I've just read a column from the secret footballer. Who writes about Jack Wilshere approaching Paul Scholes for advice. He also touches on how England didn't utilise Scholes, they opted to use Lampard/Gerrard... Here is it - http://www.thesecretfootballer.com/articles/the-secret-footballer/17061/its-good-to-talk-jack/...

Do you think Scholes is better than Lampard?

A more complete player maybe but goalscoring wise he couldn't touch Lampard.

Lampard is better in some ways but Scholes is better in others.

Lampard and Scholes would have been a great partnership for England. Would have complimented each other with their different attributes. Would have meant leaving out Gerrard. And that was never going to happen. 

Scholes would perhaps be the better player in helping a team keep possession and control a game, but if my team needed a goal I know who i'd rather have on the field.

 

Gerrard isn't in the same league as either of them though.

It amazes me the rewriting of history where scholes and England are involved. This thing about him pushed aside to accomodate Lampard/Gerrard is a bit of a nonsense, it suggests Scholes was brilliant for england and the main man. When in truth he was mediocre for most of the time internationally, and when he was "pushed aside" had done very little for quite some time.

If Scholes was Spanish he would be rated as one of the all time greats. There's a reason the likes of Xavi and Alonso wax lyrical about his abilities. Just don't think England's style of play ever suited him.

In a different league to Gerrard. Still wouldn't swap him for Lamps, there'll never be a goalscoring midfielder like Frank again imo.

Edited May 19, 201412 yr by spadefx

Worst tackler ever...How the pundits laughed as he scythed down yet another opponent with a potential leg breaker...

 

Good player though, and I quite enjoyed his punditry the other week...

Scholes was a very good player, being in a good team with a lot of other good British United players he didn't get the same hype that Gerrard did, and Lampard made a name for himself with displays and goals at the top level and only had Terry to share the limelight with.

But Scholes was always rated highly and it was him that retired from England duty young, it's not that Lampard and Gerrard were always played "in position" they just got on with it when asked to play wherever. In reality that "golden age" of England never achieved because they were just not good enough.

Scholes had a great midfield around him, Beckham, Butt, Giggs, Kean.

 

Lampard has been the standout midfielder for us, nobody comes close to him.

 

At their peak, Frank wins hands down.

In truth, Lamps, Scholes or Gerrard like countless others have failed to produce club form on a regular basis for England.

I honestly think Scholes was a better player than Lampard. 

 

Doesn't discredit anything about Frank though.

There was a statistical comparison done between Lampard and Gerrard which found Lampard scored more goals with a higher scoring rate, more assists with a higher assist rate and more passes with a greater pass completion percentage. Gerrard however tackled more with a better tackle success rate.

I can't remember Scholes figures exactly, but I'd be shocked if he scored as often, assisted as often and had a comparable pass completion rate to Lampard.

In the short term, statistics mean little. But in the long term (over a career) they say it all.

Edited May 19, 201412 yr by Guest

Great player, great finisher, absolutely awful tackler.

 

Lamps still wins hands down for me, but I am awfully biased.

Frank was a much better goalscorer, but I do think Scholes was a better player.

Who else when having a debate on who is better gets this thrown at them by a Utd fan?

 

 

ZINEDINE ZIDANE- “My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielderâ€.

SIR BOBBY CHARLTON – “Paul Scholes is my favourite player. He epitomises the spirit of Manchester United and everything that is good about footballâ€

SIR ALEX FERGUSON – (whilst having a list of Manchester United players over 30 read to him) “You forgot Paul Scholes – and he is my best player.â€

PATRICK VIEIRA – “The player in the Premiership I admire most? Easy – Scholesâ€

LAURENT BLANC – “I’ve said it before and i tell anyone who asks me; Scholes is easily the best English player. Intelligence, strength, unbelievable technique – all the attributes are there. At Manchester United I saw what he can do and all I could say is “wowâ€.

