Ginger Prince becomes a Ginger Prawn in

Originally Posted by puressence

the fact barring evra and vds and possibly @#%&! chops .the team had 8 well below par players

I can t believe you are quoting Alan Hansen

Originally Posted by elephantstone

I can t believe you are quoting Alan Hansen

excuse me ........

Alan Hansen said the same thing on MOTD2

Originally Posted by keano's love

I don't want scholes to start at nou camp. he will just be given run around by iniesta,xavi and deco. that shouldn't happen.

It's likely to be a slower game, though. Probably suit Scholesy more.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

It's likely to be a slower game, though. Probably suit Scholesy more.

I expect it to be a faster game. barcelona are different to other continental teams. play short fast passes and see the midfielders run beyond our midfielders. genuinely think scholes will struggle to match the pace and running of deco and iniesta in particular. then we have a particular mercurial messi cutting inside left.

One hack by scholes ( which scholes just can't turn down ) and will be on a yellow card.

write Scholes of at your peril, there is still fight in the old dog

Originally Posted by keano's love

I expect it to be a faster game. barcelona are different to other continental teams. play short fast passes and see the midfielders run beyond our midfielders. genuinely think scholes will struggle to match the pace and running of deco and iniesta in particular. then we have a particular mercurial messi cutting inside left.

One hack by scholes ( which scholes just can't turn down ) and will be on a yellow card.

Well I'm not sure Deco, Xavi and Iniesta will all play, but It'll be interesting to see what Barca do. I've got a feeling Rijkaard may take a slightly more cautious approach. We're getting quite a reputation for being dangerous on the break and I can see Barca being worried about that. Wouldn't surprise me if they are a little more careful than usual.

But I don't see why Scholes can't go there and do the job he did in Rome. I think his intelligence on the ball could be very important in a game we'll probably only see 40-45% of possession, regardless of who plays.

Originally Posted by elephantstone

write Scholes of at your peril, there is still fight in the old dog

ffs its andy gray now

Originally Posted by RedArmy20

what a bunch of @#%&!s some of you are.

do you really expect a player to play to his best in every single game? especially if the player is past his prime?

every player in the world has a game where it just doesnt work for him. isnt just his day etc. thats why they invented substitutions.

of course in games like this players need to perform. at times they cant, and if its 1 game of the season they havent been able to perform to perfection then it doesnt mean they are shit etc.

is correct

Originally Posted by Gog Coch

You are stupid. All games against the lower half of the Premiership are high tempo.They know its the only way to play us.
Flood the midfield.

and scholes is poor in these games? ffs.

Originally Posted by keano's love

I don't want scholes to start at nou camp. he will just be given run around by iniesta,xavi and deco. that shouldn't happen.

yeah, but you don't want scholes to start any of the big games, so why pretend it has anything to do with barca?

Originally Posted by Crumps

Him and Carrick were pretty poor yesterday. Still it gives the clueless @#%&!s who slag him no matter what something to whinge about. @#%&!s.

is also correct. a sad bunch of supposed fans who are more interested in proving themselves right than actually watching a game. scholes has a blinder - well, it's only against... it's thanks to somebody else... it's anything but a class player playing well. scholes has a bad game and it's proof some £#%&!wit was right all along. embarrassing.

Scholes still has a major role in certain games and in a team that has lots of industrious players around him. He needs time on the ball to do what he does bast and possible he is the best at.
Neville, Giggs and Scholes are in the twilight of their careers but as they say - A dying bee has a hell of a sting!

Originally Posted by Ed Sullivan

How many actual high tempo games are there a season?

About 3.

Think there's a few more than that but fair point.

My "thing" with Scholes is that he shouldn't be involved in those games.

The other 35-40 games. Fine.

Originally Posted by puressence

ffs its andy gray now

£#%&! off Keith Miller

Originally Posted by elephantstone

£#%&! off Keith Miller

gtf keith lard

Originally Posted by borsuk

scholes has a bad game and it's proof some £#%&!wit was right all along. embarrassing.

he didnt have a bad game. it was just too much for him.

arsenal were too sharp, fast and pressed us. scholes isnt good enough anymore to hack it in that sort of game which was why he look lost out there.

how you call him the best player in the premiership is beyond me.


good player and a great servant but you must know his limitations.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Well I'm not sure Deco, Xavi and Iniesta will all play, but It'll be interesting to see what Barca do. I've got a feeling Rijkaard may take a slightly more cautious approach. We're getting quite a reputation for being dangerous on the break and I can see Barca being worried about that. Wouldn't surprise me if they are a little more careful than usual.

