Paul Scholes has suggested Luke Shaw and Bruno Fernandes undermined Michael Carrick and his staff with their comments made after Manchester United’s defeat to Hull City.
United fell to a dismal 2-0 defeat to the newly-promoted side in their opening game of the new campaign on Saturday, undone by two set pieces in the first-half.
After the game, Bruno Fernandes said United were guilty of making the same mistakes as last season, comments former United captain Wayne Rooney described as ‘strange’ over the weekend.
‘Same mistakes as we did last season, 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,’ Fernandes said on Saturday.
‘We needed to press more, be more aggressive, and then again we need to work on set-plays and not concede these type of goals. Against these types of teams, they are waiting for that moment.
‘We knew before the game that set-pieces would be a big part of their game. They played all pre-season with a back four, but went to a back five against us for some height in these moments. The most frustrating thing is that we lost the game.’
Shaw meanwhile suggested his side were not prepared for the challenge Hull posed despite a full pre-season campaign that included games against Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Leeds United and AC Milan.
‘I think we have to do, as a whole team, much better,’ Shaw said. ‘I think even leading up the game, we need to prepare better on what their strengths are and of course that’s set-plays.’
Discussing Fernandes’ comments on The Good, The Bad and The Football, Scholes suggested it would have been a better idea for Fernandes to ‘keep his mouth shut’ given his own performance.
On Shaw’s comments, Scholes insisted they will be perceived as a dig at Carrick and his staff over the methods used to get the squad into shape over the summer.
‘Luke Shaw always says something. And that’s a slight on your staff. That’s a slight on your manager. If one of your players is saying that, f*****g hell you’d have them in Monday morning.
‘What do you mean by that? Those comments, it’s not so much about respect, you speak about fear of managers sometimes… those things they have said they have said, they are a slight on the manager and his staff.
‘If we said something like about Sir Alex, that we weren’t prepared… f*****g hell, he’d probably single you out in front of the whole team.’
United return to action on Sunday at home to another promoted side in Ipswich Town.
