Paul Scholes has admitted that playing on after Manchester City won the Premier League title in 2011/12 was “definitely a mistake”.
During the 2011/12 campaign, Man Utd and Man City were involved in a tense fight for the league title.
It went down to the final day of the campaign as the Manchester rivals were level on 86 points after 37 games.
Manchester United and Martial: When breaking up is easy to do
City had to match United’s result to win the title as they had the better goal difference. They hosted QPR, while Sir Alex Ferguson’s side faced Sunderland.
Man Utd beat the Black Cats 1-0. City trailed 10-man QPR 2-1 heading into stoppage time. But late drama ensued as goals from Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero secured them the title.
Re-live it again, and again, and again…
FT: City 3-2 QPR [2012]
[39'] P. Zabaleta
[90+2'] E. Dzeko
[90+4'] S. Aguero
–
[48'] D. Cisse
[66'] J. Mackie
The feels…#MCFC | #CityvQPRWatchAlong pic.twitter.com/HVgCmgiGYG
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) April 5, 2020
Scholes briefly retired after the 2010/11 season, but he made his return for Man Utd in January 2012.
He hung up his boots for good at the end of the 2012/13 campaign. United finished ahead of Man City that season as they regained the Premier League title.
During the latest episode of BT Sport’s What I Wore YouTube series, Scholes revealed that “he can’t watch” Aguero’s famous goal back:
“We went into Sunderland away and thought the league was gone,” Scholes explained.
“City had to beat QPR at home and that’s not a problem, that will happen. We came off the pitch and they are 2-1 down with two minutes to go or something.
“I can’t believe you pulled (that Aguero shirt) out. I can’t watch it, can’t listen to it.”
When asked if his outlook on the end of his career would have been different had United beat City to the league in 2011/12, Scholes added:
“I’d have carried on. But it was a mistake to carry on. Definitely a mistake.
“I can remember two or three games into that next season I thought ‘what have I done?'”
Speaking last month, Scholes named his three toughest opponents:
“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,” Scholes said.
“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 Papa 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.”
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