“It depends what you call clever and what you call dirty,” said Wenger, who was asked whether he felt Scholes tackled unfairly.
“Unfairly, of course, unfairly,” he replied. “How many times have you watched Paul Scholes? Have you seen only fair tackles from Paul Scholes? I don’t want to come out on one specifically but I can remember a few. [They are] a bit in the past, yes, but look at him playing now. He still doesn’t hide. No, I don’t [think his approach is OK]. You ask me about the quality of the player – who wouldn’t like a Paul Scholes in his team? You ask me: ‘Was he a fair player?’ I say: ‘No, I’m sorry, for me he was not a fair player.’ I just think I respect him highly as a quality player. I did not like some things he did on the football pitch and I have the right to say that. It’s not because you are older, suddenly, that you are a saint.”
Wenger then attempted to praise our player but couldn’t do so without again questioning his character.
“Paul Scholes is still one of the greatest football players in England and his contribution to the success of Manchester United is absolutely huge,” he continued. “The regret I have personally is he was not always the fairest player. There’s a little bit of a darker side in him, sometimes, that I did not like.”
Scholes makes some crappy tackles, Scholes makes some great tackles, but this isn’t a question of ability. Wenger isn’t saying Scholes is poor tackler, he is saying that Scholes has a side of him which is intentionally dirty. Wenger talks of Scholes’ “approach to the game”, not his ability to tackle or not. To say his approach to the game is unfair, is dirty, and isn’t OK, is an accusation over how Scholes chooses to play. If there is a “darker side” to him, then that is again accuses Scholes of intentionally playing in a less favourable way.
We’ve highlighted a selection of United and Arsenal players’ disciplinary record, looking at fouls and yellow cards. In brackets is also their “dirty” ranking in comparison to all the other players in the league.
There are some United and Arsenal players who have been omitted because it seemed pointless including every single player. For example, Dimitar Berbatov in 09/10 committed 36 fouls or Arshavin with 38 fouls, but neither of these really seem relevant to the discussion of “dirty” players.
However, every season, the player with the most yellow cards and most fouls has been included.
The player who has committed the most fouls and most yellow cards has been included for each season, just for the sake of interest.
Fouls 2009/2010
Kevin Davies – 103 (1)
Alex Song – 54 (21)
Vassiriki Diaby – 49 (28)
Antonio Valencia – 41 (50)
Patrice Evra – 36 (68)
Darren Fletcher – 35 (75)
Cesc Fabreagas – 30 (109)
Paul Scholes – 30 (109)
Yellow cards 2009/2010
Fabrice Muamba – 11 (1)
Alex Song – 10 (2)
Kevin Davies – 9 (3)
Paul Scholes – 9 (3)
Cesc Fabregas – 5 (66)
Patrice Evra – 5 (66)
Darren Fletcher – 5 (66)
Antonio Valencia – 3 (131)
Vassiriki Diaby – 2 (197)
Valencia was United’s “dirtiest” player last season and on average received 1 yellow card per 14 fouls. Song and Diaby were Arsenal’s “dirtiest” players and received 1 yellow card per 5 fouls and 25 fouls respectively. Fabregas committed as many fouls as Scholes but the United man received more yellow cards, on average 1 per 3 fouls.
Fouls 2008/2009
Kevin Davies – 110 (1)
Neves Denilson – 57 (12)
Robin van Persie – 46 (23)
Alex Song – 44 (30)
Nemanja Vidic – 39 (51)
Cesc Fabregas – 33 (84)
Vassiriki Diaby – 31 (96)
Darren Fletcher – 28 (121)
Paul Scholes – 17 (211)
Yellow cards 2008/2009
Marouane Fellaini – 12 (1)
Wilson Palacios – 12 (1)
Wayne Rooney – 8 (12)
Gael Clichy – 7 (24)
Cesc Fabregas – 7 (24)
Patrce Evra – 6 (44)
Alex Song – 6 (44)
Vassiriki Diaby – 5 (65)
Nemanja Vidic – 5 (65)
Robin van Persie – 5 (65)
Kevin Davies – 4 (91)
Darren Fletcher – 4 (91)
Neves Denilson – 3 (131)
Paul Scholes – 3 (131)
Vidic was United’s “dirtiest” player and received an average of 1 yellow card per 8 fouls. Denilson was Arsenal’s “dirtiest” player and received an average of 1 yellow per 19 fouls. Scholes received an average of 1 yellow per 6 fouls, Fabregas with 1 per 5 fouls.
