Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville recalled a hilarious story involving Sir Alex Ferguson after he disagreed with Paul Scholes over one Manchester United legend.
Both Gary Neville and Paul Scholes spent their entire playing careers at Manchester United and the two club legends enjoyed incredible success at Old Trafford.
Scholes, who is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of all time, enjoyed a prolific spell under Sir Alex Ferguson and hoovered up major silverware at the club.
The 49-year-old United legend lifted 11 Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues, three FA Cups and two League Cups during his two spells at Old Trafford.
Neville, much like Scholes, had a trophy-laden career at United and lifted eight Premier Leagues, two Champions Leagues, three FA Cups and three League Cups.
Both Scholes and Neville shared the pitch with several talented players at United, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Eric Cantona, Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs.
However, the two former United stars didn’t see eye to eye on one fellow Red Devils legend who was a fan favourite during his illustrious spell at Old Trafford.
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Neville and Scholes disagree over United legend
Paul Scholes opened up about his admiration for Manchester United cult hero Ruud van Nistelrooy and said that he “loved playing” with the Dutchman at Old Trafford.
Van Nistelrooy arrived at United in 2001 from PSV Eindhoven and the ex-striker had a prolific playing spell under legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
During his five seasons at Old Trafford, the former Netherlands international scored an impressive 150 times in 219 appearances for the Red Devils.
Scholes would play in a No 10 to support United fan-favourite Van Nistelrooy, saying that he knew what the club legend wanted “without speaking to him.”
“I loved playing with Ruud. I loved playing with that type of player,” he said on The Overlap in 2022.
However, Gary Neville remained unconvinced with the balance of the team when Van Nistelrooy played and preferred more “power and pace” in United’s strikers.
“I love Ruud, we both love Ruud, I do, but I say Manchester United needed counterattacking players,” he said.
“It needed power and pace, so when we had like [Dwight] Yorke and [Andy] Cole or we had [Wayne] Rooney and [Carlos] Tevez or… those types of power players that ran the channels, they were sort of pressing.
“We were very different with Ruud, but you liked that period with Ruud, didn’t you?”
Scholes, who named his funniest teammate in the interview, responded to Neville: “I loved playing with Ruud because I knew what he wanted without speaking to him, if you know what I mean?”
Neville told Scholes about Ferguson story
Neville went on to reveal that Ferguson would be furious with United players for not finding Van Nistelrooy in the same way as Scholes did with his passes.
The Sky Sports pundit told Scholes of Ferguson going off at his players, with the former United midfielder admitting that he did not remember it happening.
Neville told Scholes: “Do you remember when the boss used to say, ‘There’s only f*****g Scholes [who] can see his runs, the rest of you get your f*****g heads up.’
“Do you not remember that?”
Scholes responded: “No, I don’t remember that. No.”
Neville continued: “I remember stuff like that. You were the only one that spotted his runs because they were that f*****g subtle. He made like little darting [runs]…”
Scholes, who revealed one current United star has a key trait he admired, opened up about the fact that he built an effective relationship with Van Nistelrooy on the pitch.
“Yeah, I just knew what he wanted,” he added.
“At that time, I was playing No 10, really, I weren’t playing centre midfield.
“So, I do what football’s all about: [having] relationships with people. I don’t think you see a lot of that these days, do you?”