Does everyone forget scholes retired and man utd couldn't replace him so they got him to come out of retirement, so they could win the league

Not remotely controversial, as a Liverpool fan I can completely agree. I hated Paul scholes because he was too bloody good.

These people are clueless...O Hara knows his thing. Zidane and Xavi said Scholes was the best midfielder of his generation

Can’t believe it’s even a debate if he’s one of best midfielders absolutely ridiculous

I always remember going to a United game and watching the pre-game warm ups. Watching Scholes ping the ball around the pitch and sticking it on a needle head for 30’mins before the game was the best footballing moment I have witnessed. Sweetest striker of the ball of all time.

He was so good I had to get him out of retirement to win the league.

I been watching man utd now for 40 years. Paul Scholes is the best player we had at man utd in my life. People do not realise how good he was, he waa a top 15-20 goal a season guy when he was younger, he scored more goals than lampard in his early years, but it was when he dropped deeper he truly shone. And yet that more than anything had him being less noticed than the lampards and the Gerrards Especially in this era of rating players on goals and assists. Paul Scholes in deeper lying midfield pretty much controlled every game, like a metronome, he was one of the reason's we scored so many late goals, he stretched defenders he wore them down, could find people with better precision over 70 yards than many do 10, he was always available you could give him the ball anywhere surrounded it always stuck. He barely seemed to run anywhere but was always an outlet He was imo the most complete footballer England ever had in my lifetime I remember the lampard gerrard Scholes thing and rhey were mainly picking their teammates Now although they were loyal they all admitted whichever England training sides worked against the other. The team with Scholes in always won Debate settled easily by facts it wasn't gerrard or lampard made rhe difference And that is because he sees and reads everything like a conductor in an orchestra

Theres great players like davids, essien, gerrard then there’s all time greats, players you cant get close to they will just play around you. Xavi, pirlo, iniesta, scholes were different breed, and among them scholes had the gift of lampard scoring goals and the only that had the toughness. 5’7 played in a midfield two and never seen him getting bullied

It’s hardly a claim, it’s an outright fact

Scholes is on he's own table

Nobody could pass a football like Paul Scholes. Those cross diagonals and clever weighted passes through and behind defenders was just sublime. The best one touch midfielder. He oozed class and elegance, the way he caressed the ball was unbelievable to watch. The best English midfielder England ever produced and imo the best central midfielder ever.

Paul Scholes is in the top 5 best players under Ferguson at Manchester United. One of the best players I’ve ever seen. Also one of the best passers I’ve ever witnessed.

‘Huge Claim?’ He just said what everyone knows is true! He is the best in the business.

Arsenal fan here.... Paul is what people call the complete midfielder. Best midfielder I've ever seen play.

Saw him live a few times, entire team revolved (and the opposition) around Paul Scholes, the best, miss watching him play for United.

I have watched football in St. James park for 25 years. Best midfielder I have EVER seen in the premier League era!

Xavi Said scholes is the best cm in they generation.. so who cares what a bunch of pundits think

I was young to appreciate how good Paul Scholes was. But now I'm older I realise how great a player he is. The first ever ginger I've appreciated

Just go watch sky sports interview with Henry, he literally says Arsenal's game plan was to stop Scholes.

Steve and Paul were absolutely outstanding players, I remember when Garry neville asked him to join Manu, Steve said if you join Liverpool.... brilliant!

Zidane, Xavi, Iniesta, Scholes, Pirlo, Gerrard - there’s your “top table”

Scholes did at for almost 20 seasons at Manchester United. Imagine playing at the highest possible level for that long and on top of that maintaining those standards. There are players out there that will help you win football matches. Scholes wins you leagues. 11 premier league winners medals. And it terms of passing, its not even close.

This guy is soo biased to English players, xavi and iniesta were the midfield partnership of the greatest club team in history and arguably the greatest international team in history.

The best midfielder of all time (Zidane) said Scholes was the best midfielder he had ever played against. It's not even in question. Anyone that thinks otherwise either is too young to have experienced how good he was OR they don't know what they're talking about.

Scholes was another planet

The best midfielders I've saw over the last 25 years are......Scholes, Gerrard, Zidane, Viera and Xavi. That's my top 5. All these players could control and game!

An interesting point Jamie makes is about if you put Scholes in Barcelona's team his level would have been more evident. Thats so true, I reckon if you put on a session with Xavi, Scholes, Iniesta and watched it with fresh eyes it would be Scholes who would be standing out.

