Paul Scholes retires from international footy!

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

According to talksport radio and apparantly Man Utd's website, Scholes has retired from international footy at the age of 28.

He's been playing for England since 1997 and has 60-odd caps.

According to rumours this may be due to a number of things including regaining summers to spend with his family and to recover from long seasons to be fit for the following campaign, which is made tricky due to his asthma.

Edited August 3, 2004 by ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster

[Guest Red Devil]

Yeah i just heard this on Sky Sports News. Looks like it's official. I'm quite disappointed that Paul didn't stay till the next World Cup and leave then because he would've had a chance at winning the WC. It looks like we're back to square one again with Lamped and Gerrard in the middle and needing a left midfielder.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Matt Etherington as I keep saying, though he needs a year first really, preferably back in the Premiership.

[stokeriño]

Now THAT was unexpected. Still, it's not really the most crushing blow to the England team. In my opinion anyway.

*starts making "Play Joe Cole" posters*

[lafunky xxvii]

Yay! That balances our centre midfield.

[MDK]

Its a shame that he has retired, but he hasnt been at his best in recent years so maybe it will give someone else a chance to shine

[IAceI]

Like stokerino said, play Joe Cole. But should Sven stay, he won't do that, because according to him there are only 11 men in this world, so knowing him, he'd probably play with 10 men.

Hopefully Sven goes. And i assume Scholes left because he realised that his goal againt Croatia was lucky and he wouldn't score for another 3 years internationally?

All he has to do now is put Cole on the left, Beckham on the right and Gerrard and Lampard in the middle, will he do that, of course not. He'll play Phil Neville in the middle won't he, bring Nicky Butt into the squad. Put Rio back in the middle and King on the right, move Neville into centre midfield and Lampard back to the left so our midfield would look like this.

Lampard - Neville, P - Neville, G - Beckham

Yay, that'd work. Seriously, Sven needs shot between eyes.

We need to have Cole on the left, Lampard and Gerrard in the middle and Beckham on the right, Lampard in AMC and Gerrard DMC if he insists on the diamond.

You can do it Sven, bring Cole up, go on, you can do it! Or maybe he doesn't know how to write it and the only English words he knows are

James

Neville G

Ferdinand

Campbell

Cole

Beckham

Scholes

Gerrard

Lampard

Owen

Rooney

Heskey

Yes. Play 4-3-3 with Heskey up front.

Sorry, rant over.

[FLiam]

That was a bit unexpected but it is a good thing, he hasn't been at all good for England recently. For the next World Cup our midfield should look like this:

J. Cole Gerrard Lampard Dyer

Cole and Dyer are the players we lack, they can run at defenders and take people on, and that is what England need.

[Jam]

I was shocked by this, but Scholes is nowhere near his best internationally so he did the honourable thing

Now we need to get rid of the prat on the right

[TheArsenal]

Scholes is 29

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Yeah the next news story on the radio they said he was 29 but on the one I heard before typing this they said 28 by mistake.

[Darloboy]

It's a shame to see him go, he's a great player but hopefully someone like Joe Cole can come in and replace him.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Playing Joe Cole in Scholes posistion is a joke, sorry but it is when you have better players. This is a huge loss, but at the same time its a good thing and if Sven doesn't do what he should then its his problem.

If it was me then Nicky Butt would be in the team straight away. He should have been starting in the Euro easily but never got a chance. I don't think he ever has let England down, he isn't a pussy and always gets stuck in and he's damn well experianced if you ask me. If it was me I'd throw away guys that try to do skills all the time and take a guy who actually suits the role of Paul Scholes, and that's Nicky Butt. Heck I'd even take Dyer or Jenas over Cole.

[Benji]

While Scholes was a great player I won't be missing him all that much, he isn't the greatest loss to the team, and while it may take time to build a player up to his calibre, it will be done by the World Cup. Still, it's a shame a player just hitting his real prime decides to step down from the country, it's for personal reasons which is understandable, I mean all that travel and summer work must really take it's toll on the body, especially with something as pesky as Asthma.

[cjt4ever]

Woah, that's a big loss for England. Scholes is such a great player and always plays well. At this time, not many players acn replace him. Maybe Joe Cole, but he isn't at that standard yet.

[Jonny D]

Scholes was a good player, just not under Sven. At the Euro championships, Scholes was played out of position is some games and subbed off in EVERY game, which could of had an effect on him retiring early. It's a shame to lose him, and in my opinion if Sven wasn't manager then Scholes would still be playing international Football, and would of had a much better England record.