'My head had gone' – Paul Scholes opens up on his biggest Man United regret
10/01/2024 09:51 AM
Paul Scholes is one of Manchester United’s greatest ever players, but not everything went according to plan during his career.
The former midfielder rose through the Red Devils‘ youth ranks to become a club legend, lifting 25 trophies during a stellar 20-year career at Old Trafford.
Despite his huge success, there is one moment that Scholes does not reflect quite so fondly on.
In November 2001, the Englishman infamously refused to play for United in a League Cup clash against Arsenal, after being frustrated at only making a brief cameo appearance in a 3-1 Premier League defeat to Liverpool the night before.
Scholes was subsequently fined two weeks’ wages for his actions by manager Sir Alex Ferguson, and he has since shared his regret over the situation.
Appearing on The Overlap’s Fan Debate, the 49-year-old was asked about the incident by a United supporter, to which he nervously laughed before covering his head in his hand.
The former England international then admitted he had made a huge error of judgement, as he reflected: "I made a mistake. I should have gone [and played against Arsenal].”
He later confessed: "Look, I totally regret that because, to refuse to play for Man United, I thought my time was up in all honesty.
"But I think when I go back to that time, my head had just gone."
Scholes explained that he had been left seething after not being picked to start against bitter rivals Liverpool.
He recalled: "We were playing Liverpool away on the Sunday and I got left out of the team, which happened all the time.
"I was always one who understood if I got left out. I was bothered, but I'd know why. That game, for some reason, it got to me because I thought I should have been playing.
"And like I say, if you had a bad game the week before, then I accept it, or if somebody’s better off for this game, then great. But I just didn’t agree with the decision at the time.”
With United heading in at half-time 2-0 down after goals from Michael Owen and John Arne Riise, Scholes admitted he was desperate to get onto the pitch and help to turn the tide.
However, as the match went on, he then became convinced that Ferguson was resting him for the Arsenal encounter.
He continued: "I never spoke to the manager about this, but Jim Ryan was the assistant manager at the time.
“So I’m itching to get on, I’m at the back, I’m warming up all the time. I go and sit behind him and think, 'We’ve been s*** on, we’ve been rubbish', getting beat, getting battered 2-0.#
"I probably was just paranoid and my head had gone, [but] I had a feeling that the manager said to Jim Ryan, 'No, we'll leave him for tomorrow’.
“And that just got to me."
Scholes was ultimately brought on after 77 minutes, and admitted that the decision left him feeling hard done by.
The former star explained: "I think he brought me on with maybe five or ten minutes to go with the intention of playing me the night after which was Arsenal away in the League Cup, where we started playing all the young lads.
“So I’d have been probably the only first teamer to go.
“And your state of mind sometimes, it doesn’t probably think rationally. I might have just been paranoid at the time, but I just felt there was something against me at that time.”
And while Scholes may have felt wronged on this occasion, he certainly more than rebuilt his bridges in the years that followed.
He went on to spend the rest of his career at Old Trafford, officially hanging up his boots in 2013 with 11 Premier League winners’ medals and two Champions League titles, having made over 700 appearances for the club.
