Paul Scholes is pondering the size of the gap that Manchester United must bridge in their quest to clip Barcelona’s wings when it is pointed out to him that Arsenal almost snatched victory from the European champions in their Champions League quarter-final last season.
Had Nicklas Bendtner not missed a glorious chance late on in the second leg at the Nou Camp, Pep Guardiola’s team would have been out. Scholes barely has time to shoot his questioner a withering glance as he interjects. “Yeah, but if you look over the two games — Jesus Christ, it could have been any score,” he counters. “In that first game at the Emirates, Barcelona could have been out of sight in the first half. You talk about Arsenal as supposedly the best footballing team in England . . . supposedly. Well, people say they play the most attractive football, don’t they?”
There is a dramatic pause before a deadpan expression envelops his face. Retirement and the knowledge that he no longer has to confront those he chooses to criticise have not emboldened Scholes. He has always been straight-talking; it is just that he rarely opted to share his opinions. But with a testimonial against Eric Cantona’s New York Cosmos next month to tout, Scholes granted an audience yesterday and his responses were forthright.
On the one hand, he was not afraid to suggest that Sir Alex Ferguson faces the biggest challenge of his 25-year reign at Old Trafford in attempting to keep pace with Barcelona. The “hiding” — as Ferguson described it — that the Spanish champions administered to United in May for the second Champions League final in three seasons merely cemented that view. By the same token, United’s “problem” was given some perspective, he mused, by Arsenal’s deepening troubles. Scholes scoffed at the plaudits sent Arsenal’s way for their “pretty” football as they are without a trophy for six seasons.
“They just flatter to deceive,” he said. “They may play the prettiest football, but it doesn’t always produce the results they need. It doesn’t irritate me [that people say they’re the best footballing team] because while they are doing that, we are winning games. They do play the best football to watch at times, but what is the point of that if you are not winning anything? Not only that, they are potentially going to lose their best players in [Cesc] Fàbregas and [Samir] Nasri.”
Advertisement
Dismissing Arsenal’s title chances next season, Scholes expects the main threat domestically to United will come from Chelsea and Manchester City, although he admitted that he had “never heard” of André Villas-Boas until Chelsea appointed him as their manager last month.
As for his now “former” club, United, Scholes believes Ferguson has bought well in David De Gea, the goalkeeper, Phil Jones, the defender, and Ashley Young, the forward, and believes there may be more to come. Asked if United would sign Nasri, Scholes said: “I hope so,” while also offering eulogies to Wesley Sneijder and Luka Modric, just some of the players under consideration to replace him in central midfield.
Even if one of the trio does arrive, though, Scholes is not sure if it will be enough to topple Barcelona. Five weeks have passed since United’s defeat at Wembley, but Scholes, a second-half substitute, has still not managed to bring himself to watch the game again.
“It was bad, probably as bad as two years ago in Rome, really,” he said. “You would have hoped that in that two years since, you would have been able to bridge the gap a bit, really, but on the night, we felt that we were a million miles away from them.
“I think the biggest thing about their players is their unselfishness. I know [Lionel] Messi is the one who scores 50 goals a year, but not one of them is out for personal glory. I think bridging that gap is the biggest challenge the manager has ever had, definitely. I know that it’s going to take something special to get anywhere near that team, but I think we are the team that is closest to it.”
Advertisement
If there are grounds for optimism for Scholes, they are twofold — the Ferguson factor and the Wayne Rooney factor. “The manager’s drive and enthusiasm is greater than ever,” he said. “He will have been thinking about the Barcelona game all summer and working out how he can avoid that sort of thing happening again.”
As for Rooney, it was interesting that Scholes should laud the “unselfishness” of Barcelona’s players because Rooney was guilty of the opposite last October, the United striker threatening to quit after taking a thinly veiled swipe at the calibre of some of his team-mates. Was it a coincidence that Rooney was subsequently poleaxed by Scholes in training? “It could have been anyone,” Scholes said, with a twinkle in his eye.
“I think he was a little bit disrespectful, but he held his hands up afterwards and said sorry,” Scholes said. “He definitely regretted that statement. Man United can lose any player and they would cope with it. I don’t think it matters who it is.”
That may be true, but Scholes, you sense, is relieved that Rooney decided to hang around. “We have not seen the best of him yet,” he said. “He is capable of being the same for us as Messi is for Barcelona. That’s how good he is.”
And coming from a straight-shooter, that is saying something.
Advertisement
• For tickets to Scholes’s testimonial against New York Cosmos at Old Trafford on August 5, telephone the United ticket line on 0161 868 8000.
The wisdom of Scholes
On Arsenal
“They just flatter to deceive. They do play the best football to watch at times, but what is the point of that if you are not winning anything?”
Advertisement
Bridging the gap to Barcelona
“I think it is the biggest challenge the manager has ever had, definitely. I know that it’s going to take something very special to get anywhere near that team.”
On Rooney leaving
“He was a little bit disrespectful, but he held his hands up and said sorry. He definitely regretted that statement. Man United can lose any player and they would cope with it. I don’t think it matters who it is.”
Tackling
Advertisement
“Every time I touched somebody, it was a foul or a booking. But over the years, my tackling has not been that bad. I never went on to the pitch intentionally trying to start something. It just happened.”
Retirement
“It does feel weird. I woke up today, put on Sky Sports News and saw all the lads going back in for pre-season training. I can’t believe how quickly it [my career] has gone.”
• For tickets to Scholes’s testimonial against New York Cosmos at Old Trafford on August 5, telephone the United ticket line on 0161 868 8000.