Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has admitted that he didn’t expect midfielder Paul Scholes to ever make it as a professional football player at the club.
Both Neville and Scholes came through United’s academy as part of a group dubbed the Class of 92, alongside the likes of David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Phil Neville and Ryan Giggs.
The group would become a big part of United’s recent history, helping the Red Devils to become one of the most successful teams in England.
Scholes is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders England has ever produced and is often talked about as one of the best in the world at his peak.
But according to Neville, as a teenager, Scholes looked some way off the player he would ultimately become, with the former Valencia boss once doubting his team-mate’s future in football.
Speaking on the ‘Quickly Kevin, Will He Score?’ podcast, via the Daily Mail, Neville said: “If you said to me at 12, 13, Scholesy would be one of the greatest players… how?
“He was so small, so slight. He didn’t have great energy. He had no strength. You could knock him off the ball because he was really slight.
“He had asthma. He couldn’t really run very far. He wasn’t quick, he never beat you for pace.
“So you’ve got to imagine at 12, 13 you’re playing against Nicky Butt, who was an animal. He’d run all over you, the power, the strength, he’d kick you, he’d pass the ball, he’d run forward.
“You saw Ben Thornley beating players, quick, nimble, agile. You saw Becks, coming in, best striker of a ball you ever saw, whipping the crosses in.
“So you saw qualities in every single player. And then you look at Scholesey, obviously he was tidy on the ball, but you think how can he? He can’t cope. Physically he can’t cope with everything that’s going on around him.”
However, Neville did go on to pinpoint the moment he feels Scholes turned his game around and began developing into the midfielder he would become.
“He sort of didn’t really get into the county team,” he added. “Didn’t really play a lot of games. In the first year in 1992 he didn’t even play in the youth team.
“All of a sudden the year after, I think that was the point where he stopped drinking beer, and stopped eating pies on a Friday.
‘The transformation in two or three years was unbelievable.
“The club saw him as a player, though. Brian Kidd adored him. Sir Alex said “if he doesn’t become a football player we can all pack it in”, and that was when he was 18.”
He’s the best player I’ve ever played with – Neville
In a United career spanning 19 years, Scholes went on to win 18 major trophies, including 11 Premier League titles, three FA Cups, two League Cups and the Champions League twice. The midfielder would also go on to earn 66 caps for England.
Neville has had the privilege of playing among some of the best footballers in the world and the defender believes Scholes is the best of that bunch.
“I get to the end of my career and I say he’s the best player that I ever played with,” Neville said.
“So you think of that jump of being a 13, 14-year-old when you first see him. Small kid with no strength, not great stamina, can’t really run that fast, to becoming the best player I’ve ever played with – that’s a big shift.
“The club themselves saw the potential, the talent.
‘I remember when he was 16 he was in the B team and he played a couple of games at left back. It was too much for him in central midfield.
“The club believed in him, knew he had growth and incredible awareness. But it’s no good being aware if the pitch is muddy and you’ve got two 6ft 2ins, 15-year-olds against you. Awareness doesn’t really count. The balls stuck.
“It’s who’s the strongest to get it out. And this little kid from Middleton couldn’t get it out of the mud so put him at left back, there’s a bit of grass over there.”
The post Neville: I didn’t think Scholes would make it at Man Utd appeared first on Squawka News.
From Squawka NewsSquawka News https://ift.tt/2PZKwOs
No comments:
Post a Comment