Paul Scholes reveals clear reason Man Utd are ‘a MESS’ and namedrops five signings caught up in it
PAUL SCHOLES has slammed Manchester United’s transfer business and Erik ten Hag’s tactics after the bore draw against Aston Villa.
The Red Devils drew 0-0 yesterday to make it five games without a win.
Ten Hag’s side have picked up eight points from seven Premier League games, which is the the United’s worst-ever start to a season.
With the manager set to cling onto his job until after the international break, Scholes hit out at the boss, the players and club chiefs.
Despite a £180m summer outlay on Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro, Noussair Mazraoui, Manuel Ugarte and Joshua Zirkzee, the Man Utd legend took aim at the transfer strategy.
Scholes ranted to SuperSport: “Zirkzee, what is he? Is he a No9 or a No10? Is he going to get you 20 goals? I don’t think so.
“Rasmus Hojlund does alright – but is he gonna score you 20 goals? I don’t think so.
“I think they are relying more on hope than actual proven quality and they spent so much money as well.
“It’s a ridiculous amount of money and some of them can’t get in the team.
“You think of Ugarte coming into the club, who was supposed to change the midfield, he didn’t play him.
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“De Ligt, £50m and he didn’t play him. Jonny Evans has come in at 36-years-old instead of him.
“Martinez, Ten Hag brought him into the club. What must he be thinking? Jonny Evans is playing, Harry Maguire started, Victor Lindelof comes on before him.
“It’s just a recruitment mess really.”
Scholes also slammed Ten Hag’s “survival tactics” versus Villa and said a lack of identity is resulting in his new signings struggling.
He said: “When you don’t have a style of play and you don’t know how to play, or the way you want to play, it’s very difficult to choose players.
“When you don’t have a style of play and it changes from week to week, you’re almost throwing balls in the air and saying: ‘He looks a good player, we’ll try and get him’.
“It’s a point for United, going to a tough ground under a lot of pressure.
“I never really felt like they went there to try and win the game. It was more of a survival tactic more than anything.
“But from everything we said before the game, United were quite tough to play against.
“But you have to take into account the midweek fixtures. Villa had a big lift from Bayern Munich, winning that game, big atmosphere.
“They struggled to really live up that today. You could see they probably suffered a bit.
“For Manchester United, it’s difficult to go away in Europe on Thursday night and it was a tough game against Porto with ten-men, so I think the game probably reflected the midweek that both clubs had.”
Man Utd player ratings vs Villa: Evans rolls back the years with Garnacho let down
MANCHESTER UNITED eased the pressure slightly on boss Erik ten Hag with a hard-grafted stalemate at in-form Aston Villa.
United looked much more solid defensively after Ten Hag rung the changes – though the Red Devils still have just eight points from seven Prem games.
Here’s how SunSport’s Graeme Bryce rated 14th-placed United rated at Villa Park on Sunday.
ANDRE ONANA – 7
Guilty of sloppy distribution once or twice but his hands were safe enough and he did well to beat away a piledriver from Youri Tielemans to keep United on level terms.
NOUSSAIR MAZRAOUI – 6
Managed to contain Jaden Philogene comfortably enough in the first 45 minutes but failed to appear for the second half and was replaced by Victor Lindelof.
HARRY MAGUIRE – 6
Booked for a high forearm challenge on Ollie Watkins but his afternoon ended at half-time after he appeared to jar his knee defending a corner.
JONNY EVANS – 9
Handled Ollie Watkins well in the first 45 and showed all his experience to deal with the twin threat of Watkins and Jhon Duran for the final half hour. Rolled back the years with a five-star display to earn his Man of the Match rating.
DIOGO DALOT – 7
Sat in and rarely got forward but snuffed out the threat of Leon Bailey and was tidy enough. Crucial block to deny Philogene a stoppage time winner.
CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN – 7
Used all his experience to plug any gaps in United’s carefully constructed midfield. Dealt with the threat from Morgan Rogers well.
KOBBIE MAINOO – 7
Nothing flashy from the England midfielder who had his work cut out preventing Youri Tielemans carrying out his magic.
ALEJANDRO GARNACHO – 6
Fired in a first-half shot which Emi Martinez dealt with comfortably but shot hopelessly wide a couple of times after the break. Sloppy finishing let him down.
BRUNO FERNANDES – 8
United’s skipper only played after his red card against Spurs was overturned on appeal.
Kept his cool here to avoid a third red card in three games – came closest for United with a free kick which crashed off the Villa crossbar.
MARCUS RASHFORD – 7
Taken off at half-time in Oporto and taken off after 64 minutes to save himself a second yellow card here!
Looked United’s likeliest match-winner after forcing an early save from Martinez before bringing the best out in the Argentine World Cup winner with a sizzling effort which the ‘keeper tipped over. Booked for a foul on Cash.
RASMUS HOJLUND – 6
Put himself about and was involved in the clash which led to Ezri Konsa limping off. But lacked service and was replaced by Zirkzee just beyond the hour mark. Below par.
SUBS
MATTHIJS DE LIGT for Maguire (46 minutes) – 5 – Conceded a few fouls in dangerous areas. Still finding his feet.
VICTOR LINDELOF for Mazraoui (46 mins) – 6 – First appearance since March but fitted in well as a stand-in right-back. Booked for a foul on Morgan Rogers.
JOSHUA ZIRKZEE for Hojlund (64 mins) – 5 – Miles off the pace, failed to make any impact.
ANTONY for Rashford (64 mins) – 6 – Brought out the best in Emi Martinez with a curler which was heading for the top bin until the keeper plucked it out of mid-air.
CASEMIRO for Mainoo (85 mins) – 6 – Helped see out the match for United.