Paul Scholes- The Legend

I remember when I first saw Scholes play, it was in the 95/96 season against Chelsea. I wanted to see Giggs and Cantona, but Scholes really stole the show;  scoring two well taken goals in a 4-1 win. If you look closely you can probably see me celerbrating behind the goal (I will never forget the amount of abuse I got from Chelsea fans, I was only 10 for fucks sake!)  But from then on Scholes was one of my favourite United players. He could do it all. It was like he had a sniper rifle in his boots,decapitating defences with his accurate through balls. He wasn't particularly tall but he had great heading ability. He wasn't particularly quick either, but he timed his runs into the box with stealth. Give him a chance in the 18 yard box and he would usually take it, he really was the silent assassin. 

To me it always felt like Scholes was really underrated. Maybe it's because he was so shy and quiet and kept himself to himself. He rarely gave interviews, I've only seen a couple myself. But when I read some articles with foreign players and managers, they always mention Scholes as one of the best English midfielders. Zidane said he was one of his hardest opponents. Xavi, Iniesta and Fabgreas have been quoted saying how much they admire Scholes. Apparently after the final on the Saturday just gone, FIVE Barca players were all trying to get his shirt. (Iniesta ended up with it). That really does say a lot!  It just makes you think though......if he was 'Scholesinho' and was from Brazil maybe he would have got more praise. But all United fans recognise the genius that Scholes was and we certainly saw the best of him. England saw some glimpses of his skill; probably his best moment when he scored a hat trick against Poland. But the England team never used him to his full potential. How are you going to play the most creative player you have on the left side of midfield?  I really don't blame him for retiring after Euro 2004. It was United gain anyway, he gave 7 more years of great service giving fans loads of great memories. 

Over the years many great players have come and gone at United. Charlton, Best, Robson, Cantona, Beckham and Ronaldo. Scholes will be added to that list. It's nearly impossible to replace such players. All teams evolve and move on, and this team will do exactly that. It's really sad to see Scholes retire, he probably could have played on another season but he just thought it was right. He's retired on his terms and in doing so he's one of the greats. 

Manchester United- We will never die!

On Saturday night I had a great night despite us losing to Barcelona. MUST put on a great night down at Fabric. I've been there many times as a raver, so to see the place brimming with United fans was a sight to see. The singing was passionate. I must have arrived around 5pm and it didn't stop till the game was over. It left me voiceless. The drink made me merry. I went from belief to disappointment, to relief and joy and back to disappointment again. That's the type of night it was, a night that I will always remember. When Rooney scored the place erupted, it was like someone dropped a nuclear bomb on Fabric. I was pumping my fists, hugging random people, shouting at the top of my voice. It was organised chaos at it's very best. That proved to be the highlight of the night, but despite us going 3-1 down we still sang and we still believed. 

There is no shame in our loss on Saturday. Jealous fans point and laugh at our defeat at the weekend, so obsessed with United because of their teams short comings. We have managed to reach three finals in four years, only to be met by a Barcelona team that will go down in legend. We secured a 19th league title despite being written off throughout the season. I know it's a cliche, but if you said that we would reach the final of the Champions League I wouldn't have believed you. We've discovered Chicarito, Smalling and the Da Silva twins. Nani has drastically improved, Anderson has started to score goals. Although Valencia had a bad game at the weekend, he was important in the later stages of the season. Rooney is Rooney, powerful and eager as ever. All of those players are 20-25 years old and will mature together over a period of time. The youth team won the F.A cup. I'm sure some of those players will start pushing for the first team squad.  Fergie is already plotting for next season. He loves a challenge, he's so bloody minded he won't stop till he succeeds. Part of being great champions is being humble in defeat. But being great champions also means that will rise up and challenge again. It will be difficult, but we're United we've done it over the years when we've had humbling experiences in Europe.

 This summer will be interesting too. Will Scholes retire? Will Berbatov go? Will Fergie bring in some creative players for midfield. Modric? Sniejder? Will we get a holding midfielder? Schweinsteiger? (We can dream!) What will De Gea be like? We won't know the answer to these questions for a few weeks yet. What we do know is this.  The Catalan crown jewels were flawless in London,  playing a brand of football that we've never seen before. However, United will be back, our achievements this season suggests that. This squad will continue to grow, and I'm sure with a few jewels of his own, Fergie will be able to polish the rough edges. 

'We keep the red flag flying high, 'cause Man United will never die'.

Elzhi- Elmatic (Review)

Following his departure from Slum Village, supporters of Elzhi have been wondering. Wondering what the future holds. What direction will his music go? Who will he collaborate with? After a lot of anticipation,  he finally dropped 'Elmatic', an ode to Nas' 1994 classic 'Illmatic'; at the beginning of May. Will Sessions, a live band from from Detroit have given new life to the original production; allowing  Elzhi to once again showcase his flawless rhyming skills. Wordplay, patterns, story telling or just straight rhyming, Elzhi shows why he is considered one of the most underrated emcees out right now. 'When I write cigars flare again, the bars buried in the song are about as strong as barbarians'. Elmatic is heat, get downloading. 5/5

www.elzhi.com