2 Oct 2011

PAUL SCHOLES: "As Mancs and Scousers we were always a bit suspicious of each other..."

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes believes that the damaging rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United players has been partly to blame for England's woeful underperformance during the Premier League era.

In a recent interview, Scholes spoke of the 'unhealthy' rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United players:

"When I was with England, there was ­always a lot of United and ­Liverpool players in the squad and it was plainly obvious that some of our lads didn’t like some of their boys and some of their lads didn’t like some of us.

"Most of our players were Mancunians who are big ­United fans, while quite a few of the Scouse lads were ­Liverpool supporters. We weren’t just footballers, we actually loved the clubs we played for, and the rivalry was always there.

“As Mancs and Scousers we were always a bit suspicious of each other and you can’t have that kind of thing if you want to be successful as a team at international level. You can’t build a team or a spirit when that rivalry is ­always close to the surface".

“Too often we were a collection of cliques and individuals rather than a team and you won’t win anything like that. All the managers I played under found it hard to gel a team together. It was a hard job made impossible by these club loyalties".


The 'Golden Generation'?! Could there be a more tragically ironic label for England's flops?

Jaimie Kanwar


15 comments:

  1. Internationals are dead fullstop!! The only people who are interested in it are fans who support teams from lower divisions, who desperately cling to top class players on england duty because they dont get the opportunity week-in week-out. The same fans who have small club mentality and take their short sighted part-time fan approach and put an amazing strain on the team and manager! Honestly i wish it would dissapear, so our players would not come back injured.
    It's very difficult to ... no bloody impossible to support people like Wayne Rooney, Ashley cole, John Terry and the like UUURRGGGHHH!! Can you imagine if David Beckham actually lifted the world cup?? i'm sorry but thats just not a world i could live in. Again WE'RE NOT ENGLISH, WE ARE SCOUSE!!!!

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  2. yep ill hate the mancs if i played, especailly neville  now hes on sky sports and he scares my kids. cant let them watch it anymore..as for england who really cares all i care about is LFC thats it.if liverpool played england ill want liverpool to win...being a scouse means being loyal to your team..and liverpool is my team..not england...

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  3. screw england when it's about LFC . yap i hate all man U players .. we dont care about england internationals ! i only care about LFC . on 15 october at Anfield  they will know what hate does really mean

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  4. typical of a scouse !

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  5. Our best England performance England 5 Germany 1 Owen 3,Gerrard,Heskey!
    with Barmby,Fowler,Carragher and Mccmamaman.
    Only Neville,Beckham,Scholes and Andy Cole either in the team or sub.
    Says it all !!!!!
    Where they falling out in that game?
    I thought the reason why we never won anything is that we are
    incapable of winning penalty shoot outs!
    For a quite person he his n't half doing some shit stirring now!!!!!!!!!

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  6. JJ...you are a cunt!

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  7. thats why we never cut it, best fans in the world may i add. england through the start of 1990 done it for me wat a bunch of real men mixed with great talent that was gazza waddle lineker barns beardsley,mixed with tough shilts butcher wright pearce etc.compare these men to todays boys that wear the three lions. probably 3 acceptions. always having a drab manager goes against us of course.
    jj wat a game that was, one of my best football moments, the crouts in there own back yard. but unfortunatly for wat?????????lol

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  8.  No Gerrard,Neville,Murphy and Beckham with his broken metatarsal an ageing Seaman let the team down and English Man who ran out of steam against Brazil!
    That should of been Englands year.
    These are the reasons why England fail not Scholes stiring it up hatred before Englands big game on Friday and the United game the week after.
    At least Gerrard has n't been picked only Downing will play on Friday.

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  9. Speak for yourself ?

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  10. LFC fan! When I was a youngster in the fifties,(not just the 50's),everyone supported England. I still do!  I,along with most other football followers were right behind Man U when they first won the European cup. 'REAL FOOTBALL FANS' ! There is too much hatred these days which stems from nasty players,and we all know who they are ,don't we!
    Before TV coverage fans used to go to watch visiting teams to see the likes of stanley Mathews,Tom Finney,and later Bobby Charlton! These days a lot of
    people are not true fans of 'FOOTBALL'. People need to grow up and realise that without each other our clubs would be lost ! Would LFC fans or Man U fans be happy if one of these great clubs folded,I don't think so !!!

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  11. England are the representative side of the English FA. nothing to do with patriotism or green and pleasant land. Any savvy football fan loathes the FA so why would they care what happens to their representative XI ?

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  12. During the golden generation (2002-2010?), England was just not good ENOUGH to win a World Cup. 2002: deservedly beaten by Brazil, even outplayed by 10 men Brazil.  2006: not a single decent performance (except for extra time against Portugal).  2010: well, anyone thinking England could have gone all the way to win it or that England was better than Spain?

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  13. Until Steven thinks that wearing England's badge is a great honour, then I will gladly support England. Meanwhile, I understand why so Many Liverpudiands dislike England during these times: Liverpool was threated with great regards during British Empire tenure (Liverpool was "the gateway to the world") and World War I & II, because Liverpool was instrumental to the British Empire aims, then the english government thrown away Liverpool, leaving the city alone.
    And don't forget Hillsborough.
    Anyway, I still have a great relationship with England side.
    Emylin Hughes, James Hunt, John Barnes, Stevie G: don't forget the history mate.
    In the Anfield's museum cabinet You can see James Hunt's England shirt & Emlyn Hughes England's shirt & armband.
    I'm still proudly a Liverpool's fan, an England Fan and a Football Fan.
    I'm seeing many young kids in Liverpool Who love England: I think it's a good thing, and no matter of what a stupid idiot like Gary Neville can say about Liverpool.
    He's simply an idiot.

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  14. all of a sudden scholes has a voice! two revealing interviews in the space of a week. do us a favour paul...  anyway, boo hoo, big rivalry cost england. 

    is there not a bigger rivalry in spain these last seasons btw barca and madrid. didnt seem to stop them 

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  15. ENGLAND MY ARSE WHATS IS THE EXCUSE BEFORE THE PREM THERE SHIT AND IRELAND WILL BEAT THEM IN THE EURO'S COME ON YOU BHOYS IN GREEN

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