Like most Manchester United supporters, Paul Scholes was left bitterly disappointed by the Europa League defeat at Anfield.
Following his post-match rant on BT Sport, the former United midfielder delivered some more typically frank assessments of Louis van Gaal’s side when speaking to Jamie Carragher.
In the full interview, featured in the Daily Mail, Scholes suggests that the decision to play Marouane Fellaini ahead of Michael Carrick in the heart of the United midfield was a costly one.
“When I saw the teamsheet my first thought was, ‘They’re going to get beat’,” Scholes told Carragher.
“I thought Carrick should be playing. Michael probably isn’t in the best form of his life, he’s picking up injuries and he can’t stay fit. But he has to play centre midfield. He’s brave enough to take the ball.
“Coming to Anfield, bravery is the biggest thing. Having the balls to go and play. This is a tough, horrible place to play. It’s a tight pitch, everything is on top of you. But Michael possesses that ability to get on the ball and calmness.”
“Morgan Schneiderlin didn’t want to do it. Marouane Fellaini isn’t someone you can play through.
“He played for one reason: so they could smash the ball up to him and they didn’t have to play through midfield. This is United you are talking about. Every time Fellaini plays, that happens.
“It’s disappointing. But, deep down, I knew beforehand this would happen.
“If you play Fellaini, you can only play one way. You have to smash it to him. That isn’t Manchester United. That should never, ever be Manchester United. But, where we are, it is.
“Van Gaal is almost saying we haven’t got the midfield players to handle the ball, to handle the pressure of Liverpool. He is saying we haven’t got the players who can play one-touch. He’s saying if we go long and smash it up to Fellaini, Liverpool can’t win the ball off us. It didn’t work.”
United host Liverpool for the second leg knowing that if Jurgen Klopp’s men score once at Old Trafford, they would have to score four times if they are to qualify. Given that United struggled to muster anything resembling a shot on goal in the first leg, chances of progressing to the quarter finals appear slim.
