Is Paul Scholes the greatest English player of his generation?
The Manchester United legend is certainly part of the conversation, alongside two other players that he’s still continually compared to: Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
Scholes wasn’t particularly fast or strong but he could dictate the tempo of the biggest games thanks to his incredible technical ability and his intelligence.
He played as if he had wing mirrors attached to him. The retired midfielder was always aware of who was around him and was an expert in retaining possession.
His passing ability was also world-class. Whether it was a five-yard or 60-yard pass, Scholes would regularly put the ball on a sixpence for his teammates.
Dyer: Scholes earned standing ovation in England training
One player who was fortunate enough to play alongside Scholes at international level is Kieron Dyer.
The former Newcastle United star, who was capped 33 times by his country between 1999-2007, maintains that Scholes is the best footballer he played with during his career.
And in his 2018 autobiography ‘Old Too Soon, Smart Too Late: My Story’, Dyer revealed how Scholes was so good during one particular England training session that he received a standing ovation from every other player.
“Paul Scholes was the best player I played with and people like Xavi and Zinedine Zidane counted him as their favourite player,” Dyer wrote, per The Daily Mail.
“Other nations would have used him as their fulcrum but Sven Goran Eriksson’s first-choice midfield was always David Beckham on the right, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard in the centre and Scholes on the left.
“We didn’t have a football culture that appreciated him. So we wasted him by putting him on the left and banished him to the margins. It was disrespectful, one of the biggest crimes ever.
“When you talk about Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes, Scholes was the best of the three and yet he was asked to give way. He was the absolute master of one touch in training. One day he scored three or four goals — and I’m not talking tap-ins. I’m talking 25-yarders-lodging-in-the-stanchion-type goals.
“When the session was over, the rest of the England players formed a guard of honour and clapped him off the pitch.
“I’d never seen that before and I never saw it again.”
Indeed, it’s hard to think of another example of a player receiving a guard of honour from their teammates after a standout performance in training.
Scholes must have been absolutely sensational that day. His training-ground masterclass clearly left a lasting impression on Dyer.
What Man Utd and England would give to have a player of Scholes’s quality now.
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