Scholes could tackle? Come on, that's not how you win an argument.

Some people think scholes was just a player that could pick out a long range pass but his spacial awareness and close control was genius with one sudden turn or feint he could send 3 or 4 opposing players moving in the wrong direction

Even as a Liverpool fan I agree with his point about how good scholes was but feel like he dug himself a bit of a hole with the top 5 thing. Too many top midfielders to put into a top 5 of all time its not even worth trying they didn’t even mention pirlo, kaka, matthaus etc

'I can't comment on platini, he's not from my era........... Hoddle has to be in there😂😂

The Spanish and Italian squads from 20 years ago did watch videos of Paul Scholes and were in awe of his 'complete midfieldery'.

He's a true great of the game as a red Scouser I hated him at utd but what an intelligent player he had everything and definitely up there

Funny how this man isn't on Talksport anymore!!!!!! Clown. The best ever Man Utd player in my eyes.

“He used to score 20 a season”, scored 20 once and 14 were in the prem😭

I think it speaks for itself when the best players ever say how good scholes was and those who trained with him always say scholes was unreal

Well said Jamie Paul Scholes was on a different planet

Scholes was awesome but the only thing I must disagree with O'Hara was the tackling. He couldn't tackle at all and when he did it was always a bad tackle. That aside his technique, determination and his unique ability to be unmarked in the box... unreal.

Scholes was unbelievable & definitely one of the greatest midfielders ever. Xavi says he was the best & that’s enough for me.

I'm an Arsenal fan, and yes Paul Scholes is easily the best ever in the Prem. And yes, he sits at the 'top table'. So many pro's say Scholes is their favourite player. Or when Thierry Henry was asked what player would he have loved to play with, that he never played with... Well I'm sure you can guess.

Absolutely 100% correct O’Hara. The Modern day generation quickly forget the likes of Scholes, Gerrard, Giggs etc.

One of the best midfielders ever to play the game.

Scholes was an awesome player..had everything..if you didn’t perform consistently in that Man U side you were found out..he won so many games for that side..Durham is a clueless plum

Liverpool fan here, Unfortunately if i was to turn my biased opinion off, You cannot ignore what the greats of our beautiful game say, If Xavi, iniesta, Zidanne all say scholes is the best then who are we to say otherwise, Greats appreciate greats! With all my heart i would love to say Gerrard, Heart of a lion and a leader and a fantastic footballer

No debate Scholes is in the top 5 midfielders of his generation and you could argue even all time. However it certainly isn’t based on the fact he’s a goal scorer, it was his vision, passing and ability to set the tempo and control games that made him so special. He only scored 10+ goals twice in the 19 seasons he played in the prem, so the ‘20 goals a season’ statement is way off.

He never showboated it always under the radar his football skill and brain talked for his work a humble superstar

I completely agree with Jamie. If someone told me to name the top 5 central midfielders ever; I think everyone would include the obvious first 3 of Zidane, Zico and Matthaus; I don’t think these 3 can be contested and have to be included in anyone’s top 5 ever. But after that there’s a huge list of players that a person could include; such as: Scholes, Hoddle, Iniesta, Rivaldo, Xavi, Pirlo, Gerrard, Lampard, Seedorf, Gazza, Modric, Stoichkov, Keane, etc…. The list is huge & it’s open to opinions and interpretations; But I personally would include Scholes in my top 5. I also think that saying that he isn’t on par with other players like this shows a complete lack of understanding the game of football itself. Being a great central midfielder has nothing to do with scoring goals or creating chances. Being a great central midfielder is all about utilising time. Being able to take the ball when others can’t, being able to keep the ball when others can’t, and being able to influence other players of when to hasten the game, without actually audibly telling them. All the players in my top 5 have that ability; the players who score loads of goals and create loads of goals like Lampard, Gerrard or Pirlo; or the absolute work horses in the engine room like Keane or Stoichkov; are just outside my top 5 for that reason. They don’t have the ability to dictate the tempo.

Gerrard, keane, scholes and Vieira. Different level

Single-handedly, eh ? Alonso, mascherano, Coutinho kuyt,dudek,hyypia,Torres,Suarez,finnan, Reina, Henderson, Sturridge, Luis Garcia,Agger,Arbeloa,skrtel all played with Gerrard and contributed to the collective success of the first team. Gerrard was a player of many, many gifts. However, cup successes during his time at Liverpool, were not only down to him and him alone. He was influential in the final...don't get me wrong but that doesn't mean he single-handedly dragged like Maradona in 86'.

