That's the word of Manchester United's first-team strength and conditioning coach Mick Clegg, who has opened up in his new book The Power and the Glory about his chats with Scholes at the club's training base at Carrington.

A conversation Clegg had with the former Manchester United midfielder about England was made public by the former England player.

"Schlossey told me to put the kettle on all the time, and one day we were talking about the Euros that summer. A little surprise: He said that he didn't like playing for England. Because it's England, he told me that's what you have to do, and I didn't believe him. If Paul stopped playing for England, he didn't know what would happen to the rest of the country.

Then, I asked him whether or not he had ever felt the same way when he was playing for his school team or with his friends or for United. He said that was different. Because he liked that, he was being pressured to do something that went against his own instincts. It wasn't long before he took up international football again. Was it because we talked? When did we last talk about it?

It's clear that he didn't like being away from home. She and their kids were always very important to him, and he didn't want to be away from them for long at all. In English: "You won't play well if you go on a trip with England and you aren't happy."

At Old Trafford, Scholes made his international debut for England in a 2-1 victory against South Africa in 1997, and he went on to earn a total of 66 caps for the Three Lions. He is better recognized for his performances in a red shirt than in a white one, but he has always done well when he has been given the opportunity to wear the England jersey.
When Scholes withdrew from international service following the Euro 2004 tournament at the age of 29, he later stated to BBC 5Live that he regretted "leaving England so early."
Was it because of their conversation, as Clegg suggests?