EDGAR DAVIDS – “Every one of us is just trying to become as good as him. Everyone can learn from Paul Scholesâ€

THIERRY HENRY – “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 “starsâ€.

GORDON STRACHAN – “He can score goals, hit crossfield passes, play one-twos, beat people and win headers in the opponents’ box, so if you take that whole package I don’t think I’ve seen anybody as consistent – and he’s been doing that for 10 or 11 years.â€

CESC FABREGAS – “He is the one whose level I aspire to. He is the best player in the Premier Leagueâ€.

ANDREI SHEVCHENKO – “They have two of the world’s best young players in Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, but the player who most impresses me is Paul Scholes. He is United’s most important player, he makes most things happen on the field.â€

ROY KEANE – “Superb on the field, modest and sensible off it. No celebrity bullsh*t, no self-promotion or glory-hunting, an amazingly gifted player who remained unaffected as a human being.â€

Micah Richards : “He’s always in the right position, always seems to be at the end of the box when the ball drops in. The complete midfielder – when he’s fit, he’s the best. Some go missing but he’s in the right place at the right time. He’s my favourite player of all-time, unbelievable. If you give him a chance it’s a goal, isn’t it?â€

Alan Shearer : “If you ask footballers to pick out the player they most admire, so many of them will pick Paul Scholes. He can tackle, and his passing and shooting is of the highest level. He’s the most consistent and naturally gifted player we’ve had for a long, long time.â€

Eidur Gudjohnsen : “I’m more an admirer of Paul Scholes than I am of Ronaldo. Ronaldo is a fantastic player, but he has 10 other great players around him every week…Scholes is one of the most complete footballers I’ve ever seen. His one-touch play is phenomenal. Whenever I have played against him, I never felt I could get close to him.â€

Edgar Davids : “I’m not the best, Paul Scholes is.â€

Sam Allardyce : “There is not a better midfield player in the world.â€

Kevin Keegan : “What United have got that Chelsea haven’t is Paul Scholes. I think he is different to anything else in English football.â€

Gordon Strachan : “Paul Scholes has been the best England midfield player for 30-odd years. You’d probably have to go back to Bobby Charlton to find someone who could do as much as Scholes. When the ball arrives at his feet he could tell you where every player on that pitch is at that moment. His awareness is superb.â€

Veron while at Chelsea being asked in an interview who’s the best english player : “Paul Scholes.â€

Park Ji Sung when asked by the club’s official home page which United player he would like to see in the red shirt of the Taeguk Warriors : “It has to be Paul Scholes.â€

David Beckham said that, among his teammates at Real Madrid, which included Zinedine Zidane, Raúl, Ronaldo, Luís Figo and Roberto Carlos, Scholes was the most admired opponent : “He’s always one of those people others talk about. Even playing at Real Madrid, the players always say to me ‘what’s he like’? They respect him as a footballer, and to have that respect from some of those players is great.â€

Brian Kidd : “Paul Scholes had the best football brain I’d ever seen in a kid. Let’s face it. Paul Scholes is in a class of its own.â€

Rio Ferdinand : “I can honestly say Paul is the best player in the England squad. For me he is the complete player.â€

Rio Ferdinand : “For me, it’s Paul Scholes. He’ll do ridiculous things in training like say, “You see that tree over there?†– it’ll be 40 yards away – “I’m going to hit itâ€. And he’ll do it. Everyone at the club considers him the best.â€

Phil Neville : “Paul, for me, is the best player in the England team. It worries teams. Speak to any other international team and they will single Paul out as England’s key player. For me, he doesn’t get the full credit that he deserves. He is a world-class player and deserves to be up there with the likes of Zidane and Figo.â€

Gary Neville : “I wouldn’t swap Paul Scholes for anybody. He is quite simply the most complete footballer I have ever played with. He is the best.â€

Gary Neville : “Paul Scholes is the best player I’ve ever played with. There’s talent in every part of his game.â€

