Manchester United are failing to hit the back of the goal in the Premier League following their stalemate against Crystal Palace, and Paul Scholes has given his strikers a harsh assessment.
Paul Scholes has given a harsh evaluation of Manchester United’s attackers, claiming they are not good enough for the club.
United have only scored five goals in five Premier League games this season, failing to score in two of them. Last season, Erik ten Hag’s squad scored the joint fewest goals in the top half of the table, with 57, and finished with a humiliating negative goal differential.
Scholes, a United star who scored 152 goals for the club, blasted the team’s current attackers, claiming they are just not up to the quality necessary. “Manchester United are struggling going forward – they’re struggling for goals,” said Scholes.
“They’ve scored five goals, three of which came against Southampton; this presumably indicates that the attackers aren’t good enough. Marcus Rashford was left out on Saturday, which was surprising since he hadn’t scored in a long time and then came back and scored three goals in two games when he wasn’t playing. He [Erik ten Hag] said it was rotation; come on, do me a favour.
Alejandro Garnacho is a danger, but he is not the final product, and we don’t have one in any of the forward positions, with the exception of Rashford, who has struggled. Bruno Fernandes will score goals, but they lack the necessary center striker.
“Amad Diallo is similar to Garnacho in that he is a little behind him but has potential. They are all very raw and have a lot of promise in the front line. You remember Rasmus Hojlund from last year. Again, there is promise. I’m not looking at him thinking, ‘Wow, we’ve got a centre-forward here, 25-30 goals’. Joshua Zirkzee brings people into play far more than Hojlund, but is he a huge goal threat?
“They had a couple of opportunities against Liverpool that the keeper saved, and as a midfield player, we can be a little overly judgmental of midfield guys when you consider what’s ahead of them.
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“If I were in Liverpool’s midfield, I’d be thinking, ‘Wow, I’ve got proper forwards who will win us games of football.'” If I’m in the United midfield, I’m thinking, ‘I’m not sure, potentially Bruno, Marcus if he’s got his confidence, the rest of them, I’m just not sure about. United will improve whenever Manuel Ugarte joins the club. He’ll develop his legs, tackle, and move across the field.
Scholes, appearing on the current edition of The Overlap Fan Debate, also suggested that Matthijs De Ligt, who joined from Bayern Munich in the summer, is not an upgrade over Harry Maguire.
“Ten Hag couldn’t wait to get De Ligt instead of Maguire, he was just waiting for the opportunity,” Scholes told me. “I’m not convinced it’s much of an upgrade; De Ligt played against Southampton, and Maguire would have been great against them. He could be marginally better, but it’s hardly a significant change that makes you go, ‘Wow’. That’s how all of the signings go.”
