Scholes slams ´awful, terrible´ United despite Champions League progress

Paul Scholes blasted Manchester United’s performance against Young Boys as “awful” and “terrible” despite a 1-0 win sending them into the Champions League last 16.

Marouane Fellaini’s stoppage-time strike sealed the victory at Old Trafford after another disappointing display from the Red Devils.

Manager Jose Mourinho had called on his players to show more “heart” after their 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace on Saturday, but his much-changed team missed early chances through Marcus Rashford and only a stunning David de Gea save stopped Young Boys snatching the lead in the second half.

Scholes compared the performance to the last-16 game with Sevilla at Old Trafford last season, when a 2-1 defeat sent them out of the competition, and felt United were lucky to win.

“I thought they were awful,” the former United star told BT Sport. “I thought they were terrible, especially second half.

“I think if they play against a half-decent team there, they’d get beaten.

“It reminded me very much of the Sevilla game last year. They huffed and puffed, quality was really lacking in every area of the pitch.

“I feel really sorry for Young Boys. I thought they were excellent second half and, if they had a little bit of quality about them, they win that game.”

Peak #DaveSaves  pic.twitter.com/eJg5lhCepF

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 27, 2018

Mourinho ended his post-match interview with BT Sport by reminding viewers that he has never failed to steer a team out of the group stage, which further irked Scholes.

“It’s always ‘I’: ‘I won the title, I won the Europa League’,” he said. “The last time I looked, football was a team game.

“Why does he think he needs to remind us what he’s won? We know what he’s won.”

Match-winner Fellaini felt United reaped the rewards for a more positive attitude in their performance, however.

“Of course, I think it was the right moment to score a goal,” he said. “I think the spirit was good: we gave everything, we played forward, we created chances, we played positive. I think that was most important.

“I think it’s good for us, for the confidence. Now we have the next game at Southampton, and we have to be ready.”

Defender Phil Jones admitted there was a sense of relief, especially after De Gea’s remarkable stop kept out a deflected effort from Ulisses Garcia.

“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “It’s tough. I thought we did well first half, created a lot of chances, could have been 3-0, 4-0 up, and if you’re not careful they’ll punish you on the break.

“We’re thankful for David for pulling off an unbelievable save. We dug in, kept going, it wasn’t pretty at times, but we won the game.”