Deco's fit? Xavi & Iniesta will play along with Yaya Toure in the centre surely? Messi, Eto'o & Henry ahead of those three, I'd say definitely at Camp Nou at least. & that's why we should take them on there, away goals & Messi just back from a nasty injury we wont get a better chance imo.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

But I don't see why Scholes can't go there and do the job he did in Rome. I think his intelligence on the ball could be very important in a game we'll probably only see 40-45% of possession, regardless of who plays.

Thing is, & this is only my opinion of Scholes recent form (say last two months-ish) dictates he'll give the ball away more often than he'll create in such a game. Arsenal's midfield isn't a million miles away from Barca's. The dribbling & probing passes of Iniesta reflect what Hleb did to us yesterday, Xavi is cut from the same cloth as Fabregas in their passing & Toure, although a fair bit more athletic is somewhere akin to Gilberto (who finally decided to put in some kind of performance, quelle £#%&!ing surprise the @#%&!). If Scholes couldn't effect the game yesterday, dallying on the ball with two or three touches where ordinarilly an in form Ginger Prince takes one then we'll surely not be so lucky with Eto'o & Henry baring down on goal as with Adebayor yesterday.

Obviously yesterday's frst 50mins or so aren't all attributed to Scholes lack of form, but it's a tiny imbalance like that which can split sides at this level. If he lets a midfield runner go or mis-places a pass in the same way as he has been doing then we'll be relying on our defence again, I can't see Scholes getting up & down that massive pitch to cause them the kind of trouble he would of say last year when he was producing sublime passes over the top of the Milan defence for Rooney. Whether he can find some form in the next two weeks isn't up for debate, the guy's a phenomenal footballer & class is permanent, but if his legs can't track a runner or his touch is off due to a dip in form I'd rather see Anderson this time out. Fingers crossed we'll get the result that allows Scholes to show in the return leg at OT why he's still capable of choosing his passes & making his runs to put them to the sword.

Originally Posted by marlo stansfield

he didnt have a bad game. it was just too much for him.

arsenal were too sharp, fast and pressed us. scholes isnt good enough anymore to hack it in that sort of game which was why he look lost out there.

how you call him the best player in the premiership is beyond me.


good player and a great servant but you must know his limitations.

He had a bad game but ofcourse to you that means he's past it unless he's tired.
He was misplacing all over the place, tbh Carrick was gash first half too which didn't help him.

Originally Posted by Rhodzy

He had a bad game but ofcourse to you that means he's past it unless he's tired.
He was misplacing all over the place, tbh Carrick was gash first half too which didn't help him.

funny he had a "bad" game and thats all yet when we play west ham he will be god again.

he isnt fast or good enough to play in those high tempo games it obvious.

and the reason carrick played badly is scholes was playing so far back he was in carricks position. watch how close they were all the time. this inbalances the team.

he can play agains west ham and wigan but he cannot start against chelsea or barcelona imo.

Scholes was poor yesterday. I wouldn't blame him solely for Carrick's poor performance though. His presence shouldn't affect the lads ability to pass and for most of the game - the first half especially - he was awful. Another player who does struggle when pressured by the opposing side. A tactic Chelsea used against Spurs under Jose. He's singled out IMO because he's such an important player but he needs to be able to up his own game and adapt when the tempo isn't what he prefers or is suited to.

Yesterday was a blip for him, during the second half of the season he's been excellent.

Originally Posted by Rhodzy

He had a bad game but ofcourse to you that means he's past it unless he's tired.
He was misplacing all over the place, tbh Carrick was gash first half too which didn't help him.

That sounds uncomfortable

Let's not turn the fact that we were able to bring on a lad of 20 in such a game and for him to make an impact into a bad thing.

As has been pointed out, in other types of games, Scholes has outshone Anderson.

They give us different options at the moment.

I would just hope that with a mere seven games separating this team from immortality, sentimentality will not come into the equation again when games come up that Scholes should not start in.