KEY POINTS

  • Manchester United suffered a 2-1 loss in the UCL Wednesday
  • Paul Scholes slammed their defense, terming it as Under-10 soccer
  • Man Utd are ahead of RB Leipzig in Group H on goal difference

Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes said the duo of Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood are suffering a similar flaw to former Red Devil Nani.

Speaking ahead of Manchester United’s Champions League clash with Istanbul Basaksehir, Scholes said the pair needs to deliver more and continue to work on their strengths.

"Players need to know their strengths, Marcus’ strength is running in behind. Greenwood’s strength is running in behind because he’s got the pace. Now if you’ve got time on the ball, you should be able to play that ball over the top to him. If you’re a central midfield player for Man Utd you should be capable of it," Scholes told BT Sport.

"I played with great center-forwards – Robin van Persie, Ruud van Nistlerooy, Andy Cole. All players who ran in behind and you didn’t need to tell them. I probably played with one player who you had to constantly tell, it was Nani. He had the strength to run in behind people, but you had to keep telling him," he added.

Relating Nani’s flaws to the current Man Utd stars, Scholes added, "It looks like Marcus is the same, it looks like Mason is the same. You’re the quick players in the team, you’ve got to stretch the team."

While Rashford started the Istanbul fixture Wednesday, Greenwood came in later in the second half, but both the forwards failed to score as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side ended up losing 2-1.

Even after the loss, Man Utd remain at the top of Group H with six points, same as RB Leipzig, who are in second place on goal difference.

Mason Greenwood (right) and Marcus Rashford (left) both scored in Manchester United's 4-1 win over Newcastle
Mason Greenwood (right) and Marcus Rashford (left) AFP / Paul ELLIS

Scholes, who is one of the soccer pundits for BT Sport, slammed Man Utd’s defense after their loss in their 2020-21 Champions League fixture Wednesday.

"It's like under-10s football. You can understand it if it's the last minute and you're going for a goal. It's embarrassing. What the back four were doing, I've no idea. Defensively they've got to take responsibility. You've got to defend one-v-ones at times at Manchester United and they seem incapable of doing it," Scholes was quoted by Goal, as saying.