Scholes tells of how he tried to emulate his dad before becoming Man Utd midfielder

Paul Scholes tells how he tried to emulate his dad as a striker before ending up as a midfielder.

Now he is known as one of Manchester United's best ever players but Scholes, who was a member of the famous Class of 92, was originally a striker.

In the youth team Eric Harrison played him in many players but although he was destined to end up in midfield, he never played there as a youngster.

Scholes told how he looked up to his dad and was brought up in a pub environment which also led him to drinking before games.

"I watched my dad play football all the time, every week," said Scholes. "He just played amateur football, Sunday morning football, Saturday afternoon, and like I said, that was the lifestyle I grew up around.

"So on a Saturday afternoon, he'd go and play, go to the pub, have a drink with his mates. It just happened (he'd go to the pub). He was a centre forward, goal hanger."

Asked if he was a good finisher, he replied: "Brilliant finisher, scored loads and loads of goals" and he added: "Yeah, I was obsessed with watching me play football."

Speaking on the Overlap podcast, Scholes also opened up about how he would drink on the day before a game when he was 17 and 18.

"Not always, just the odd Friday afternoon (...) we'd go to a pub in Middleton. We used to have bottles of Becks or something, but yeah we used to have a few. I was just brought up around that. That was my life.

"My mum and dad were in the pub Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And I was with them half the time. They would take him and I would wait outside kicking a ball. They'd go to the pub and ask 'is my son allowed in? No'. It doesn't mean they are going home, I'm staying outside for a few hours."

About drinking as a player he said: "Yes that's the way I was brought up, I just thought it was normal."