Fouls 2007/2008
John Carew – 93 (1)
Emmanuel Adebayor – 57 (15)
Mathieu Flamini – 56 (17)
Wes Brown – 47 (30)
Gael Clichy – 39 (52)
Patrice Evra – 36 (65)
Nemanja Vidic – 35 (73)
Paul Scholes – 31 (100)
Francesc Fabregas – 29 (114)
Yellow cards 2007/2008
Michael Brown – 11 (1)
Nicky Butt – 11 (1)
El-Hadji Diouf – 11 (1)
Cesc Fabregas – 9 (8)
Wes Brown – 8 (13)
Wayne Rooney – 8 (13)
Gael Clichy – 6 (33)
Mathieu Flamini – 5 (56)
Nemanja Vidic – 5 (56)
Patrice Evra – 4 (100)
Emmanuel Adebayor – 3 (139)
Paul Scholes – 3 (139)
Wes Brown was United’s “dirtiest” player and collected on average 1 yellow per 5 fouls. Adebayor was Arsenal’s and collected on average 1 yellow per 19 fouls. Scholes was given 1 yellow per 10 fouls, Fabregas 1 yellow per 3 fouls.
Fouls 2006-2007
Kevin Davies – 88 (1)
Wayne Rooney – 48 (33)
Cesc Fabregass- 45 (43)
Paul Scholes – 43 (48)
Nemanja Vidic – 36 (73)
Gilberto – 34 (83)
Gabriel Heinze – 28 (107)
Kolo Toure – 27 (119)
Yellow cards 2006-2007
Nigel Reo-Coker – 13 (1)
Jens Lehmann – 8 (17)
Robin van Persie – 8 (17)
Paul Scholes – 8 (17)
Cesc Fabregas – 7 (27)
Nemanja Vidic – 7 (27)
Wayne Rooney – 6 (40)
Kolo Toure – 6 (40)
Gabriel Heinze – 5 (60)
Patrice Evra – 4 (91)
Rooney was United’s “dirtiest” player and picked up 1 yellow per 8 fouls. Fabregas was Arsenal’s “dirtiest” player and picked up 1 yellow per 6 fouls. Scholes was United’s second “dirtiest” player and earned 1 yellow per 5 fouls.
Fouls 2005-2006
Kevin Davies – 108 (1)
Gilberto – 55 (24)
Wayne Rooney – 50 (33)
Alan Smith – 47 (39)
Cesc Fabregas – 44 (47)
Ruud van Nistelroy – 44 (47)
Jose Antonio Reyes – 41 (56)
Darren Fletcher – 32 (97)
Thierry Henry – 32 (97)
Lauren – 30 (113)
Gary Neville – 30 (113)
Paul Scholes – 25 (162)
Yellow cards 2005-2006
Phil Neville – 12 (1)
Wayne Rooney – 8 (15)
Lauren – 6 (38)
Cesc Fabregas – 5 (48)
Jose Antonio Reyes – 5 (48)
Gilberto – 5 (48)
Ruud van Nistelrooy – 5 (48)
Alan Smith – 4 (84)
Darren Fletcher – 3 (136)
Gary Neville – 3 (136)
Paul Scholes – 3 (136)
Thierry Henry – 2 (188)
Rooney was our “dirtiest” player and was given 1 yellow per 6 fouls. Gilberto was Arsenal’s “dirtiest” player and was given 1 yellow per 11 fouls. Scholes collected 1 yellow per 8 fouls.
Fouls 2004-2005
Kevin Davies – 95 (1)
Patrick Vieira – 89 (2)
Alan Smith – 45 (39)
Paul Scholes – 44 (43)
Gabriel Heinze – 38 (76)
Ashley Cole – 36 (84)
Kolou Toure – 35 (88)
Roy Keane – 34 (89)
Jose Antonio Reyes – 32 (107)
Dennis Bergkamp – 30 (119)
Francesc Fabregas – 28 (140)
John O’Shea – 28 (140)
Ruud van Nistelrooy – 25 (160)
Thierry Henry – 24 (169)
Yellow cards 2004-2005
Ray Parlour – 11 (1)
Patrick Vieira – 9 (4)
Roy Keane – 9 (4)
Ashley Cole – 7 (18)
Wayne Rooney – 7 (18)
Cesc Fabregas – 4 (67)
Gabriel Heinze – 4 (67)
Paul Scholes – 4 (67)
Jose Antonio Reyes – 3 (111)
Alan Smith – 3 (111)
Thierry Henry – 2 (175)
Dennis Bergkamp – 1 (240)
Patrick Vieira was Arsenal’s “dirtiest” player and collected 1 yellow per 10 fouls. Alan Smith was United’s “dirtiest” player and collected 1 yellow per 15 fouls. Scholes picked up 1 yellow per 11 fouls. Dennis Bergkamp on average picked up 1 yellow per 30 fouls.
