“They look an uncoached football team” - Paul Scholes gives brutal assessment of Manchester United and under-fire Ten Hag following Tottenham loss
Paul Scholes has slammed Manchester United after their defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League this weekend. The retired midfielder laid into Erik ten Hag for the club's recent form.
The Red Devils suffered a disappointing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday (September 29).
After conceding within the first three minutes of the fixture, Manchester United were reduced to ten men in the first half to make matters worse. Bruno Fernandes' foul against James Maddison was deemed a straight red card. Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke got on the scoresheet in the second half to seal all three points for Tottenham.
Speaking about Manchester United's recent performances after the defeat, Scholes said on SuperSport (via Metro):
"You don’t know how they’re going to play. You don’t know how they’re going to approach games, whether they are going to play on the counter-attack or sit deep or whether they’re going to try to have all the possession in the game. We’ve no idea. They look like an uncoached football team."
He continued:
"We’re two and a bit years in now… from the first week Ange Postecoglou went in, we probably knew what Tottenham were doing and they’re doing it to this day. We’re two and a bit years down the road [at United] and as I said, it’s an uncoached team."
On the Tottenham game, Scholes added:
"The players looked dead today, they looked flat, they looked, 'I don’t know what to do,' there’s no enthusiasm for the game of football and that can only come from the training pitch. Some of the positions that people take up on the pitch, it’s just madness at times."
The Red Devils will next face Porto in the Europa League on Thursday (October 3).
Paul Scholes criticizes Manchester United summer signing who's 'absolutely not' an improvement
Paul Scholes has questioned why Manchester United signed Matthijs de Ligt this summer. The former England midfielder insists that the Dutchman is not an improvement on Harry Maguire.
The Red Devils secured De Ligt's services from Bayern Munich this summer for a reported £42 million fee. The Dutch defender has made seven appearances across competitions so far this term.
However, Scholes believes he's made no impact on the club since his arrival, saying (via Metro):
"When you bring players in, you expect them to be a lot better than who you’ve already got. I don’t see players coming in who are a big difference. De Ligt has come in for Maguire, let’s say but there’s no big difference there."
When asked whether he's an improvement on Maguire, Scholes replied:
"No, absolutely not. These are experienced players who United have paid a lot of money for. We need to stop hearing excuses and get on that training pitch and find a way of playing. Find something, give us something!"
Manchester United are 12th in the Premier League table, six points adrift of the top four. The Red Devils have won just two of their first six league fixtures so far.