Chadwick gives verdict on Keane and Scholes debate
Which legendary United midfielder is superior: Roy Keane or Paul Scholes? It's a question that has sparked endless debate in Manchester's pubs over the years, and now the pair's former team-mate Luke Chadwick has waded in.
The winger, who made 39 appearances for the first team between 1999 and 2002, told Friday's MUTV Group Chat that, of all the United greats he worked with, one player clearly stood out.
"I'd say the best player was Paul Scholes," admitted Chadwick, in a chat with presenter Stewart Gardner and former Reds Wes Brown, David May, Ben Thornley and Danny Webber.
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“In training every day, although everyone else was incredible, he was just a little bit better than everyone else. We used to do a lot of possession games and small-sided games, and it was like he had eyes in the back of his head. He could just play off one touch for the whole session and run it. So he could just do everything. For me, he was probably the best player.
“It's hard to say that, considering the likes of Roy Keane, Teddy Sheringham, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs. Don't get me wrong, I was honoured to be part of playing with those players. But I'd say Scholes was the best one.”
But Chadwick went on to talk about Keane, who was then in the midst of an eight-year reign as club captain. And while Scholes might have been the superior footballer, from a technical perspective, the Irishman was arguably more influential as a club figure.
“I remember in training for the first few days [with the first team], I was thinking: bloody hell, is this what it's like?!” remembered Luke.
“I remember probably having a joke with Wes and a couple of the younger lads, when we went into the small-sided games, saying: 'I hope I'm not on Keaney's team.' Because you knew you had to be 'on it' and run your socks off.
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“But he was like the ultimate captain," Chadwick continued. “In the short time I was there, he looked after the young lads. He looked after me a lot.
“There'd be times when I couldn't drive, and he'd go out of his way and pick me up from my flat to go to training and games and take me home. He was a fierce competitor – he really drove the standards. But if you're at an elite football club, I think that's what you need really. But, off the pitch, he was a real help and really looked after me and a lot of the younger players.”
Chadwick, who won a Premier League title medal with United in 2000/01, was then asked to describe the conversations that would take place between him and Keane when the captain would give him a lift.
“Silence. Complete silence,” laughed Chadwick. “If I was in his team and we didn't win the small-sided game, I'd be walking home!”
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