My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder.
In the last 15 to 20 years the best central midfielder that I have seen - the most complete - is SCHOLES
Paul Scholes would have been one of my first choices for putting together a great team.
You can't ask every player to do the same thing. That's why we have amazing midfielders, defenders, forwards and keepers. You can't ask them to be of the same mold.
I can't understand why Scholes has never won the player of the year award. He should have won it long ago. Maybe it's because he doesn't seek the limelight like some of the other 'stars'.
In the last 15 to 20 years the best central midfielder that I have seen — the most complete — is Scholes. I have spoken with Xabi Alonso about this many times. Scholes is a spectacular player who has everything. He can play the final pass, he can score, he is strong, he never gets knocked off the ball and he doesn’t give possession away. If he had been Spanish then maybe he would have been valued more.
Paul Scholes would have been one of my first choices for putting together a great team - that goes to show how highly I have always rated him. An all-round midfielder who possesses quality and character in abundance.
Out of everyone at Manchester United, I would pick out Scholes, he is the best midfielder of his generation. I would had loved to play alongside him.
I have no hesitation in putting a name to the embodiment of all that I think is best about football. It's Paul Scholes. In so many ways Scholes is my favourite.
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.
Steven Gerrard is the best player I've ever played with.
Scholes is undoubtedly the best midfielder of his generation.
I have no hesitation in putting a name to the embodiment of all that I think is best about football. It's Paul Scholes. 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 Alex Ferguson era. And in so many ways Scholes is my favourite. I love his nous and conviction that he will find a way to win, to make the killer pass or produce the decisive volley.
Who is the Best Player in the World? Leo Messi.
To me Paul is a role model. He is the best midfielder I've seen in the last 15 or 20 years.
The only great English midfielder in my career was Paul Scholes. He had elegance in him. Others were pretenders.
I can’t think of a striker in the world who has scored so many important goals, never mind a midfielder.
Some people tell me that we professional players are soccer slaves. Well, if this is slavery, give me a life sentence.
Bayern's midfielder, Owen Hargreaves, who scampered around the pitch like an office boy on amphetamines for the last 25 minutes or so.
I play in a position that demands hard work and generosity and little glamour, but I like it. It’s my job and I like it. I would rather intercept and steal 10 balls than shoot. That’s what I’m here for, to make everyone else’s jobs easier.
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