Paul Scholes: The Master

Paul Scholes is deemed way past his prime by many people. Maybe he is, but past-prime Scholes is way better than most midfielders in the league–or the world. Two Man of the Match performances in a row, dictating the game through his passes from midfield. The man is a maestro, a legend.


by Guardian Chalkboards

A shame, really, that the defender got a slight touch from Scholes' pass to Berbatov's goal, which made it counted unsuccessful therefore bringing his assist count to just 1.

A little bit from his Newcastle performance:

The key man was Scholes, as he was in last weekend’s Community Shield contest. Newcastle started by getting Nolan (and sometimes even Carroll) back goalside of him, pressuring him and forcing him into fairly simple sideways and backwards passes. Newcastle’s forwards dropping so deep meant that United had two centre-backs doing little, and it was noticeable that Nemanja Vidic moved forward into a slightly advanced position to distribute the ball. From this unchallenged position he completed 60 passes (from 61 attempted), 15 more than his central defensive partner, Jonny Evans.

As the game wore on, however, Scholes got more and more time on the ball, as Nolan was caught too high up the pitch trying to support Carroll. He exploited this space in two ways – most obviously in taking a bit of time before knocking some incredible long-range passes into wide zones, but also making a surprising number of forward runs to link up with the two strikers – he was nearly on the end of a Berbatov knockdown at 0-0, and soon after was hacked down by Alan Smith when winding up a 25-yard shot.

The gradual decline in pressure on Scholes was replicated elsewhere on the pitch, as Newcastle seemed to tire extremely quickly. This was evident both when defending and attacking – when without the ball they were slower to close down and sloppier in their defensive positioning, and when they looked to build attacks, the likes of Carroll and Barton both charged forward to find the rest of their teammates simply trying to catch their breath.

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Scholes still loving his craft

Never mind the three R’s… for the master Paul Scholes, it was the three P’s that paid off as patience, pleasure and passing led the Reds to an opening win over Newcastle United.
The patience was important in the first period when Sir Alex Ferguson’s men were tasked with breaking down belligerent opposition; the pleasure then came after strikes from Dimitar Berbatov and Darren Fletcher sent the Reds into the break 2-0 up. Passing, of course, was the key to victory – one of the best from Scholes was saved until late on when he chipped his second assist of the game to Ryan Giggs.
“It was just a great goal to watch, I suppose,” shrugged Scholes in his post-match interview.
“I really enjoyed the second half. We created chances and looked like we could score every time we went forward. I think we could have maybe scored a few more goals but we'll take that, a three-nil win to start the season.
“The important thing with your first game is to win it and we've managed to do that.”
Winning looked far from a formality in the early part of the match when the Magpies, no mugs after storming the Championship last season, were sticking to their task with the likes of Joey Barton, Kevin Nolan and Alan Smith closing down Scholes and co.
“Like a lot of teams who come here, Newcastle set their stall out and tried to make it difficult for us. They defended quite well and defended deep.
“I don't think we started too well in the first 20-25 minutes. We just had to be patient, try to keep the ball, keep them moving, draw them out and hopefully the gaps would come.
“Once we got that first goal” – Scholes setting up Berbatov – “I think we were a constant threat after that.”
After winning plaudits for his evergreen display, Scholes reiterated he has no retirement date in mind, as he continues to benefit from quitting the England scene.
“I get little breaks here and there which is what you need,” he said – referring to the domestic lulls for international action. “I think they keep you fresh and raring to go.
“I haven't set any limits. I'll just keep going, hopefully keep playing well and getting in the team and just see where it goes from there.”
In the meantime, Scholes believes his side can go from strength to strength, having started the domestic season with two victories and six goals – despite not having every player performing at full pelt following the World Cup.
“We've had a lot of players away,” Scholes reminded us.
“That was Patrice Evra's first game and I thought he was fantastic. He's a fit lad.
“We looked really strong tonight and I think we'll come on from that. We've got a tough game on Sunday at Fulham but hopefully we can have a similar result.”

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Nobody controlled the game more than Paul Scholes, so there was no surprise to hear Sir Alex eulogising his midfield general and fellow veteran Ryan Giggs, who scored the game's third goal after coming on as substitute.

"Scholes is a master of his trade. His vision and passing range and his willingness to play is marvellous.

"Both he and Ryan Giggs have retained that appetite. They are two players blessed with something special. Players like them lift the game to a different level and lift the spectators’ hopes that the game is still good. There are plenty of good players in our country.

"Sometimes we beat ourselves up about the standard at times but there’s a lot of good in our game and tonight we saw Scholes again producing some of it.

"Last season was his first season without injury for a long, long time. That’s the key to Paul – if he stays fit, he can play on."

Excerpt taken from here.