Paul Scholes has snubbed players like Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard as he named his three toughest opponents in the Premier League.
Scholes played 718 matches for Manchester United across a stellar 19 years at Old Trafford, during which time he won 11 top flight titles, three FA Cups and two UEFA Champions Leagues.
The former United player called an end to his playing career in 2013 as the club’s third-highest ever appearance holder, behind Bobby Charlton and his former teammates Ryan Giggs.
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And the 47-year-old has now revealed the three toughest Premier League players he played against, a list which includes two surprising names.
‘When I played central midfield I like to go into games thinking ‘I just want to have all the time in the world here, just nobody around me, just find a little bit of space and pass the ball around,’ he told BBC Radio 5’s Savage Social show.
‘Then you play against people like you [Robbie Savage]. An absolute nuisance, trying to close you down dead quick. I don’t want that, I just want it nice and relaxed.
‘The way I played I didn’t really have to beat people or be stronger, quicker than the other person.
‘I suppose Patrick Vieira, you play against him he is so long, he is so big. You think you’ve got the ball, and the next minute he nicks it over your head, he was a clever player as well.
‘There’s one more that people won’t think of. We used to play against Portsmouth. Do you remember Pape Bouba Diop? Big, massive. They used to call him the wardrobe.
‘You get involved physically with him and you’re wasting your time. I always found him awkward to play against. He wasn’t a Vieira, of course he wasn’t, but he still had talent.’