Fouls 2003-2004
Patrick Vieira – 93 (1)
Phil Neville – 51 (23)
Gilberto – 50 (27)
Sol Campbell – 43 (45)
Ray Parlous – 43 (45)
Mikael Silvestre – 41 (53)
Theirry Henry – 36 (83)
Kolo Toure – 36 (83)
Paul Scholes – 31 (111)
Yellow cards 2003-2004
Paul Ince – 14 (1)
Patrick Vieira – 10 (4)
Ray Parlour – 7 (25)
Ashley Cole – 5 (58)
P Neville – 5 (58)
G Neville – 5 (58)
Lauren – 5 (58)
Paul Scholes – 5 (58)
Fouls 2002-2003
Garry Flitcroft – 83 (1)
Thierry Henry – 54 (20)
Ruud van Nistelrooy – 50 (27)
Gilberto – 47 (35)
Patrick Vieira – 45 (39)
Ray Parlous – 42 (51)
Paul Scholes – 39 (63
Yellow cards 2002-2003
Ivan Campo – 13 (1)
Thierry Henry – 8 (16)
Phil Neville – 7 (20)
Martin Keown – 6 (33)
Patrick Vieira – 6 (33)
Lauren – 6 (33)
David Beckham – 5 (61)
Ashley Cole – 5 (61)
Roy Keane – 4 (87)
Paul Scholes – 4 (87)
Fouls 2001-2002
Patrick Vieira – 86 (1)
Ray Parlour – 50 (26)
Lauren – 42 (50)
Nicky Butt – 39 (65)
Ruud van Nistelrooy – 38 (71)
Dennis Bergkamp – 37 (78)
Paul Scholes – 33 (108)
Yellow cards 2001-2002
Robbie Savage – 14 (1)
Patrick Vieira – 11 (2)
Paul Scholes – 9 (5)
Lauren – 8 (12)
Ray Parlous – 7 (27)
Fouls 2000-2001
Olivier Dacourt – 84 (1)
Patrick Vieira – 65 (12)
Nicky Butt – 51 (23)
Paul Scholes – 43 (44)
Yellow cards 2000-2001
Olivier Dacourt – 13 (1)
Nicky Butt – 8 (20)
Patrick Vieira – 6 (48)
Tony Adams – 6 (48)
Wes Brown – 5 (66)
Paul Scholes – 3 (137)
Paul Scholes isn’t the dirty player Arsene Wenger makes him out to be. Given this is the manager who is quick to accuse others of making nasty fouls, even intentionally going out to hurt his players, only to “not see” his own players guilty of the same.
“There was a bit of an over-reaction with the way it was treated,” he said of what Owen Coyle described as the ‘assault’ of William Gallas on Bolton’s Mark Davies. “If it is a bad, malicious tackle I can understand that it is shown every half an hour, but the way that happened, it can happen every game.”
Wenger was asked the question and I don’t expect him to say “no comment” but you would expect him to be a bit more dignified and respectful. Agreed, Scholes is one of the best midfielders in the country, but trying to drag his name threw the mud and bring him down a peg or two by referring to a non-existent “dark side” is fairly insulting. Cesc Fabregas has a worse disciplinary record than Scholesy, does that make him a dirty player too? Did Wenger say that former captain Patrick Vieira’s approach to the game wasn’t OK or wasn’t fair? Course not.
So, if Scholes has such a dirty side, why do so many his central midfield opponents speak so highly of him? If his approach to football was unfair, then surely those who have played against him would know all about it, right? After all, they would be the ones on the end of his dirty tackles.
Zinedine Zidane – “He’s almost untouchable in what he does. I never tire of watching him play. You rarely come across the complete footballer, but Scholes is as close to it as you can get. One of my regrets is that the opportunity to play alongside him never presented itself during my career.”
Patrick Vieira – “The player in the Premiership I admire most? Easy – Scholes.”
Tony Adams – “I really rate Paul Scholes, because he hasn’t got the high profile of many of the Manchester United players, he doesn’t get too much attention, but he is one very good player. He is an intelligent player, he works hard and he scores some great goals. He is not flamboyant and is a quiet lad off the pitch but he is a tremendous asset to Manchester United and to England. He has already got my vote as player of the year.”
Cesc Fabregas – “He is the one whose level I aspire to. He is the best player in the Premier League.”
Thierry Henry – “I can’t understand why Scholes has never won the player of the year award. He should have won it long ago. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t seek the limelight like some of the other ’stars’.”
