With Gary Neville’s retirement earlier in the season Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs are left as the last two one-club men at Old Trafford. Both have had outstanding careers but how will the memory of the last two decades be skewed by this season. Scholes’ final moments are ending with tired legs and sporadic fantastic performances, which haven’t been recreated regularly since him picking up the first player of the month trophy of this season. The continuation of a trend seen throughout his career, a red card, following a terrible tackle on Manchester City’s Pablo Zabaleta in their defeat in the FA Cup Semi-final is also blighting his career. Giggs on the other hand is going from strength to strength. His vital touch, assists and leadership against Chelsea in the three meetings at the back end of the season saw them seal both the league and a place in the Champions League final and are examples of excellence which could be taken from any games in the season.
Should Giggs’ fantastic end (I say end, although he appears to be able to continue forever) cloud judgement of the the two greats in the decades preceding this season. I mean, Scholes is not new to incidents that Wenger has dubbed his ‘dark side’, with him most famously missing the 1999 European Cup final victory in the ground breaking treble winning season but amassing 10 red cards over his time at Manchester United is more than his fair share. The difference between the ‘tyke’ who couldn’t tackle from the nineties and the noughties, to the increasingly out of touch midfielder now is the appearances that go with it. Going back to the treble winning season Scholes’ contribution was vital in all competitions including 4 goals in Europe; one at the formidable San Siro against Inter in the Quarter Finals and a final goal against Newcastle in the FA Cup. This was not his only season like this, with the ten or more goal a season man, showing fantastic awareness and passing on top of these vital goals, consistently. Scholes’ absenteeism in the 1999 European Cup final was seen as unlucky while this season his sending off attributed to United’s failure against their local rivals on their way to their first trophy in 35 years, which cannot help his reputation.
Giggs is now the one regularly turning in Scholes-esque performances and can take much of the credit in guiding a waning Manchester United team to ultimately a successful season. While the Old Trafford faithful would have you believe this is no new thing with banners and songs proclaiming the Welshman has been ‘tearing you apart since 1992’ I would argue that while this has happened in that period; the image of the hairy chested Giggs running down the touchline wielding his United shirt while David Seaman and the Arsenal defence could only watch with the rest of the country is testament to that; it has been a sporadic tearing that even Manchester United fans have at various points called for an end to.
Many would tell me to look at his glittering awards, which I have, but they also tell their own story. Giggs has picked up more team silverware than any other individual in English history; a fantastic achievement but his individual honours do not necessarily match. These accolades show an excellent servant to the game, not a world beating footballer. Even the solitary PFA Player of the Season award in 2009 can be argued was to right the wrong, which many now perceive, that he did not win it before. Other tributes include entrance into the team of the century and decade in the Premier League and FA Cup respectively, plus, perhaps the best of all: the knowledge that had he been born in London or Manchester instead of Cardiff, England would (sic) have lifted many World Cups and European Championships. While Scholes’ career has not been blessed with dissimilar individual awards Scholes has no shortage of high esteemed admirers. Zinedine Zidane described him as his ‘toughest opponent’ and the ‘greatest player of his generation’ while Thierry Henry named him as ‘the best player in the Premiership’. It is not only France legends that promote the fiery midfielder, Marcello Lippi commented on Scholes’ quality stating he would be in his best ever team, and that he would have bought him given the chance at any point during his career. The list goes on with current teammates Rio Ferdinand and Nani and former opponents such as Edgar Davids, amongst others naming him as the best they have seen. Perhaps the most telling observation is that of Peter Schmeichel who described Scholes has having the best ‘bottom level’. This is what sets him apart from this teammate, in that he has consistently been at his best through his long career. Giggs flew onto the scene in the early 90’s, looking like the complete winger, but the 2002/3 season saw a serious loss of form, highlighted by the booing off at Blackburn that Giggs received. In 2008 Giggs’ time was certainly seen as up from many quarters with the same being said of Scholes. Despite largely better performances from him at this time, Scholes has been unable to reinvigorate his football in quite the same way which has led many to misinterpret his preceding career. Giggs’ football since his first blip and the last time people were calling for the end of his career in 2008 has seen little consistency. It’s testament to the man that at 37 he has turned in, arguable, his best ever season, particularly looking only at the last decade, but Scholes’ career, albeit starting later and ending less strongly (even with Fabio Capello trying to get him back into the England squad for the 2010 World Cup) has seen no such blips in Manchester United’s more baron patches.
While no-one is questioning whether Giggs on his day can tear any defence apart, it has been the consistency which Scholes has built his career on that sets him apart from his compatriot. So as Scholes’ career ends with aging legs and mind, Giggs finishes with important goals, leadership, assists and the consistency associated with his partner. These two greats of the Premier League will be missed when they do eventually hang up their boots and while Giggs will forever be the benchmark in longitivity, Scholes should remain the benchmark for consistent quality.
