Scholes: Write off United for two years
Solskjaer needs four or five windows, says ex-player Manager rejects talk of late transfer abroad for Pogba
Paul Scholes has offered another withering assessment of Manchester United’s future, claiming that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will require “four or five transfer windows” to turn them into title contenders following a 1-1 draw with 10-man Southampton.
It left United on five points, their worst total from the opening four games of a season since they earned just four at the start of the 1992-1993 campaign, in which they went on to win the first Premier League title.
The United manager was again forced to address speculation about Paul Pogba’s future after the midfielder left St Mary’s limping following another forgettable performance.
Speaking on Premier League TV, Scholes said: “I think you almost have to write this team off for the next two years. Until Ole Gunnar has cleared everything he wants out, there’s four or five transfer windows, United are going to be behind Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham.”
A consistent critic of the failings of every regime since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, Scholes is yet to be proved wrong in his generally gloomy predictions for his former club. United took the lead through Daniel James, before defender Jannik Vestergaard equalised. New signing Kevin Danso was sent off in the 73rd minute for a second yellow card but Southampton held out for the draw.
In a press conference in Spain, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane told reporters to expect one or two surprises before tomorrow’s transfer deadline in Europe, prompting suggestions that the club might bid for Pogba.
Given the state of Real’s finances and their failure to get close to landing Neymar from Paris St-Germain, that is highly unlikely and Solskjaer said there was no prospect of selling Pogba.
Asked about the Frenchman’s future, he replied: “Paul Pogba will be playing for us.” On Pogba’s performance, he said: “As a team, after about half an hour we started giving sloppy balls away. Paul was one of them, but he wasn’t any different to anyone else.
“But, of course, in the last 20 minutes, half an hour, he did create loads for us. Everyone expects everything from him every game. He has to defend, to attack, he has to win headers, he has to win tackles, he has to dribble past people, he has to make passes. That’s just Paul and he’ll thrive on that. He got a bad knock on his ankle.”
Solskjaer insisted his team would come good once they adapted to a new style of playing. “We have a clear plan,” he said. “You can say that it’s a longterm one, but we deserved to win the last three games as well. The one thing you cannot control is results and outcomes. We’re on the right track.”