Apparently I was too young to watch Xavi. How patronising. It just so happens he was the no 1 midfielder in the world throughout my teenage years.
=============

Which is fine.

You cited Zidane and Scholes though. What we're your experiences of watching them?

Ledley

Nah CL >>> league

Robbing

Scholes I saw his later years where he was a deep lying playmaker type. Zidane I was too young but he was a multiple WPOTY winner, key player in World Cup, European championship, champions league, and multiple league wins. Do we not let these accomplishments speak for themselves. A lot of people didn't watch Pele or Maradona but accept them as greats of the game

A lot of people accept Scholes as a tempo setting, games running, not a cleaner striker of the ball, goal scoring midfieler who won every trophy available.

I don't even like him.

Won every *club *team trophy available. So did Gary Neville.

Great quotes here:

Xavi Hernandez:
"Paul Scholes is a role model. For me – and I really mean this – he's the best central midfielder I've seen in the last 15, 20 years.

He's spectacular, he has it all: the last pass, goals, he's strong, he doesn't lose the ball, vision. If he'd been Spanish he might have been rated more highly. Players love him.

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

Scholes on Scholes:
"When it's over I just want to be able to look in the mirror and say, 'Well, you were a half-decent player."

Ledley

Nah CL >>> league
_____________

Best team always wins the league, champs league is the luck of the draw to an extent.

comment by Analog (U17200)
posted 12 minutes ago
Won every *club *team trophy available. So did Gary Neville.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah and he was easily in the top five rbs of his generation.

I have no idea what you base your appraisal on.

I suspect arrogance.

Champions league is the highest honour in club football imo

comment by The Post Nearly Man. Still partial to an Owsle... (U1270)
posted 49 minutes ago
Great quotes here:

Xavi Hernandez:
"Paul Scholes is a role model. For me – and I really mean this – he's the best central midfielder I've seen in the last 15, 20 years.

He's spectacular, he has it all: the last pass, goals, he's strong, he doesn't lose the ball, vision. If he'd been Spanish he might have been rated more highly. Players love him.

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

Scholes on Scholes:
"When it's over I just want to be able to look in the mirror and say, 'Well, you were a half-decent player."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Is he the best in the world? He might not get the attention of [Lionel] Messi and Ronaldo but, yes, I think he just might be," Zidane said. "If you don't have a player like Steven Gerrard, who is the engine room, it can affect the whole team.


"When we were winning league titles and European Cups at Real, I always said Claude Makelele was our most important player. There is no way myself, [Luis] Figo or Raúl would have been able to do what we did without Claude and the same goes for Liverpool and Gerrard.

"He has great passing ability, can tackle and scores goals, but most importantly he gives the players around him confidence and belief. You can't learn that – players like him are just born with that presence."

So he is non commital.

Whereas Zidane rates Scholes as the best of his generation, and Xavi rates him as the best of the prior 20 years. Two players who I guess understand a little more than you do I would guess

Paul Merson was a professional footballer at a high level so I'm guessing he knows more than you HRH

Paul Merson was a professional footballer at a high level so I'm guessing he knows more than you HRH

.................

Isn't he drunk all the time though?

comment by Analog (U17200)
posted 50 minutes ago
Paul Merson was a professional footballer at a high level so I'm guessing he knows more than you HRH
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't.

All I know is Xavi and Zidane know infinitely more than anybody on this thread

They have played against him.

You are basing it on world XIs and being dropped for a final when he was 35

http://metro.co.uk/2017/07/05/pep-guardiola-names-the-only-manchester-united-player-he-would-like-to-manage-at-city-6756006/

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Image&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSkwEJzZA2UC9EPpQahwELEKjU2AQaAggADAsQsIynCBpgCl4IAxImCFLLA8oDjxnlFskDugzSAZAZ5zP9PIEn2TPVM_1Aovj_18PIU9wTcaMI1yjCvX_1LaMdRxMR0k58UOXPOjrmqx_1NfwUFuwkNZwkBRTlTT2lkqK7Hv3C6dhVMiAEDAsQjq7-CBoKCggIARIE0C83tww&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjY4Z2RxfLUAhVMD8AKHe-wBokQwg4IGigA&biw=360&bih=560#imgrc=ll:

Their peers spike at the time before Scholes elevation after he retired. Scholes was never talked about as being one if the best when he played, whilst both Lampard and Gerrard were. Scholes got a strange elevation after he retired but their peers all knew the truth when they played, hence them voting for those other than Scholes.

