Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has criticised Bruno Fernandes‘ post-match comments after United’s opening-day loss to Hull at the weekend.
United fell to a 2-0 defeat at the MKM Stadium on Saturday, conceding both goals from set pieces in the first half of the opening Premier League weekend. Newly promoted Hull have been widely tipped as favourites for relegation.
After the match, the United captain complained to the media that his side had made the ‘same mistakes as we did last season (in away matches)’. The Portugal midfielder added: ‘Every away game we give too much of the ball to them. In the first 20 minutes, the goalkeeper was the one with the most touches.
‘We needed to press more, be more aggressive, and then again we need to work on set plays and not concede these types of goals. Against these types of teams, they are waiting for that moment.’
Scholes, however, has taken issue with Fernandes’ comments on his podcast The Good, The Bad & The Football, sponsored by Midnite.
‘I’d be interested to know what he means by them. What mistakes were they giving away?’ the 51-year-old former player said.
Scholes criticised Fernandes’ complaints about his side’s performance, saying: ‘Especially when you perform the way he did as well, I think it’s probably to keep your mouth shut’
The United captain had said after the defeat to Hull that his side had made the ‘same mistakes as we did last season (in away matches)’
‘Especially when you perform the way he did as well, I think it’s probably to keep your mouth shut. He didn’t have his best performance either.’
Scholes and former United forward Dion Dublin went further, suggesting that Fernandes, alongside team-mate Luke Shaw, who also claimed after the match that United went into the fixture underprepared, had undermined manager Michael Carrick.
Shaw said after the match: ‘It’s not us and we knew it was coming. I think as a whole, as a group, collectively, we could prepare better. Especially knowing how good they are at set plays and what their dangers are.’
Reacting to the left-back’s comments, Scholes said: ‘That’s a slight on your staff. That’s a slight on your manager. If one of your players is saying that you’d be like f***ing hell, you’d have them in on Monday morning.’
Dublin said: ‘You want silence. If your skipper has to speak then he has to speak, but then you make sure he says the things that don’t open a can of worms. You just don’t give anyone any ammunition because the ammunition is there from your performance.’
Scholes added: ‘Those comments are not so much about respect but you speak about fear of managers and the things they’ve said, they’re a slight on the manager and staff. As a player if we did that about Sir Alex, “we weren’t prepared”, f***ing hell, you’d be right in and he’d probably single you out in front of the full team.’
Dublin had preceded these comments by claiming that the ‘hardest thing’ for Carrick now is that he has to ‘sever’ his close relationships with the players in order to stamp his authority.
‘The friend or colleague issue that he had as an interim, the hardest thing now is that he is permanent. He is going to have to sever those connections now, which I think will be hard for someone like Michael because he’s a nice bloke.
Harry Maguire held onto Noussair Mazraoui as Hull City scored their first goal on Saturday
‘But now he’s the manager he’s going to have to (stop) the “how are you doing pal”, “how are you doing mate”, “do you fancy going for a beer”. You can’t do that anymore. (Now, it’s) I’m the manager, you’re that. Do as you’re told.’
Meanwhile, Scholes also reacted to Harry Maguire accidentally marking team-mate Noussair Mazraoui in the build-up to Hull’s opening goal from a corner.
The centre-back had his arms around Mazraoui before the man he was supposed to be marking, Semi Ajayi, headed the ball into the net.
Scholes added: ‘The only thing I can think is that he’s lost his bearings. He’s looking at the ball, he can feel somebody in front of him, and he’s just gone like that (hugging motion).
‘It doesn’t look good, does it? I’d like to hear him explain it.’
