Some players defy their age to excel well into their final years. Ryan Giggs continues to re-invent himself and dictate the outcome of matches. Players like Teddy Sheringham never needed to worry about losing their pace and continued to do what they always had. Others slide down the footballing ladder and ply their trade at lower division or Non-League clubs. Some retire before their legacy is ruined. Others refuse to give up, although they probably should do for the sake of their reputations.
Paul Scholes is one such man. I find it hard to admit that one of my favourite players is no longer the power he once was. Like a battered pair of trainers that we just refuse to throw out, or staying with a girlfriend that we no longer care about – Scholes has passed his sell-by-date. It almost breaks my heart to see him wandering about a football pitch instead of retiring to a quiet life full of fantastic memories.
The ginger maestro was a magician at the peak of his powers. One of the best attacking midfielders in Europe, if not the world, was universally liked for everything apart from his tackling. Respected and feared by all, Scholes scored goals and sprayed the ball around with unbelievable precision. He was a true great, a pleasure to watch and will rightly go down as a Manchester United legend.
Yet he continues to stain his legacy by performing nowhere near the levels he once reached. I’m not sure if Scholes can’t let go, or that he and Alex Ferguson still believes he is good enough. I’m not sure which ones’ judgement is more clouded. This is the same Sir Alex remember, who once said there is no room in football for sentimentality. He’s certainly being sentimental to Scholes.
Scholes disappears from games, is half a yard-slow and has given the ball away more times this season than in the last ten combined. He doesn’t deserve to start matches, he plays against lesser teams and still only shows flashes in those games. Quite frankly he is knackered. He is playing like a ropey 50-year-old woman, out on the lash, who still thinks she can pull the men that she used to. She, and Scholes, will continue to go home empty handed.
Scholes should retire at the end of the season. His contract shouldn’t get renewed if he doesn’t anyway. He will get a great send-off from all involved within the game for his great years. Yet, I’m worried the love affair will continue to turn sour as he makes the mistake of playing on when he is half the man he once was. I just wish United would have broken up with him a few months earlier, living off the happy memories rather than prolonging a relationship that should have ended while things were still good.