Steve Bruce : “He’s the best player in Britain in my opinion and he has to get himself fit just before we are due to play at Old Trafford. I cannot pay Paul a bigger compliment than to say that he’s the most complete footballer in the country. The best bar none.â€

George Best : “To be honest I think England have lost their best player. Certainly he’s the most consistent and naturally gifted player we’ve had for a long, long time.â€

Sir Bobby Charlton : “I am sorry for England because they don’t have any player like him. You can talk about others but there is no one else like him. He is the best technical player England has without any question. He could have had a lot more caps if he had carried on. And if I was the manager he would have ended up with more than I did – easyâ€

Sir Alex Ferguson : “Very few players can do that, but Scholes is one of them – and I knew he was one of them. That’s why, without question, I think Paul Scholes is the best player in England. He’s got the best skills, the best brain. No one can match him.â€

Sir Alex Ferguson : Sir Alex Ferguson gave evidence in court on behalf of one of his former trainees and listened to the prosecution barrister’s list of United’s top players.

“You’ve missed Paul Scholes – and he’s my best player,†Ferguson chided her.

Marcello Lippi: “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. He would have been one of the first players I’d have bought, given the chanceâ€

Jose Mourinho: “Why isn’t he playing for England? It is crazy. Only in England. Scholes is a great, great player. So experienced and still, for me, one of the best in the world in midfield. Manchester United are lucky to have him.â€

Xabi Alonso: “Fans in Spain rate him very highly and I admire him a huge amount. To me Paul [scholes] is a role model. He is the best midfielder I’ve seen in the last 15 or 20 years.â€

Xavi: ‘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.’

Zinedine Zidane : “It’s only natural to want to select your best players and there is no doubt for me that Paul Scholes is still in a class of his own.
He’s almost untouchable in what he does. I never tire of watching him play. You rarely come across the complete midfielder, 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 careerâ€

Frank was a much better goalscorer, but I do think Scholes was a better player.

That's my assessment of it too

Scholes was an amazing player, his goal scoring record wasn't too shabby either.

Scholes is technically much better than Lampard, and is probably as intelligent as a player, but in a different way - Lampard's movement into goalscoring positions is incredible but he is fairly poor when distributing from deep as we've seen recently, whilst the latter is Scholes' forte and he doesn't come close to Lamps in terms of the latter.

 

Whilst Scholes was, imo, undoubtedly more talented, Manure didn't get the best out of him for ages. He was a good box-to-box/attacking midfielder in their system in the 90s/early 2000s, but it really wasn't until he moved deeper that people started lauding him - and then it always appeared to be qualified with "he's this good despite his age!!" when he wasn't doing those things at a younger age. they still won countless trophies so hard to blame rednose for this, but I sometimes wonder what could have been of Scholes' talent if he were used as a deep-lying playmaker earlier on. I really struggle to compare the two, to be honest. Scholes more talented and did what was needed for his team to win (including the wonderstrike against Barca in 2008), but Lampard produced more numbers which is what wins games really.

 

I think it's a sort of similar argument with Gerrard. No doubt in my mind that Gerrard is more technically talented than Lampard - in fact, Gerrard's incredible combination of strength, technique, vision and energy should have made him the best in the world. But the gulf is in the brain. Lamps made the most of his talent through incredibly clever play, whereas Gerrard loved being Liverpool's hero, their roy of the rovers and would try to do everything himself, f**king it all up. That was the most impressive thing about him this season (til we played them) - the fact that he actually stayed back and remained disciplined. Until he slipped and started wasting possession left, right and centre, that is 

Lampard > Gerrard/Scholes.

 

 

Thread closed pleased.

I can't really imagine a better potential partner for Matic to be perfectly honest.

Scholes had a great midfield around him, Beckham, Butt, Giggs, Kean.

 

Lampard has been the standout midfielder for us, nobody comes close to him.

 

At their peak, Frank wins hands down.

 

That's a bit insulting to Makelele, Ballack, Essien & co.