As you well know, I’m not a fan of labelling young players ‘the new so and so’. It puts an unrealistic weight of expectation on a young players shoulders, it doesn’t allow the player to develop into their own player as they are constantly compared to the player they are meant to become and in general the player hardly ever lives up to the title.
Paul Scholes is undoubtedly a United legend and the task of replacing him is an unenviable one. Unbelievably humble for a player so good, everything about him screams class. His touch, eye for a pass, ability to execute the pass and the number of goals he scored made him an ideal player to have in the middle of the park but unfortunately set an unrealistic standard for any player named as his replacement, namely Darron Gibson.
Opinion is still out on Gibson, I have spoken with some fans who feel he is the real deal whilst others feel beyond his long range shooting he doesn’t offer much.
Sir Alex Ferguson is clearly a fan of his as his role in the first team has grown this season and today’s papers are quoting Fergie as saying,
“You saw Gibson’s performance against Bayern Munich, that was his sixth goal of the season and you cannot dismiss that. It is the kind of contribution we used to get from Paul Scholes.
He used to get me 12-14 goals from midfield all the time and we haven’t had a player like that in a while. Who is to say if Gibson had not been playing all the time where he would be in terms of goals?”
And indeed he makes a good point, had Gibson played more games who is to say he would not have scored more goals? It is foolish to write him off now at just 22, although there are exceptions to the rule, central midfielders don’t reach their peak until their mid to late 20s so he has a lot of time to develop his game.
My only concern is that he, like a whole host of other players, just won’t be able to fill the hole left when Scholes retires. It’s nothing against Gibson or his ability, the same could be said for a number of other players who may be tasked with the job, it is just the fact that the role is a monumental one and essentially if your not Paul Scholes, you won’t be able to fill the void.
Em, I think you, and possibly others, maybe misreading what SAF is saying. All I can see is SAF is just comparing Gibson to Scholes in terms of goal contribution. He never ever mentioned other aspects of his game in relation to Scholes. That seems to be the problem all the time. People just jump to conclusion based on what they perceive to be what was meant rather than what the person quoted really intended to convey. Very unfortunate really!!!
Not at all mate, the piece was in response to the comparison being made thats why the title says ‘new Scholes’.
It was more in terms of people comparing the two, I thought my opening touched on this but I can see how I may not have been clear.
Thanks for the input mate, appreciated.
U can never compare gibson to scholes.dats not wat fergie meant just goals.dats d problem wit media twist line just to draw headline
he doesnt win balls he cant pass hiss crosses go nowhere he will never be united class
A bit harsh siggsigg, he has ages to learn. Who is to say 3 years from now he won’t be a top player, he isn’t even that bad now.
You can never replace a player of the quality of Paul Scholes. In the same way we could never replace great players like Roy Keane or Eric Cantona. However you find a way with new players who bring there own qualities. Gibson is not Scholes’s replacement, but he can help fill the void. In the same way Carrick and Hargreaves both helped fill Keane void in 2008. Carrick has been a good signing for Man Utd, even if certain fans have chosen to turn aginst him after a bad couple of weeks. We need a creative central midfielder, but that doesn’t mean we do not need Gibson goalscoring ability.
great post as usual!