Scholes rollocking led to Man Utd star becoming key man: It's not that difficult

When Paul Scholes is talking about what it takes to play in midfield for Manchester United, it's worth listening.

It would appear that is exactly what current Red Devils talent Scott McTominay did, after he was on the receiving end of some scathing criticism from Scholes in the aftermath of Erik ten Hag's first game in charge of the club. Back in August 2022, United were on the end of a remarkable 4-0 defeat away at Brentford.

During his post-match analysis, Scholes made clear that the central midfield area was an area of concern for Ten Hag. Back then, the pairing in the middle of the park was made up of McTominay and Fred, now with Fenerbahce. The duo, commonly referred to as ‘McFred’ among fans, was a common sight under both of Ten Hag predecessors Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.

Speaking after the loss at the Gtech Community Stadium, Scholes explained: "McTominay was always trying to run with the ball, ridiculous. The quality in the middle of the pitch was really poor. I was happy he didn’t get sent off [for a high challenge] but I think he was slightly lucky. Again, he’s running with the ball, absolutely ridiculous.

"It could easily have been a red card. The quality in the middle of the pitch was nowhere near good enough but we’ve seen that for the last few years with these two players. With Fred and McTominay, he [Ten Hag] is going to have to go with just one of them but even one of them is probably too many.

"Fred gives the ball away all the time and McTominay is trying to run with the ball constantly and then gives it away. Pass it to your best players! It’s not that difficult. It’s criminal on a day like today."

It was a brutal piece of analysis, but one that it would appear McTominay has learnt from. Nearly a