Paul Scholes is back on the front pages after he gave his verdict on Luis Van Gaal's time in charge of United so far and his opinion weighs heavier than anyone else because, well, I don't know.
Scholes described last year's pre-season as a bit of a 'shambles' but doesn't think that they have much hope of winning the league this year either. The BT Sport pundit said:
I think the title is between City and Chelsea, they’ve both made decent signings. The next two places are between United, Liverpool and Arsenal.
United will be looking for a better season than last season, and that shouldn’t be too difficult. It was a big blip last year. Disappointing.
The former United midfielder likes the look of 'mad genius' Van Gaal but was critical that more players haven't been bought over the summer.
He’s not managed to do that yet. Are the players out there available? The areas they need, in midfield, is an area where I thought they might have bought a couple of players.
Kroos goes [from Bayern Munich to Real Madrid] for £20m and Fabregas to Chelsea. I thought they would have been in for those type of players, but it doesn’t look like they were. If they were, they chose to go elsewhere.
Scholes worries most about United's defence after losing the experience of Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra and captain Nemanja Vidic.
I still think the players they have are good enough, it’s whether they can get their confidence back. Jones, Evans and Smalling have all been there to win leagues, but now they really have to step up.
Losing the defence is a massive part. When Rio and Vidic were on song it made your job so much easier as a midfield player, because you know when it gets to your defence Rio is just going to take that ball off them.
He compared Van Gaal to Ferguson, complimenting how the new boss uses the same tactic of ruling by both fear and praise.
Hat-tip: Daily Mirror