Edgar Davids – “I’m not the best, Paul Scholes is.”
Alan Shearer – “If you ask footballers to pick out the player they most admire, so many of them will pick Paul Scholes. He can tackle, and his passing and shooting is of the highest level. He’s the most consistent and naturally gifted player we’ve had for a long, long time.”
Eidur Gudjohnsen – “I’m more an admirer of Paul Scholes than I am of Ronaldo. Ronaldo is a fantastic player, but he has 10 other great players around him every week…Scholes is one of the most complete footballers I’ve ever seen. His one-touch play is phenomenal. Whenever I have played against him, I never felt I could get close to him.”
Oddly, not a single one of the players has a bad word to say about Scholes. No mention of his dark side, his dirtiness or his unfair approach to the game.
I guess it’s too much to ask for Wenger to show the same class.
DOES SCHOLES GET AWAY WITH MORE THAN ARSENAL PLAYERS?
Arsene Wenger claimed that Paul Scholes was a dirty player, with an unfair approach to the game and possessed a dark side.
RoM published statistics showing that Scholes is far from a dirty player. Nobody is saying he’s never made a bad tackle, nobody is claiming he has never made a cynical challenge, but Wenger’s accusations implied a far more sinister characteristic in Scholes. There’s a difference between saying someone isn’t a good tackler of the ball and saying someone has a “dark side” and claiming they’re not a fair player.
When you think of dirty player, you think Patrick Vieira, Roy Keane, Dennis Wise, Kevin Davies, Lee Boywer etc. Players who pick up lots of fouls, lots of yellow cards and get sent off a lot. Players who are always in their opponents face, who are confrontational and always leaving their boot in.
As a central midfielder, Scholes is going to commit fouls and pick up yellow cards, but his record for both is reasonable. Patrick Vieira, Cesc Fabregas, Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Tony Adams and Alan Shearer, amongst others, who have all played against Scholes, have done nothing but sing his praises. If Scholes does have a dark side, if he is a dirty player, then it’s not hard to imagine that these players would give less growing reports of someone who, if Wenger is right, would have kicked them about.
Arsenal fans flooded the blog and claimed that Scholes gets away with a lot because he is English. They claim because of his likeable and honest persona he is more likely to get away without punishment, unlike their foreign players. I hasten to add, this claim was not Wenger’s. He did not say Scholes gets away with more fouls than other players, he said that Scholes has a dark side.
So, RoM have compared Scholes’ fouls, bookings, and average yellow cards per foul against Arsenal players. As you would expect, the claims of Arsenal fans are completely unsubstantiated, but we wouldn’t want silly things like facts to get in the way of good argument, would we?
2009/2010
1. Paul Scholes
Fouls: 30
Yellow cards: 9
Fouls per card: 3
2. Emmanuel Eboue
Fouls: 16
Yellow cards: 4
Fouls per card: 4
3. Alex Song
Fouls: 51
Yellow cards: 10
Fouls per card: 5
4. Cesc Fabregas
Fouls: 30
Yellow cards: 5
Fouls per card: 6
5. Vassiriki Diaby
Fouls: 49
Yellow cards: 2
Fouls per card: 25
2008/2009
1. Cesc Fabregas
Fouls: 33
Yellow cards: 7
Fouls per card: 5
2. Paul Scholes
Fouls: 17
Yellow cards: 3
Fouls per card: 6
3. Alex Song
Fouls: 44
Yellow cards: 6
Fouls per card: 7
4. Robin van Persie
Fouls: 46
Yellow cards: 5
Fouls per card: 9
5. Denilson
Fouls: 57
Yellow cards: 3
Fouls per card: 19
2007/2008
1. Cesc Fabregas
Fouls: 29
Yellow cards: 9
Fouls per card: 3
2. Gael Clichy
Fouls: 39
Yellow cards: 6
Fouls per card: 7
3. Paul Scholes
Fouls: 31
Yellow cards: 3
Fouls per card: 10
4. Mathieu Flamini
Fouls: 56
Yellow cards: 5
Fouls per card: 11
5. Emmanuel Adebayor
Fouls: 57
Yellow cards: 3
Fouls per card: 19
2006/2007
1. Kolo Toure
Fouls: 27
Yellow cards: 6
Fouls per card: 5
1. Paul Scholes
Fouls: 43
Yellow cards: 8
