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Paul Scholes Brilliantly Explains How Good Park Ji-sung Was At Man Marking

Paul Scholes Brilliantly Explains How Good Park Ji-sung Was At Man Marking

The South Korean midfielder famously followed Andrea Pirlo everywhere but he gave the same treatment to Scholes on the training ground.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Park Ji-sung was so good at man marking that Andrea Pirlo wrote about it in his autobiography, but it wasn't just opponents who the former Manchester United midfielder annoyed with his skills.

The game against Pirlo came in the Champions League, with the Italian clearly still annoyed enough years later to put it in his book, and even go as far as to say the tactic used by Sir Alex Ferguson was enough to 'blemish' the Scot's reputation.

The Italian wasn't the only legendary midfielder who suffered the wrath of Park's man marking skills, with Paul Scholes explaining to former teammate Wes Brown how the former PSV man used to eye him up in training.

"I do remember you trying to man-mark me, but you weren't the only one, Wes!" Scholes said to Brown on the MUTV 'Group Chat'

"Do you know who the worst one was? Park Ji-sung. He was a nightmare! He was unbelievable.

"Do you remember when he did it against [Andrea] Pirlo?

"Ah, he was unreal! He had energy all day and discipline. The discipline was unreal."

Park and Pirlo were barely separated in the Champions League game. Image: PA Images
Park and Pirlo were barely separated in the Champions League game. Image: PA Images

Talking about how Park would 'psyche' him out, the former Olham manager added, "He just used to come up to me, look at me and not say a word, stand right next to me... 'Oh Jesus, here we go!' 'Come on, ginge!' - Just say something to me, have a laugh with me!

"But he was unbelievable at it. He just used to come and stare right into my face, stare right into my eyes, 'You're not getting a kick today'."

Such was Park's impact that Sir Alex Ferguson admitted in an interview that even to this day he regrets leaving out the midfielder in the 2008 Champions League final. Considering United won the game it says something about how much the legendary manager wishes he could have included the midfielder.

"To win the European Cup is fantastic. It was a really great bunch of players with a great attitude about them and a good, strong squad," Fergie told MUTV last year.

"My problem in the 2008 final, maybe I even regret it to this day, was I left Ji-sung Park out completely in the final.

"He'd played such a great role and that's the problem when you get to these finals."

Who is the best man marker you've ever seen in a game? Let us know in the comments.

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Topics: Paul Scholes, Football News, Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, Premier League, Andrea Pirlo, Champions League