Scholesy Goes Out on Top

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes tasted victory one last time as Manchester United defeated the New York Cosmos 6-0 at Old Trafford on 5 August 2011. After the testimonial kicked off, it did not take long for Manchester United to grab the lead, only nine minutes in fact. The goal scorer? You guessed it. The man of the hour, Scholesy. After receiving the ball from teammate Patrice Evra, Scholes proceeded to whack the ball past Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Brad Friedel, a typical Paul Scholes goal. The energy in Old Trafford was eccentric as the Red Devils faithful roared with joy. It was truly a historic moment for both Scholes and Manchester United, and an outstanding send off for one of the club’s most loyal servants.

United’s other five goals were scored by Wayne Rooney (28′), Anderson (50′), Danny Welbeck (59′), and Mame Biram Diouf (69′, 74′),

One Club

Scholes spent his entire 17-year club career at Manchester United, which is a remarkable feat in itself. In his 17 seasons with the Red Devils, Scholes appeared in 676 competitive games, scoring 150 goals. His durability was one his greatest assets as he managed to play in at least 25 games in all of his 17 seasons at the club.

Scholes’ Silverware

Throughout Scholes’ career, he was fortunate enough to earn a tremendous number of trophies at United. The centre-midfielder won 24 trophies with Sir Alex Ferguson at the helm for all of them. Of the 24 trophies, ten of them were for winning the Premier League. Other trophy wins for Scholes include: five FA Community Shield’s,  three FA Cup’s, two UEFA Champions League titles, two Football League Cup’s, one Intercontinental Cup, and one FIFA Club World Cup. In 2008, Scholesy was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame alongside fellow Englishman David Beckham and Frenchman Thierry Henry.

Replacing Scholes

With Scholes no longer at United, Sir Alex Ferguson has his hands full finding a replacement for the midfield maestro. Many football experts have claimed that Wesley Sneijder would be an ideal player for United because of his ability to stretch defenses with the long-ball, which Paul Scholes seemed to do with some regularity. But if Sir Alex wants to catch Barcelona, he has to increase the quality and technique of his midfield. For this reason, the best midfield fit to replace Scholes is German international Mario Götze.

German Starlet  Mario Götze

Götze is coming off a stellar campaign with Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund. In 41 games last season, Götze scored 8 goals and gathered 15 assists. His impressive displays for his club earned him a call-up to the German national team. Finally, on 17 November 2010, Götze earned his first cap for the senior team. Matthias Sammer, the technical director of the German Football Association, has called Götze “one of the best talents that we’ve ever had.”