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| Photo: GETTY IMAGES |
Paul Scholes has once again criticised Van Gaal's style of football
Former Manchester United midfielder says he would be depressed playing
under Louis van Gaal following their
unimpressive FA Cup win over Sheffield United and claimed the players looked "bored"
Scholes
has been critical of United's style of play under the Dutchman before and pulled no punches on Saturday after the 1-0
victory over Sheffield United.
United needed a stoppage-time Wayne
Rooney penalty to overcome the League One side after producing another drab
display that saw droves of home fans leave before the final whistle at Old
Trafford.
Scholes said: "The players
looked bored themselves. There's no spirit, there's nobody having a go at each
other, there's no smiling, there's no entertainment. I think even Van Gaal on
the bench looks bored, but he'll come out and say he's happy.
"It wasn't a great performance,
will he [Van Gaal] be happy with it? I think he probably will be. I think
that's the way he likes to play football."
Scholes added on BT Sport: "We
haven't seen anything different now for the last six months, that's the way
this team plays football and he'll be happy with the 1-0 win.
"We don't see anything else, and
he constantly comes out and says he's happy with his team, he's happy with the
way they've played. But they didn't create a chance, had to win a game against
a League One side with a penalty in the 94th minute. In my eyes it's not good
enough."
Former United midfielder Scholes
feels there are too many "square pegs in round holes" in United's
line-ups under Van Gaal, citing the likes of Marouane Fellaini, Juan Mata and Anthony
Martial as players who are not being utilised in their best positions.
But he also believes United's players
also need to do more to help the situation themselves.
He said: "As players sometimes
you have to lift the crowd, whether it's a tackle, whether it's a shot on goal.
You need to make something happen as a footballer at this club.
"To just to go through the
motions like they did, people need digging out sometimes, it just seems to be
accepted.
"I'd be depressed [after that
game]. It would take me two or three days to get over that performance.
"You've just seen 90 minutes of
boring, defensive....I've tried to defend this team now for the last two or
three weeks, it's getting more and more difficult to do it because every time
you come to Old Trafford this is what you see; negative football.
"I see square pegs in round
holes with players in the team. There's so many question marks over the team.
"The only thing I can say is I'm
glad I don't have to go to Sheffield a week on Tuesday."
Scholes did not go as far as to
suggest United need to get rid of Van Gaal, but believes a change in approach
needs to be taken with regards to tactics.
He said: "[It's] time for a
change in style of football, pass the ball to Wayne Rooney. I think he had 34
touches today in the whole game. This is Wayne Rooney, get the ball to your
best players.
"I truly believe he [Van Gaal]
will be happy with that performance, but I'm not and I don't think there's many
fans here [who will be]. How can you possibly be happy with that against a
League One team?"
The former England midfielder added:
"I'd never call for a manager to be sacked. He's got some really good
players there. His style of football is not suited to Manchester United's
football, but he's going to argue that they've got through, they are fifth in
the Premier League and only nine points off the top. And he has got a case for
that, but I think fans would rather see a bit more excitement rather than be in
those positions."
Owen Hargreaves, another former
United midfielder, added: "The performance wasn't what they expected but
they got the performance they needed.
"It was a really poor
performance from Manchester United, lacking in attacking intent and Sheffield
United were very unlucky not to get a replay.
"I think they'll all be
disappointed, they only positive was the result. Only two shots on target, I
think everyone will realise that's not good enough."