Imo..Zidane was next level. And the rest Xavi, Iniesta, Scholes, Gerrard, Pirlo, its up to your opinion and the game you wanna play.

Figo, Manual rui costa, Viera, Clerance Seedorf, Gustavo Mendieta, Stefan Effenberg , George Weah, Nedved, Pirlo, Totti , Cluade Makhelele, Dunga, Roberto Baggio, De Rossi, Ambrosini, Ballack ,Zidane ,Ronaldinhio, xavi , iniesta

Exactly xavi and iniesta only became better because they learnt from scholes if xavi and iniesta didn’t watch scholes they both would have never been the player they are known for today two legends of barcelona

People really do forget that the guy was so silky smooth with the ball, his touch and vision was so scary I don’t think any amount of practice can give you what Paul had he was ridiculous! I just don’t think United would of been the team they were with out him, can you imagine. I honestly think Xavi based his game around Paul if watch him closely.

I'm 50 and I'm Irish. Paul Scholes is definitely the best England player I've seen in my lifetime and in the top 5 midfielders ever. All the greats that were his contemporaries also cite Scholes. They don't talk the same way about Hoddle and Gerrard. Scholes is out on his own in that regard.

Absolutely spot on, Ohara. To me, he’s the best midfielder of all times 👌. He’s unbelievably good...

If you play football at a high level or on the same pitch as Scholes you know how good he is. Thats why Top players all have the same opinion on him. Only Couch Potato's who have never really played or are a bit anti-United knock him to make themselves feel better.

I'm glad he mentioned both Scholes and Gerrard. I'm a United fan and I always thought Gerrard was a top top player. Different type of player to Scholes. More my type of midfielder. Out of Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes Lampard always came 3rd for me. I don't care about just stats.

Today's generation only saw Paul scholes when we came out of retirement. Which his clips pre 2006/07 and you'll be amazed

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 well said bro, Scholes was on a different level.. first thing said on this channel that i can say feels a hundred percent accurate

Put some respect on Xavi and Iniestas names, the defined the greatest generation of spanish football. How many player can say they played in arguebly the greatest fooballing side, won 2 Euros and a world cup in succesion. They won everytging not to mention thier technic to dicatate a game

Well said people are quick to forget

O hara is spot on 💪💪💪

Its true u miss and realise how brilliant he was

Central Midfielders/attacking mid 90's onwards xavi,iniesta,zidane,scholes,gerrard,kroos,modric,seedorf,totti,pirlo,lampard,de Bruyne,alonso,yaya toure,busquets,rodri,Ballack,david silva,fabregas and look theres proba few missing but these are the main dudes.Scholes was a genius always had space always knew what was around him his awareness was unbelievable his passing range,interlink play good goal contribution assisting and scoring onlybthing he lacked was he wasn't a box to box midfielder his tackling was slightly lackluster and maybe lacking physically compared to some of the others but he excels far ahead on the main attributes.

Top 5 midfielders of all time. Scholes, Iniesta, Zidane, David Silva, Johan Cruyff. I would include Ronaldinho if you think of him as a midfielder and Pirlo. Yet somehow those expert numpties gave player of the year to Scott Parker and Scholes never one an award home or abroad. Bonkers.

He’s having a dig at people picking players who play now and forgetting about the previous generation but he’s doing that himself. I agree Scholes probably is one of the best but he’s sackless the way he goes on.

Paul Scholes faced xavi and iniesta twice in 2 champions league finals and they had complete control of the games. These guys literally won everything(champions league, la liga, euros, World Cup, all the other cups in Spain, club world cup). All 3 of these guys were magic, sometimes there's no need to compare greatness to greatness. But they were all shit compared to Frimpong

First time ever I've agreed with O'Hara

LOVE THE WAY THE WICH VERSION OF LOVEJOY BRINGS UP PLATINI AND SOCRETES AS THOUGH HE WATHCHED THEM PLAY HAHA

When Guardiola says Paul Scholes… Ferguson says he’s one of 4 world class players, Xavi, Inesta, Fabregas, Henry, Viera all say Paul Scholes… surely this isn’t coincidence? I don’t necessarily agree with everything Jamie has said in this video, but had Scholes played for a Barcelona or Real Madrid - he’s god status. The pro’s know best.

