Scholes v Gerrard

Originally posted by dan182
myself & my boss are having a running argument.
who played better against croatia
Scholes or Gerrard

and that seems to run into another one about who has had a better tournament
Scholes or Gerrard

i realise if either has a shite game tonight then it will be the other regardless of how they played against croatia.

my boss frequents the boards so he should see the thread

i have said Scholes for both

daniel

For me it is Gerrard all the way. Against Croatia he was magnificent, his first half performance in particular. Yes Croatia sat back after taking the lead but I lost count of the number of times Gerrard won the ball back in that zone just inside the Croatian half, thus pinning the Croatians in in a manner similar to the Liverpool side of the early eighties.

True, Scholes scored the first goal (and had a fine game) but arguably Scholes was only in the position thanks to Gerrard pulling out to the left leaving Scholes to go through the middle for the 10 minute period at the end of the first half. If Gerrard wasn't the player he was, he wouldn't have been able to fulfill a role on the left hand side and Scholes thus wouldn't have been freed.

Not only does Gerrard win the ball back and break up opposing attacks (ie the ugly stuff) he also charges forwards and is a powerful runner with the ball at his feet. That kind of high tempo football, ie the driving from midfield from Gerrard and Lampard, and the driving forward from a withdrawn position from Rooney represents England's best chance of progression IMO. Portugal are going to be very dangerous though. Despite an at times dodgy looking defence and no on-form striker, I think Lampard/Gerrard are going to have to be at their best in trying to pick up Deco and curb his influence. I kinda fear a bit for Ashley Cole against Cristiano Ronaldo too. Still, should be a good game.