So we're saying pro footballers are the most knowledgable

Pro footballers vote for awards such as team of the season, player of the year, team of the tournament, world player of the year, etc

We've established that Scholes got very little recognition whatsoever in these awards

So - according to the experts - Scholes wasn't as good as many of his peers

https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FCyHDXOIXcAUAE7X.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FMSader_8%2Fmedia&docid=3KXf4Huft3vOoM&tbnid=Fh3jLdfASwxo_M%3A&vet=10ahUKEwiIiKjexfLUAhViKMAKHXKNA3IQMwjoASgAMAA..i&w=1005&h=622&itg=1&bih=560&biw=360&q=Image&ved=0ahUKEwiIiKjexfLUAhViKMAKHXKNA3IQMwjoASgAMAA&iact=mrc&uact=8

comment by Analog (U17200)
posted 11 minutes ago

So we're saying pro footballers are the most knowledgable

...............

We are saying they are more knowledgeable than you.

................

Pro footballers vote for awards such as team of the season, player of the year, team of the tournament, world player of the year, etc

.....................

Yes, but some are drunk like Merson.

.........................

We've established that Scholes got very little recognition whatsoever in these awards

..............

Scholes doesn't care. He never sought after personal glory.

..............................

So - according to the experts - Scholes wasn't as good as many of his peers

................

Apart from three of the very highest you can put him up against. And the manger of one of them.

1) they're also more knowledgable than you and everybody else on ja606

2) so the ones that disagree with your opinion you dismiss as being drunk

3) the fact that Scholes might not care is completely irrelevant

4) you're taking their opinions upon his retirement into consideration, but not their opinion when they were voting for awards while they were playing. Because it suits your argument I suppose

comment by Analog (U17200)
posted 3 minutes ago
So we're saying pro footballers are the most knowledgable

Pro footballers vote for awards such as team of the season, player of the year, team of the tournament, world player of the year, etc

We've established that Scholes got very little recognition whatsoever in these awards

So - according to the experts - Scholes wasn't as good as many of his peers
----------------------------------------------------------------------

All pro footballers vote, not just the best.

Paul Merson's vote counted as much as Zinedine Zidane's.

That two of the finest midfield players the world has produced in the last 20 years - who actually had to play against him at the very top level - rate him so highly is about as high an accolade as you can get.

The opinions on here - mine included - are certainly not.

That you did not even watch him in his prime, yours probably even less so.

comment by Analog (U17200)
posted 29 seconds ago

1) they're also more knowledgable than you and everybody else on ja606

.............

Debatable.

............

2) so the ones that disagree with your opinion you dismiss as being drunk

..............

Yes, absolutely hammered.

..........................

3) the fact that Scholes might not care is completely irrelevant

......................

It isn't to you, because you are a half wit.

......................

4) you're taking their opinions upon his retirement into consideration

........................

That and the fact that I watched the guy play nearly every week for all of his career.

..................

Because it suits your argument I suppose

.................

Can you prove to me who Xavi, Zidane, Xabi or even Pep voted for in any of these awards you judge a footballers ability by?

HRH

I completely disagree with your opinion that the better a footballer you are, the more knowledgable about football you are

Vidic

Scholes never - not once - received a Ballon D'or vote in the years he was nominated. So the likes of Zidane and Xavi clearly rated other players more highly during their careers. As did every other player who voted

Scholes never - not once - received a Ballon D'or

....................

So what?

....................

So the likes of Zidane and Xavi clearly rated other players more highly during their careers.

......................

Do you have any evidence to support that.

I have actual evidence to support exactly how highly they rated Scoles.

Are you thick? I'll spell it out clearly

Scholes didn't receive a Ballon D'or vote from any player in the years he was up for nomination

Therefore, the likes of Zidane and Xavi didn't vote for him

Therefore, they rated other players more highly

Actions speak louder than words. All well and good with the nice words upon retirement