According to Mick Clegg, Manchester United icon Paul Scholes “hated” playing for England and enjoyed playing at Manchester United.
Clegg is currently Manchester United’s first-team strength and conditioning coach and has written about his chats with Scholes at the club’s Carrington training complex in his new book The Power and the Glory.
Paul Scholes made his international debut in a 2-1 victory against South Africa in 1997, earning 66 caps for his country before retiring. The Manchester United legend is better known for his performances in a red shirt, but he also excelled whenever he played for England.
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But Clegg has highlighted several reasons because of why he favored playing for his club even more.
As reported by the Daily Mail, he said:
“I had a kettle in the gym so that I didn’t have to keep nipping up to the canteen for a brew. Scholsey was always telling me to put the kettle on and one day we were having a chat about the Euros that summer. He said he hated playing for England, which came as a bit of a shock.”
“I asked him why he kept turning up and he said “well it’s England, that’s what you have to do. Paul was worried about the reaction he would get from the rest of the country if he stopped playing for England. I asked him if he’d ever felt the same way playing for his school team or with his mates or for United – and he said that was different. He loved that.”
“I told him that he was being bullied into doing something that went against his own instincts. Not long afterward, he packed in international football. Was it down to our chat? I don’t know because we never spoke about it again.”
“I know he didn’t like being away from home. He was always a family man and he didn’t want to be away from his wife and kids. ‘If you go away with England and you’re not happy then you’re not going to perform at your best on the pitch.”
Clegg made a rather surprising claim that the English midfielder was bullied for his position in the international squad.
Paul Scholes retired from international football in August 2004, despite playing for his club until 2013, citing his family and club career at Old Trafford as more important.
After retiring, he went on to win five more Premier League titles, two League Cups, and another Champions League medal with Manchester United. In order to make space for Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the starting XI, the Man United midfielder was frequently told to play on the left side for England.
We have to say, former England managers Sven-Goran Eriksson, Glenn Hoddle, and Kevin Keegan were all unsuccessful in getting the best out of Scholes.
Paul Scholes is currently the co-owner of Salford City and has been occasionally working as a pundit.
