Gary Neville is a manc who constantly got abuse from 'Pool and City fans and has been a Red since the day he was born. His reactions although not correct can easily be construed as passions running high. Balotelli has no ****ing clue about the rivalries he's involved in and therefore is just a massive ****.
Perhaps, I have to admit that I thought it was hilarious when I heard about it. You have a point there about not being subtle, but I still can't accept that he never intends to hurt the player. I don't think he is that bothered about getting booked because even if he is just bad at slide tackles why would would he continually do them when he knows from experience that he is almost certain to be booked? The only reason I can think of is that he is completely stupid but then your point about him being subtle with his challenges to avoid not getting booked doesn't really hold up because he just wouldn't see the connection. This isn't a character attack on him by the way as he is a model professional and I wish more footballers were like him in terms of playing style and conduct off the pitch but I am sick of commentators always defending him. 'Good old Scholes he never did learn how to tackle did he?' they say whilst the other player is stretchered off the pitch.
I still think it's just the red mist. When the game is in a difficult phase and we're struggling to hold possession, and can't get the ball back he gets frustrated and lunges for it. Most players will see a 50:50 ball and make a judgement about how likely they are to get it and not concede a foul / injure the other player. Scholes sees the 50:50 ball and just goes for it, without even thinking about the other player. If you look at a player like Fletcher, Song, or even Lucas go for a 50:50 ball they will try to anticipate and respond to the movements of the other player, so even if they catch them they tend to get at least close to the ball. But when Scholes tries it he invariably goes through the space the ball was in a good second or two after the other player gets it. In moments like that, he seems to have a fundamental inability to consider what the other player is doing. Maybe it's a consequence of his ability to read the game so well when in possession - when he has the ball he's able to pass it like the other team aren't there, for some reason he seems to tackle like they aren't as well. Either way, it's ****ing annoying...
You might be right. We are both seeing it the exact same way but we put forward different explanations for it. Not that surprising given one of us supports arsenal and the other supports man utd.
To be honest no one knows why he does it apart from Scholes himself. But I think we both agree on the fact that he shouldn't do it! Gotta be honest, I'm hoping he does retire this season. Since he moved deeper last season he hasn't been as effective, has disrupted the balance of the team, and has been making even more bad tackles in worse positions. He's been a great servant to the club, and one of the greatest players in United history, but I'm no longer confident when I see his name on the team sheet.
I have been calling for the last 2 seasons for Scholes to retire. His engine has gone and I don't want to people to remember his last appearances for Utd as poor performances. I want people to remember his goals and incredible passing ability. What a legend but Paul go now!
Gotta agree - he's essentially playing the same role as Carrick with a better passing range but is less able to screen the defence and make tackles. The passing range doesn't matter all that much when you're playing that deep, particularly at United as our style of play doesn't really lend itself to a deep lying playmaker. And whenever he and Carrick play together one (or both) of them invariably cocks up as a result...
