Scholes: The Genius Talks!
Times: In the Grumpy Old Men films Grandpa Gustafson expresses regrets about youth.
“Kids: Can’t live with them. Can’t shoot them,” he says. If Paul Scholes can be believed, it is the kind of line he might deliver to Ryan Giggs while Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney goof about.
“I’d say most of the time things are . . . lively,” Scholes said of the Manchester United dressing room. “They [Rooney and Ronaldo] are 20 and 21 and we have signed two players even younger in Nani and Anderson. They’re just happy all the time, not like us miserable old gits.”
Of course in Grumpy Old Men and its sequel, Grumpier Old Men, grumpiness is a veneer underneath which the characters nurse the lustiness of younger men.
So it is with Scholes. He seeks privacy but could never hide one thing; his fervour both for the playing and winning of football games. When he quit internationals at the start of 2004-05 and had a four-month break the following season because of an eye problem, rumours crept about Manchester that he was done with his sport. How silly they proved. In 2006-07, Scholes returned for possibly the best campaign of his career.
Now, at the age of 32, the multiple ways he can contribute to the team are used more tellingly than ever because of the insight, the experienced gained, and yet there is no sign that wisdom has doused the instinctive spark in his play or competitive flame. I once asked Giggs what Scholes was like in their youth-team days and his description still rings true: “From day one, Scholesy played as if he were playing on the street. And he was deceptive. You’d think, ‘He’s only small…’ Then he’d boot you.”
It is true, though – rejuvenation was required. Three years’ distance is enough properly to assess his decision to quit England.
“It’s helped me quite a bit. It’s always nice to have those 10-day breaks when the internationals come along, you get a nice rest. In the summer too. In tournament years you’re away for a good four-to-six weeks, which can be tiring. You end up with two or three weeks off and in the last couple of summers I’ve managed more like four to six weeks off. Yeah,” said Scholes, “I’ve felt better for that. I’m glad I made the decision.”
It’s not in his nature to compare himself to others, so he ventures no opinion on Jamie Carragher’s situation and does not presume that because retiring from internationals prolonged Alan Shearer’s club career it will do the same for him.
“That wasn’t my intention when I decided,” he said. “At the time I wasn’t enjoying playing for England and felt I’d be better concentrating on United. At the minute I feel okay and would like to think I can play a bit longer than if I was playing internationals but time will tell.”
There’s no going back. Though Steve McClaren tried to change his mind, Scholes has long been missing from England duty and will remain unavailable for selection. “I thought a lot about returning because when the England manager rings you’ve got to. I spoke to Sir Alex Ferguson quite a lot and decided I’d probably done the right thing, and didn’t really want to go back.”
The last of Scholes’ 66 caps came at Euro 2004 in which, in his infinite genius, Sven-Göran Eriksson stationed him wide on the left so he could accommodate Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard as a central partnership and indulge David Beck-ham’s preening compunction for drifting into the middle.
Scholes, not about to develop a sudden taste for controversy, avoids blaming Eriksson. “There were times I didn’t play in my favourite position but it was never the issue. I know it was said that Sven kept sticking me on the left but I’d played a lot of times like that for United.
“I don’t know why, I probably wasn’t playing very well and just stopped enjoying England. And I like being at home,” Scholes said. “It was an awful lot of time away from home and, for me, there’s nothing better than Manchester.”
Scholes smiled but only at himself, aware that while others might say such a thing as a joke, he is deadly serious. He was speaking at United’s hotel in
Seoul in a private meeting room. You somehow knew that he wouldn’t be venturing into any of the hotel’s public areas, infested with cameramen and squealing schoolgirls. He is a homebody and even colleagues who are used to him shake their heads at his propensity for being first to leave the stadium or training ground once work is over, and for eschewing any socialising that involves a public space.
They admire him, though.
“Scholesy’s legendary,” said Ruud van Nistelrooy. “He just is who he is. That’s why he’s so respected. Everyone knows he’s never been interested in an image. He’d rather have none.”
Given this, what does the “miserable old git” think of modern young players and their eagerness to embrace the ‘bling’ cul-ture? Does he have to steer the Rooneys and Ronaldos and tell them how lucky they are?
“I think they already understand that. We’ve got great young players at United, earning a lot of money, not like young players have done in the past. But they all seem level-headed and I don’t think there’s one who gets carried away. If they did, they’d have the manager to answer to and that’s not something they’d want.”
Do United score over other clubs in this way? “I think the ability scores over other clubs. I think the younger players we’ve got are just better than any of the other teams’. What they do on the pitch on a Wednesday and Saturday is better than the young lads in other teams.”
Clever husbandry by Ferguson saw Scholes and Giggs deployed in all United’s major matches last season, while only making 44 appearances apiece compared to Rooney’s 55 and Ronaldo [inset, right] on 52. It is nice to let the fresh princes take the strain but Scholes would not like any further reduction in his playing time.
“You don’t even take it year by year as an older player at United, you take it game by game,” Scholes said. “You have to prove in each game that you’re good enough to play in the next one. With the quality in our squad, the pressure is on. At any time you could have a bad game and Darren Fletcher or John O’Shea could come into the team. Michael Carrick has obviously been in the team, now we have Owen Hargreaves. Ryan can play central midield. There are so many players who can play there, they probably won’t miss you when you’re gone.”
United’s return to the swaggering, goal-thirsting football of their best traditions has aided the rejuvenation. “Ask any attacking player how they want to play and they’ll say they just want to attack,” said Scholes. “And seeing the lads like Rooney and Ronaldo and the energy they bring keeps you fresh. It’s the talent of them as well. It’s great to be a part of a team that can really rip sides apart like they did most of last season.”
It does not seem long ago Scholes was a brilliant youngster. “I’ve known Brian Kidd a long time and he always used to tell me to enjoy it because it would fly by. I never believed him but now I know what he’s talking about,” reflected Scholes. Has he planned, yet, for life after his playing career? “Not really. You’re so busy playing and training there’s not much time. A lot of experienced people do say I should start but I just want to concentrate on staying fit and playing well. When I come to the end I’ll decide then. I don’t think I’m the manager type.”
Has Roy Keane’s instant success in management surprised him? “Not at all. He always looked the type. It’s been a dod-dle for him.” Is it true that Keane has sounded Scholes out about joining Sunderland? “Nah,” Scholes smiled. “Paper talk. The old bulls**t again.”
Scholes: club and country
Paul Scholes announced his retirement from international football after Euro 2004, citing his family life and club career with Manchester United as being more important
Scholes was the fi rst England player to be sent off at Wembley, in 1999 against Sweden. An inability to tackle properly has hindered him throughout his career
He has twice turned down the opportunity to come out of retirement and regain his position in the England squad under Steve McClaren
Made his England debut in 1997, winning 66 caps and scoring 14 goals
Joined Manchester United as a trainee, making his debut on September 21, 1994, when he scored twice in a 2-1 victory over Port Vale in the League Cup
Has won seven League titles, three FA Cups, a League Cup and the Champions League, as well as four Community Shields and an Intercontinental Cup
Does not have an agent and negotiates his own deals, rarely giving interviews or accepting advertising contracts
The 32-year-old midfi elder has played 536 games for United, scoring 137 goals