Fouls per card: 5
3. Cesc Fabregass
Fouls: 45
Yellow cards: 7
Fouls per card: 6
2005/2006
1. Lauren
Fouls: 30
Yellow cards: 6
Fouls per card: 5
2. Jose Antonio Reyes
Fouls: 41
Yellow cards: 5
Fouls per card: 8
2. Paul Scholes
Fouls: 25
Yellow cards: 3
Fouls per card: 8
4. Cesc Fabregas
Fouls: 44
Yellow cards: 5
Fouls per card: 9
5. Gilberto
Fouls: 55
Yellow cards: 5
Fouls per card: 11
2004/2005
1. Ashley Cole
Fouls: 36
Yellow cards: 7
Fouls per card: 5
2. Patrick Vieira
Fouls: 89
Yellow cards: 9
Fouls per card: 10
3. Paul Scholes
Fouls: 44
Yellow cards: 4
Fouls per card: 11
4. Thierry Henry
Fouls: 24
Yellow cards: 2
Fouls per card: 12
5. Dennis Bergkamp
Fouls: 30
Yellow cards: 1
Fouls per card: 30
2003/2004
1. Lauren
Fouls: 31
Yellow cards: 5
Fouls per card: 6
1. Ray Parlour
Fouls: 43
Yellow cards: 7
Fouls per card: 6
1. Paul Scholes
Fouls: 31
Yellow cards: 5
Fouls per card: 6
4. Patrick Vieira
Fouls: 93
Yellow cards: 10
Fouls per card: 9
5. Sol Campbell
Fouls: 43
Yellow cards: 2
Fouls per card: 22
6. Gilberto
Fouls: 50
Yellow cards: 2
Fouls per card: 25
2002/2003
1. Thierry Henry
Fouls: 54
Yellow cards: 8
Fouls per card: 7
2. Patrick Vieira
Fouls: 45
Yellow cards: 6
Fouls per card: 8
3. Paul Scholes
Fouls: 39
Yellow cards: 4
Fouls per card: 10
4. Ray Parlour
Fouls: 42
Yellow cards: 4
Fouls per card: 11
5. Gilberto
Fouls: 47
Yellow cards: 0
Fouls per card: 47 and counting…
2001/2002
1. Paul Scholes
Fouls: 33
Yellow cards: 9
Fouls per card: 4
2. Lauren
Fouls: 42
Yellow cards: 8
Fouls per card: 5
3. Ray Parlour
Fouls: 50
Yellow cards: 7
Fouls per card: 7
4. Patrick Vieira
Fouls: 86
Yellow cards: 11
Fouls per card: 8
5. Dennis Bergkamp
Fouls: 37
Yellow cards: 2
Fouls per card: 19
2000/2001
1. Patrick Vieira
Fouls: 65
Yellow cards: 6
Fouls per card: 11
1. Thierry Henry
Fouls: 43
Yellow cards: 4
Fouls per card: 11
3. Martin Keown
Fouls: 35
Yellow cards: 3
Fouls per card: 12
4. Paul Scholes
Fouls: 43
Yellow cards: 3
Fouls per card: 14
5. Dennis Bergkamp
Fouls: 40
Yellow cards: 2
Fouls per card: 20
In 2009/2010, Scholes was given a booking for every three fouls. This would support an argument that Scholes is a poor tackler of the ball (it can’t prove intention though) but would disprove the idea that Scholes gets away with fouls unpunished.
However, in 2007/2008, Fabregas was given a booking for every three fouls. So, is he a poor tackler of the ball? Does he have a dark side? Or is he victimised by referees?
Then we can look at Scholes in 04/05, he was given a yellow card on average for every 11 fouls he committed. So does this mean he just happened to get away with his “dark” and “dirty” side that season?
Fabregas in 05/06 picked up a yellow per 9 fouls. So does this mean he’s a clean player? Or that referees this season didn’t victimise him?
You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say Scholes is dirty for frequently picking up yellow cards one season, then when he doesn’t frequently pick up yellow cards, claim that’s because the referees let him get away with it that season.
A far more sensible conclusion would be that central midfielders make a lot of challenges and that it stands to reason some of those are going to poor. Scholes isn’t a great tackler of the ball and that is a reputation he carries now, and if anything, my opinion would be this makes him more likely to pick up yellow cards and fouls because the referees are expecting it. Just like referees expected Robert Pires and Cristiano Ronaldo to dive and let more fouls on them go.
Regardless, for Wenger to claim that Scholes has a “dark side” and therefore intentionally goes about trying to hurt people, implies something sinister in our midfielder that I don’t believe to be there. Whilst it’s very nice he spends considerable time praising him, I think it lacks in class to level such an accusation at Scholes. If Scholes has a dark side, Diaby, Song, Vieira, etc. are the devil!
Contributed by Scott The Red / Republik of Mancunia
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