Paul Scholes was so good in England training that his performance received a standing ovation from his teammates, that's according to Kieron Dyer.
Former Ipswich and Newcastle man Dyer was capped 33 times for his country after making his debut in 1999, including three outings at the 2002 World Cup.
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Dyer never fully realised his potential, which was very much indicative of how his international colleagues fared, with England's 'Golden Generation' of Scholes, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard et al unable to recreate club success with the Three Lions.
In his book, which was serialised in the Daily Mail, Dyer explained how an incredible performance in training once earned Scholes an ovation.
"He was the absolute master of one touch in training. One day he scored three or four goals - and I'm not talking tap-ins. I'm talking 25-yarders-lodging-in-the-stanchion-type goals.
"When the session was over, the rest of the England players formed a guard of honour and clapped him off the pitch. I'd never seen that before and I never saw it again."
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On the age old argument about which of the mercurial midfield trio was best, Dyer is in no doubt that the former Manchester United ace was better than Lampard and Gerrard.
The former West Ham player also thought the 11 time Premier League winner shouldn't have been played out on the left for the national team.
"Paul Scholes was the best player I played with and people like Xavi and Zinedine Zidane counted him as their favourite player.
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"Other nations would have used him as their fulcrum but Sven Goran Eriksson's first-choice midfield was always David Beckham on the right, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard in the centre and Scholes on the left.
"So we wasted him by putting him on the left and banished him to the margins. It was disrespectful, one of the biggest crimes ever.
"When you talk about Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes, Scholes was the best of the three and yet he was asked to give way."
Speaking exclusively to SPORTbible, another of Scholes' former teammates, Rio Ferdinand, explained just how good the United ace was, saying, "Scholesy could do anything you want on a pitch. He was the goal scoring midfielder that evolved into the conductor. Not many players have done that."
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The former Oldham Athletic manager won 11 league titles, three FA Cups, two League Cups and two Champions League titles during his career.
So despite it never working out with England he didn't have a bad time of it.
Is Scholes the best midfielder of his generation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes, Football News, Manchester United, International Football, Premier League, England, Steven Gerrard