't the idea to debate with people and discuss why he felt Scholes wasn't in his top 25, or what made him feel he is overrated, in stead you say he doesn't watch football, well if he didn't watch football he'd probably never have heard of Scholes because Scholes has very little media presence.

compelling and rich wrote:of midfileders in the EPL history?

I'm glad you spotted that, it's not of all in EPL history as I'm sure there will be many I don't remember or may have never seen play, if it's the whole of midfield he would be somewhere in the top 20 for centre midfield he is probably more like top 10.

Derbyblue wrote:Actually gregers felt he was overrated, and then mentioned that he always felt he was liable to injure someone, he didn't say the main reason he wasn't in his top 25 was his tackling ability. Also isn't the idea to debate with people and discuss why he felt Scholes wasn't in his top 25, or what made him feel he is overrated, in stead you say he doesn't watch football, well if he didn't watch football he'd probably never have heard of Scholes because Scholes has very little media presence.

Gregers used his tackling and apparent liability to hurt someone as his main reason for saying Scholes wasn't in his top 25 midfielders of EPL history. He then rated Keane above him who did hurt people makes no sense. That's why I said he he obviously doesn't watch much football. I stated why I thought Scholes was the best in EPL history all anyone else who doesn't agree has done is say I just don't rate him with no reasons why and he can't tackle. Hardly a debate.

prettyboykev wrote:

Derbyblue wrote:Actually gregers felt he was overrated, and then mentioned that he always felt he was liable to injure someone, he didn't say the main reason he wasn't in his top 25 was his tackling ability. Also isn't the idea to debate with people and discuss why he felt Scholes wasn't in his top 25, or what made him feel he is overrated, in stead you say he doesn't watch football, well if he didn't watch football he'd probably never have heard of Scholes because Scholes has very little media presence.

Gregers used his tackling and apparent liability to hurt someone as his main reason for saying Scholes wasn't in his top 25 midfielders of EPL history. He then rated Keane above him who did hurt people makes no sense. That's why I said he he obviously doesn't watch much football. I stated why I thought Scholes was the best in EPL history all anyone else who doesn't agree has done is say I just don't rate him with no reasons why and he can't tackle. Hardly a debate.

Can you actually quote him saying that because I can't see it, when he said he rated Keane as being better than Scholes there was no mention of tackling he actually said "Keane was a better passer, better technically, read the game better."

Gregers wrote:Glad, one of the worst footballers to play at united in the 'golden' era imo.

At a midtable side he would have been average at best. A dirty player with limited talent. Somehow has had a brilliant career tho

Here you go Derby he called him dirty and of limited ability. He then went on to say he was liable to hurt someone then classed Keane as better than him. Keane did hurt people that is why I said he must not watch football.

Paul Schole isn't a player of limited ability by any standard you set. Tackling aside he could do everything else you require in a central midfielder better than most. Scholes was Xavi before it was cool to be Xavi.

You still havnt actually read what I put Kev... And comparing Scholes to Xavi? Thank you for making my day!

Isn't the point of a forum to have a discussion?

Gregers wrote:You still havnt actually read what I put Kev... And comparing Scholes to Xavi? Thank you for making my day!

Isn't the point of a forum to have a discussion?

Is Xavi really that much better than Scholes in his prime? I wouldn't say so Xavi is awesome and pulls the strings for Barca but that's what Scholes did at United for years.