Paul Scholes pessimistic on Manchester United future as he slams transfer business

It is a bleak picture for Manchester United that Paul Scholes paints (Picture: Getty Images)

Paul Scholes feels Manchester United’s summer recruitment was focussed on the wrong area of the pitch and feels it is the quality of the players rather than the manager’s system that is the issue.

The Red Devils were beaten 3-0 by Manchester City on Sunday to continue their disappointing start to the season.

Ruben Amorim’s side has picked up four points from their first four league games and were eliminated from the Carabao Cup by League Two outfit Grimsby Town.

The manager has come in for criticism as his Premier League record remains entirely unimpressive and many are pointing the finger at his preferred formation.

The 3-4-3 system that the Portuguese rates so highly is not producing results and is being heavily questioned, but Scholes is not so sure that the formation is the problem.

Instead, he thinks recruitment has continued to be very poor at Old Trafford and the club does not have the standard of player to compete with the best teams in the Premier League.

‘Whatever system you play doesn’t mean you play badly,’ Scholes told BBC5 Live. ‘I actually don’t think the system was the problem, if you look at the stats, Man United had more possession than Man City at their ground.

Ruben Amorim had yet another afternoon to forget on Sunday (Picture: Getty Images)

‘That doesn’t tell you they got overrun in midfield, I don’t think they did, but the quality of player in there just isn’t quite up to standard.’

It is not a problem confined to the most recent transfer window, but Scholes feels that central midfield was an area the recruitment team should have been focussing on over the summer.

The Red Devils did eventually bring in a goalkeeper in Belgian youngster Senne Lammens, but the former midfielder thinks this should have been addressed earlier, while the club brought in a trio of forwards in Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko.

‘I don’t think the quality is there. I thought all summer, a central midfielder with legs, who can play, who can control a game of football will be an absolute priority and it never seemed to happen,’ he said.

Manuel Ugarte has come in for criticism in Manchester United’s midfield (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Maybe they panicked a bit towards the end and [Carlos] Baleba came up, but it was never something they really planned for. Goalkeeper as well was a major issue. Did we really need to get to that Grimsby game to realise [Andre] Onana was not good enough?

‘The recruitment side went to buy forwards. The forward side needed addressing, but did it need three of them? I’m not sure it did. I thought it was more important to get behind the forward line right and I don’t think they’ve addressed it at all.’

Having suggested Amorim’s tactics are not the problem, Scholes also feels that the manager cannot rigidly stick to a plan which continuously fails.

However, the 50-year-old paints quite a bleak picture as he does not think the current squad will succeed in any system.

‘He cannot carry on playing this way with the results they’ve had,’ said Scholes. ‘He just can’t do it. At some point there has to be a moment where he thinks he has to change something, because what ever he’s doing now is not working.

‘The proof is there, is it eight wins in 31 games, 16 losses? It’s amazing to think he’s not going to change it, but managers are stubborn.

‘Whether it’s a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2, whatever they go to, I’m not sure the quality is there in any area of the pitch which is good enough to get them to where they need to be.’

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