Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger maintains Paul Scholes
remains 'one of the greatest footballers in England' - but is not a
fan of the Manchester
United midfielder's 'darker
side'.
Scholes may be fast approaching 36, but the United veteran
impressed in the Community Shield victory over Chelsea at Wembley
and again during the opening match of the new Barclays Premier
League season, setting up goals for Dimitar Berbatov and Ryan Giggs
in a 3-0 win against Newcastle at Old Trafford.
However, Scholes - who was asked to come out of international
retirement by England manager Fabio Capello ahead of the World Cup
- has sometimes drawn controversy figure for his tough
tackling.
Wenger said: 'I believe Paul Scholes is still one of the
greatest football players in England.
'His contribution to the success of Manchester United is
absolutely huge. The regret I have personally is that he was not
always the fairest player. 'He did not get completely what [credit]
he deserves as a football player, because he is not someone who
runs after the media to be in the papers, and I respect that a lot.
Old school: Paul Scholes has enjoyed an impressive
start to the season
'But there is a little bit of a darker side in
him, that he sometimes did things which I did not
like.'
Wenger, though, maintained: 'Who would not have liked Paul
Scholes in their team? He is an absolutely fantastic football
player.
'When he has the ball at his feet and you are a central
defender, you have to be on your toes because he can still today
find anybody in the box - and we have seen that again against
Newcastle on Monday night.'
