Paul Scholes has told Bruno Fernandes he should have kept his “mouth shut” after the Manchester United captain criticised his team following their opening-day defeat at Hull City.
Michael Carrick’s side suffered a miserable start to the Premier League campaign, losing 2-0 against the newly promoted relegation favourites at the MKM Stadium.
Both goals came from set pieces, exposing familiar weaknesses which Carrick must address before Sunday’s meeting with Ipswich.
Fernandes complained afterwards that United had repeated damaging habits from last season’s away performances.
“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.
“We needed to press more, be more aggressive, and then again we need to work on set plays and not concede these types of goals.
“Against these types of teams, they are waiting for that moment.”
Scholes was unimpressed by those remarks and questioned whether Fernandes was entitled to publicly criticise others after producing a disappointing individual display.
Paul Scholes has told Bruno Fernandes he should have kept his “mouth shut” after the Manchester United captain criticised his team following their opening-day defeat at Hull City
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The Bad & The Football podcast
“I’d be interested to know what he means by them. What mistakes were they giving away?” Scholes said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, sponsored by Midnite.
“Especially when you perform the way he did as well, I think it’s probably to keep your mouth shut. He didn’t have his best performance either.”
Scholes also criticised Shaw for questioning United’s preparation.
“It’s not us and we knew it was coming,” Shaw said.
Bruno Fernandes toiled during Man Utd’s defeat to Hull on Saturday
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PA
“I think as a whole, as a group, collectively, we could prepare better. Especially knowing how good they are at set plays and what their dangers are.”
“Luke Shaw always says something. And that’s a slight on your staff. That’s a slight on your manager,” Scholes said.
“If one of your players is saying that you’d be like f***ing hell, you’d have them in on Monday morning.”
Dion Dublin agreed that United’s senior players had provided unnecessary ammunition following a damaging performance.
“You want silence,” Dublin said.
“If your skipper has to speak then he has to speak, but then you make sure he says the things that don’t open a can of worms.”
Dublin believes Carrick must also distance himself from friendships developed with players during his previous spell as interim manager.
“Now he’s the manager he’s going to have to (stop) the ‘how are you doing pal’, ‘how are you doing mate’, ‘do you fancy going for a beer’. You can’t do that anymore,” Dublin added.
Harry Maguire was at fault for Hull’s first goal during Man Utd’s defeat on Saturday
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PA
Scholes also addressed Harry Maguire’s bizarre role in Hull’s opening goal.
Maguire appeared to mistakenly grab team-mate Noussair Mazraoui while Semi Ajayi escaped to head home from a corner.
“The only thing I can think is that he’s lost his bearings,” Scholes said. “He’s looking at the ball, he can feel somebody in front of him, and he’s just gone like that (hugging motion).
“It doesn’t look good, does it? I’d like to hear him explain it.”
United must now deliver an immediate response at Old Trafford when they face Ipswich on Sunday (4.30pm).
