‘Man Utd a poisonous mess’ – Scholes wants big Old Trafford changes

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 12 Jan 2022 06:20 CST
• 3 min read

Manchester United are in an alarming position, according to Old Trafford legend Paul Scholes.

Lying seventh in the Premier League, Man Utd limped through to the FA Cup fourth round on Monday with a 1-0 win over Aston Villa, despite being outplayed for much of the game.

In the background, meanwhile, there is clear tension. Reports have suggested that up to 11 players want to leave the club at present – and the performance earlier this week would tend to backup such claims.

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Scholes, who turned out for the club 719 times in a career spanning 1994-2019, is concerned by what he has seen.

“The club just feels like it’s in a mess, player, staff and manager wise,” he told the Webby and O’Neill YouTube channel

“Who wants to come into this club? It feels like a right mess. It does feel poisonous.

“It has to come a point where you think: ‘Are these players good enough?'

“We know Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Pogba, Raphael Varane, Nemanja Matic have great experience and won trophies, but the rest of the squad haven’t proven themselves to be good enough to win anything.

“Some of these players have had a lot of games now. Marcus Rashford, he’s had a lot of games, are we ever going to see these lads reach their potential?

“Are they ever going to be good enough to win trophies? Harry Maguire, is he good enough? Victor Lindelof, is he good enough?

“We keep saying how good they are but they are failing to produce what is required on the pitch.”

’I can’t get my head around Rangnick’

Scholes wants to see Man Utd make an unlikely swoop for Tottenham manager Antonio Conte, fearing that interim boss Ralf Rangnick is not the answer to the club’s problems.

“We have gone to a man well regarded across Europe, especially by managers who speak highly of him like Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel, but he’s not had much success as a coach,” he said.

“He won promotion in Germany and a bit with Schalke, but he has been asked to come and manage the biggest club in the world - it's something I just cannot get my head round.

“They should have the best available out there as their manager. They haven’t got that and I find that astonishing.

“We should have one of the top five managers in the world. Now, Tuchel, Pep Guardiola and Klopp are the top three but they are unavailable, there is no chance of getting them. But then you look at Antonio Conte.”

Conte moved to Tottenham in November following the rapid departure of Nuno Espirito Santo and is under contract with the club until 2023, meaning the prospects of Man Utd capturing Scholes’ dream boss are slim.