West Ham man Mark Noble has opened up on his Man United torment after meetings with one particular Red Devils legend.
West Ham and Manchester United have shared some great players and matches down the years.
Both the Hammers and Man United pride themselves on their rich history of producing top class players for the first team and the national side too.
West Ham legend Noble, now the club’s sporting director, never managed senior England honours unlike his Man United counterpart Paul Scholes.
But even the supremely talented Red Devils academy graduate was disgracefully wasted in an England shirt.
There are similarities between the careers of Noble and Scholes. They were both central midfielders who came through their club’s academy system and went on to be one-club men their entire careers.
But that is where the comparisons between the former West Ham and Man United heroes end.
Now West Ham man Noble has opened up on his Man United torment after meetings with legend Scholes.
For Noble they were hugely deceptive encounters as he told former Man United goalkeeper Ben Foster in a brilliant story on the Fozcast.
“Playing against Scholes at Old Trafford or even at our place, you’d press and he just knocks it off around the corner or five yards,” Noble said of the Man United legend on the Fozcast.
“He does that four or five times and you think f— that, I ain’t doing that (pressing him) again.
“And then you don’t do it once and he turns and hits a 60-yard diag to Giggsy or whatever and they go 1-0 up.
“And you think you’ve played well because at Old Trafford you’ve had 60 touches and you watch it on Match of the Day and Scholesy has just run the game.”
Noble is not alone in his wonderment when remembering his battles with Scholes.
Barcelona legend turned manager Xavi famously said of the Man United man: “Scholes is a spectacular player who has everything. He can play the final pass, he can score, he is strong, he never gets knocked off the ball and he doesn’t give possession away. If he had been Spanish then maybe he would have been valued more.”
MORE WEST HAM NEWS
Issa Diop has the last laugh over West Ham after remarkable achievement.
‘We’re not scared of Spurs’ Declan Rice declares ahead of another huge derby.
Luizao was registered with PL now Moyes has no choice but to turn to Brazilian.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
