
Manchester United
Premier League • England
Paul Scholes hammers ‘mentally weak’ players with Man Utd now ‘turning into a cup team’

Paul Scholes talks tactics with Erik ten Hag
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes believes the current crop of players at Erik ten Hag’s disposal are mentally ‘weak’ after watching them collapse to defeat at Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
The 4-3 loss in Munich suggests a close game but, in truth, it never was as two late Casemiro goals made sure United avoided an embarrassing scoreline on the night.
The Red Devils actually started the game well but after Andre Onana’s big error allowed Leroy Sane to open the scoring, United unraveled and never really looked like make a comeback.
Their heads visibly dropped too, as they did in the weekend loss to Brighton at Old Trafford.
And Scholes feels there is a ‘soft underbelly’ to the team that is currently causing major issues for Ten Hag in terms of getting positive results.
He told TNT Sports: “I just felt on the night Man United weren’t quite good enough. There’s a weakness to them, there’s a soft underbelly to them, when it’s going wrong they do seem to collapse a little bit.
“The score, yes they scored three goals, you can’t deny that’s good coming to a stadium like this. But I always felt if United scored Bayern would just turn it on for the next five minutes and could’ve scored another one. I thought there was a big distance between the teams, in that second half especially.”
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Man Utd lack any consistency
Scholes also feels that a lack of consistency in results and performances means United have now turned into a cup team and cannot currently challenge for the Premier League title.
He added: “I think this is almost going to be an identical season to last year. They are a cup team. They could possibly win the FA Cup or the Carabao Cup, they are just not at this level yet.
“I think the summer has hindered them from getting where that next level is and we saw tonight that they are below this level.
“When you look at the game as a whole, I thought Manchester United did well but still conceded two goals early on and lacked that concentration.
“Those three goals flattered Manchester United, I thought they were outclassed in the second half really. There is experience in this team, but it’s not being used.”
United are back in action on Saturday when they head to Burnley in the Premier League.
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