Wenger on Scholes: spot on and undeniable

The Sun is making a massive deal of Arsene's comments regarding Paul Scholes this morning. Really there is nothing to make a big deal out of when you read the proper quotes in the Telegraph:

“You ask me was Scholes a fair player: I say no,” said Wenger. “I’m sorry, for me he was not a fair player. There’s a little bit of a darker side in him, sometimes, that I did not like. I respect him highly as a quality player but I did not like some things he did on the football pitch and I have the right to say that. It’s not because you are older suddenly that you are a saint. The regret I have personally is he was not always the fairest player.”

The Sun's Shaun Custis whips this up into a sensation, as if it is outlandish to say such a thing, how could a foreign manager dare suggest that a Man United saint be unfair? Well Shaun, the facts speak for themselves I'm afraid.

Scholes is the fifth most booked player in the history of the entire Premier League. Remember this is in the context of him getting away with murder playing for Man United. He also holds the Champions League disciplinary record with over twenty bookings and two red cards. Scholes also holds the unenviable record of being the only ever England player to be sent off at the old Wembley, this was for a criminal assault on a Swedish players that left him needing several stitches to a gaping shin wound. The video above shows one of the many hundred red card offences that Scholes has somehow got away with over the years, one wonders just how many red and yellows he would have had if he had played for a team that was punished fairly and that was not managed by a man who intimidates officials.

Scholes' record speaks for itself, brilliant player and a dirty c*nt. Obviously because he plays for Man United and is English he has never got the dirty reputation that he so thoroughly deserved. It is ludicrous to pretend that Scholes just innocently mistimes his tackles and there is never any intent present; this is a man that can control volleys perfectly from 30 yards but he allegedly cannot control his two footed leg breaking lunges. Scholes has shown himself to be a rather nasty piece of work throughout his career with this repeated tendency for trying to break other players' legs, if Arsene chooses to say that Scholes has not been fair over his career that this is pretty mild criticism in the context of what Scholes has repeatedly done over the years. Well said Arsene.