Roy Keane believes iconic Manchester United teammate was criminally ‘underestimated’ by opponents

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Manchester United legend Roy Keane saw plenty of top-tier talents come through the ranks at Old Trafford in his time at the Red Devils, having won seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups and a Champions League.

But none will be much better than Paul Scholes, who himself had an even more glittering career. Roy Keane joined Manchester United in 1993, just one year after the famous ‘Class of 92’ came through the ranks.

Ryan Giggs was the shining starlet at that time, but it was Scholes who burst through and became a real asset for Sir Alex Ferguson.

And Keane, who played alongside Scholes for 12 years at Old Trafford, praised his former teammate for his longevity and being able to punish Premier League defences even in the latter stages of his career.

Paul Scholes could still damage opponents in the latter stages of his career

Scholes had operated further up the pitch in the early days of his career, almost as a ‘second-striker’, though he reverted further and further back, with his passing range pulling teams apart once United had signed Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dimitar Berbatov and more.

That naturally came with a goalscoring instinct, one that he was unable to flourish with as he moved into central midfield roles.

But Keane was a firm believer in his teammate, and claimed that many were unassuming of Scholes towards the end of his career. Speaking on Stick to Football, Keane said: “And I think towards the end, people always underestimated Scholes.

“You know, when you’d get into attacking positions and the ball was coming into the box, defenders still used to look at Scholes and think, ‘Don’t worry about him.’

“There was always that element — because he wasn’t 6’4” or whatever — where people would overlook him. But he’d just drift in and score loads of goals.

“He’d position himself perfectly between two big centre-halves and still get on the end of things. And once he got there, you knew he could finish.”

Paul Scholes’ goalscoring record for Manchester United largely goes unspoken about

Although Paul Scholes was an incredible passer of the ball, his goalscoring prowess goes massively unspoken of. Edwin van der Sar named Scholes as the most underrated teammate he played with, and the statistics speak for themselves.

In eight of his first 11 campaigns for United, Scholes recorded double figures for goals scored in all competitions, including an outstanding 20 goals in just 52 games in the 2002-03 season.

In comparison to Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, Scholes doesn’t get enough credit for the goals he scored, simply because he didn’t score as many as his English counterparts. Gerrard named Scholes as being on par with Xabi Alonso, who is currently Real Madrid’s boss.

Ending his United career with 155 goals in 718 games, including over 100 in the Premier League, Scholes has been a stalwart in the division for some time.

Keane is right in what he says about the Salford-born star in that he was underestimated towards the end of his career, as he featured less and less for United in that time.

But Scholes still managed to score in every possible season that he featured in in the Premier League, totting up 19 consecutive years where he got on the scoresheet.