Please Say It Ain't Scholes About Paul

After witnessing his role being withdrawn over the last half of the season, Paul Scholes did the unthinkable and called it curtains on his unparalleled Manchester United career.

Manchester United Lost Their Mad Genius

The Ginger Prince was never a flashy player who demanded attention, but his charisma with the ball at his foot demanded the respect of players, managers and football fans across the world.

Not only did United lose one of its greatest-ever players, but also football, itself, will never be the same without Scholes spraying his passes around pitches across Europe.

Without him being one of the main figureheads, United may never have realized their dreams of lifting their record setting top-flight title this past season. Still Scholes showed complete humbleness saying, "To have been part of the team that helped the club reach that 19th title is a great privilege."

Because he was never one for the limelight, a lot deserved credit that he deserved will never go his way. However, over the last couple of years, some of the best midfielders to ever play have showered him with the ultimate compliments saying that they would love to have played alongside him. Zinedine Zidane, Xavi Hernandez, who was the best player in the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final, were just a couple of the games finest that have paid tribute to him.

A shy, but very confident family man by nature, Scholes had most Manchester United supporters drooling every time he stroked one of his pinpoint 50-yard passes across the pitch of Old Trafford. He could also strike the ball with ferocity and precision that very few players could even dream of doing, which is why it is safe to say that there will never be another Paul Scholes.

After being one of the shining stars of the infamous "Class of 1992," the red-headed midfielder's pulled the red kit on for the very first time on September 21, 1994 with an appearance against Port Vale in the League Cup.

All he did from there, was to go on and register 676 appearances, which ranks fourth all-time, for one of the world's greatest club. Scholes' 17-year career also saw him score an incredible 150 goals from his central midfield position, which ranks him ninth among the United greats.

With him orchestrating the United engine room with his unmatched creativity and ability to match that, the club achieved 21 trophies. He has received 10 Barclays Premier League winners’ medals, three FA Cup medals, two Football League Cup, two UEFA Champions League medals, an Intercontinental Cup medal, a FIFA Club World Cup Medal and five medals for his participation in the FA Community Shield. However, his strong willed personality has never allowed him to personally accept the UEFA Champions League medal that he collected from the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final, which he missed through suspension.

Unjust
Bookings and suspensions have become something that is often linked with Scholes, because his tackling is a stark contrast of his picture-esque passing game. At the beginning of the 2010/11 season, Arsene Wenger, who is a long-time admirer of Scholes, labeled him as having, "a dark side" to his game. A lot of people mistake his clumsiness for red-mist, because that is the only thing that they can argue for him being a weakness in his overall game.

The reason for this is that Scholesy has accumulated 122 yellow cards in the Premier League and Champions League combined. The 32 cautions he has totaled in Europe are the most of any player, which shows that he is never willing to allow his opponent an advantage of any sort.

That sort of distraction hopefully did not lead to the majestic midfielder's decision, because the pundits who criticized him will only realize his true worth after he is gone. With that said, Scholes has never really cared what anyone, Sir Alex Ferguson, the supporters and his teammates apart, about him and .

What a lot of modern-day players lack is something that Scholes has oozing through him. Along with him being a genius on the field, he has an element of genuineness about him, which certainly factored into his decision. Rather than being just a bit part player and ride on the coattails of the club's success, the Ginger Prince has way too much self-respect and pride to ever even entertain serving that role.

With the recent tasteless allegations of some other very well-respected players, Scholes has to be, without question, the most revered and admired player on and off the field and everyone in football, not just United, will miss his services to the game.

No matter how much this day was anticipated over the last season, May 31 will be a day of morning for the everyone involved with Manchester United - the board, the manager, the players and the supporters - because we will never, ever see another Paul Aaron Scholes.