Jamie-You can't say 'he's not in my era' and then go on about 'best of all time' Gerrard was big fish in a small pond. Slippy doesnt get anywhere near the table before scholes, iniesta, xavi, zidane, pirlo, mathauus, cruyff, platini

Xavi and Iniesta never watched videos of Scholes. Honestly the guy who made that up along with the guys who made up the dozens of fake quotes about Scholes must be laughing their arses off about how far they've spread. Scholes didn't even start sitting as a midfielder until the end of his career when Xavi and Iniesta had pretty much won it all as players. It was guys like Guardiola and Laudrup that they were trying to imitate. Scholes was playing a pretty bog standard 4 4 2 under Fergie for he majority of his career just getting the ball out wide asap and bombing forward and scoring goals. There was nothing tiki taka about him or Man United whatsoever. Plus Xavi and Scholes made their debuts a few years apart ffs. What was Cruyff saying to him "forget about Rinus Michels and his total football philosophy I've been trying to implement. There's a United reserve game with some ginger kid we need to watch." 🤦‍♂🤦‍♂🤦‍♂

Well in Jamie this other bloke is an absolute weapon

This guy is a united fan and hates the fact that barcelona beat united in two ucl finals. Saying that xavi and iniesta learnt by watching scholes is utter nonsense. Scholes , Gerrard, and Zidane were unbelievable but not including xavi or iniesta in top 5 midfielders means only one thing that this guy hates barcelona or loves united so much that he cannot admit there were better midfielders than scholes

Scholesy was an unreal player best united player of all time and probs best english player ever

Paul made our games look easy, this is how we saw out games and controlled the 90 minutes. We will never have a player that good.

From when Xavi said Scholes is best midfielder ever that's all I need to know

Don't always agree with Jamie, but he's spot on here. Adrian Durham is a mong

what a prat O'Hara is and sums him up, he adds hoddle , but he only played as a player manager made 31 appearances over 2 seasons in the PL.

The problem is Man utd was hated so the players rarely won accolades or awards. It was left to foreigners to appreciate them. Becham Keane Scholes giggs. Put them on a pitch now and they could still play.

He is bang on scholes is in the top 5 midfielders of all time 100%

Schools is an all time legend

Impossible to name best ever. You can name players in your era, you can name favorites but best. Barca had Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets in great midfield. Individually they get in no world XI. Bryan Robson-beast! Souness-beast! Kean-monster! They never get near great teams. Who would want to play against them three as a midfield? Scholes was marvelous. No doubt.

Captain Marvel,R,I,P Colin Bell from a Red.!!!!

Been saying this for years, bit he's the unsung hero. Scholes does not get credit for being the orchestrator of all those fantastic United teams

Gazza!! - the one real England player since 66 who was world class. After that Horddle and Robson.

Zinedine Zidane: "My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder. Scholes is undoubtedly the greatest midfielder of his generation.”

Well said Jamie 👍

I watched Hoddle and Scholes

Definitely top table.. don’t argue. Mid fielders are easy to overlook because of stats. But the mid field is the engine

I can't believe he had to defend Scholes' legacy... Of course he's one of the best midfielders ever!

Guy is saying people are forgetting how good Scholes was and say he is the best with Gerrard... umm mate have you heard of Lampard the best goalscorer as a midfielder?

Paul is one of the greatest midfielders ever... Along many other hundreds in all the history of football.

It annoys him when peole forget players from the past yet he admits he knows nothing about players from before his time? Logical consistency is not O'Hara's strong suit, it seems.

Give me one now ,a new Scholes we might win something..!!!

didn't do a good job defending his case, but yeah ...scholes was at zidane's level. But if you win a world cup you get an an extra few inches of aura

How ever big the table is Scholes would be on it!!

Its such a boring topic. I dont understand how it gets such mileage, top player is his era is one of(can be a large list) the best players of all time, what's so noteworthy about that?

Adrian knows nothing about football or Scholes. Scholes is the player SAF looks to to control the heartbeat of an entire football game. Anyone could score or assist a goal, but not many can control a football game from start to finish like Scholes. Pirlo and Zidane are right up there as well.

My top 5 central midfielders in the last 30 years were 1) Zidane 2) matteus 3) iniesta 4) gazza 5) scholes 6) laudrup/Gerrard/Xavi/pirlo/viera/. Keane/ gullit few more