122 Quotes by Paul Scholes

I don’t like compliments. No. I prefer criticisms; prefer to prove them wrong.

I think about the great players with whom I have shared a pitch: Eric Cantona, Zinedine Zidane, Pirlo, Xavi, Cristiano Ronaldo – and the greatest of them all is Messi.

There have been so many outstanding players I’ve had as team-mates, but if I had to choose I’d choose Giggsy, he can do anything.

When it’s over I just want to be able to look in the mirror and say, ‘Well, you were a half-decent player.’

If you go down the leagues, you have to understand what level you're working with, and if you get frustrated, then it's not going to ever happen for you. That's why a lot of managers don't succeed where they should do.

In the periods of my career when I stopped passing the ball forward or when I stopped looking for the risky pass that might open up a defence, the consequences were the same. The manager stopped picking me. I got back into the team when I went back to doing it the way he wanted.

Part of being a Manchester United player under Sir Alex Ferguson, perhaps the most important part of being one of United's attacking players was that when you were in possession, you had to take risks in order to create goal-scoring chances. It was not an option; it was an obligation.

It's the thing I miss about football, I suppose: being with the team day-in day-out, getting a team ready for a Saturday afternoon, or getting yourself ready for a Saturday afternoon - it's the most difficult part.

United's history was built on attacking football, which does not always mean that the team kept clean sheets or did not concede chances.