Scholes Interview

[Flanders Devil]

He’s both right and wrong on many points...

We absolutely need Harland (or Kane)
We absolutely need VDS here (exact role TBD)

But can’t we have Sancho too? And Martial?

... it might be fantasy but it’s also not that unreasonable as a long term plan for the squad.

 

[Highfather_24]

Would I take Haaland or Kane over Martial as our number 9, hell yeah. We couldn't finalise a deal for Sancho though, a player whose club give us a figure and he was ours, we couldn't close that deal. Can you imagine dealing with Spurs for a player not asking to leave, for a club not looking to sell, not a chance we would get that deal done. I've seen a few pundits last season mention Kane, come on, with our board. Maybe that's what needs fixing first and foremost before we have any grandiose ideas about cherry picking rivals top players.

I would love to have Haaland or Kane instead of Martial, but I would also love Sancho, Son or Mbappe over Rashford. But there is not talks of that right?

Replacing Martial or Rashford is the least of the worries in our team. We have far bigger holes, and talks of replacing Martial when he was the one who along with Bruno and Greenwood dragged us to top 4 in the end, is weird af to me.

 

[Bastian]

A genuinely terrible pundit. Virtually everything he just said there is stupid.

Bit harsh. I disagree on Sancho, he would obviously have improved us significantly and given us balance. And Martial is a good forward, but he's not really a bona fide #9. How many times was Ole making the point of wanting them to score ugly goals, to be in the box, to sniff chances. He's not that.

Hopefully having competition now for his place will spur him on and he might pick up a few things in training.

For me, we have two of the same, in that both Martial and Rashford work best as left-sided forwards. They could also both work in a front two. Neither is truly a goal machine or a physical beast that allows you that outlet up top (though Martial has improved that part of his game).

 

[JPRouve]

So you’re just going to dismiss his lifetime of football experience, just because his view doesn’t suit yours.
He was the captain of the team you’re referring to you know.

No, I'm saying that his experience as a player do not necessarily translate outside of the football field, you are free to agree with Scholes but it has to be based on the merit of what he says not on some seniority that he is supposed to have. And the fact that he can't even find out what role VDS has at Ajax should gives you an hint on how much attention he pays to Football.

 

[jeff_goldblum]

I like both Martial and Rashford, but they are both better in that wide forward role on the left than they are up-top and are both fish out of water on the right. Both are too good to bench but neither has the full skill-set you expect from a top-centre forward and that does limit our attacking variety.

In that sense I think Scholes is right, but ultimately he's overestimating the importance of getting a striker in and underestimating the benefits having a true right winger in the first XI would bring.

 

[Deery]

He’s both right and wrong on many points...

We absolutely need Harland (or Kane)
We absolutely need VDS here (exact role TBD)

But can’t we have Sancho too? And Martial?

... it might be fantasy but it’s also not that unreasonable as a long term plan for the squad.

I don’t think anyone would disagree with you there the more talent the better, but you’re talking about £100m’s of pounds on players. Either one or the other I think.

 

[Stacks]

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I thought it was a bit of a flip flop. All Tony has done is not start firing on all cylinders and that is a "con"

 

[Bilbo]

If Cavani is still 75% of the player he once was, then Martial has some pretty stiff competition for his place now so we will see what he is made of, and whether he is the right centre-forward for this team.

 

[OleBoiii]

I almost spit out my coffee

Damn it, I'll get you next time!

 

[clarkydaz]

Does he not realise the club failed to sign Haaland, he chose somewhere else

 

[Stadjer]

He’s right though.

Great in fits and starts, or a team that is on form. Not so much in the current predicament

Name one player who is good in our current predicament?

 

[Deery]

No, I'm saying that his experience as a player do not necessarily translate outside of the football field, you are free to agree with Scholes but it has to be based on the merit of what he says not on some seniority that he is supposed to have. And the fact that he can't even find out what role VDS has at Ajax should gives you an hint on how much attention he pays to Football.

I’m just a bit rubbed up the wrong way with so many people calling him clueless and an idiot, when he was one of my favourite players.
I think the points he made were quite reasonable about Sancho, Martial and Vds.
He obviously made a mistake about Vds but his intention was still good.

 

[JPRouve]

I’m just a bit rubbed up the wrong way with so many people calling him clueless and an idiot, when he was one of my favourite players.
I think the points he made were quite reasonable about Sancho, Martial and Vds.
He obviously made a mistake about Vds but his intention was still good.

I personally disagree completely because Martial has scored and created enough last season and I don't make definitive statements about players after less than the equivalent of 3 games because that's frankly stupid. Regarding Sancho we need a playmaker in the forward line and that's exactly what Sancho would bring, he creates chances for fun and would complement Greenwood, Martial or Rashford who are all goalscorers more than anything else. And he made a big mistake when it comes to VDS role.

 

[TsuWave]

Not very bright this guy.

 

[Mr PG]

United fans spilled their bile at Mourinho's attempt to exchange Martial with Ivan Perisic who's a much better player. Our 3 forwards are all too similar and lack physicality. The amount of balls Fernandes swings into the box and just sails over players heads is stunning. Cavani will change all that and show fans what a true no.9 is really like.

 

[Chief123]

Martial as an inside left inverted forward is quite similar?

We have players who have some of the attributes that Sancho has.

For example Martial has the dribbling ability (albeit inconsistent) of Sancho but doesn’t have the same level of productivity when finding a man after the wing play.

Mata has the same level of ability in being able to pick a man out in the final third even when under pressure.

But as a package, we don’t have anyone who is similar to Sancho in the way Scholes is suggesting. The reason why Sancho is so valuable is because he’s able to put it all together and have high levels of productivity. Scholes suggesting we don’t need a player like Sancho is way off the mark.

Regardless, we definitely don’t have a player like Sancho who is able to do just as good a job on the right wing as he is. Greenwood is our best solution right now but he is not the same kind of player. His goal return has been fantastic so far but we also can’t ignore the fact he’s struggled to get into the game recently especially since Villa away last season. Teams are beginning to nullify his main threat of cutting inside and shooting. Saying we have a solution to the Right wing because we have other players like Sancho doesn’t make sense. Especially when those other players don’t even play on the right wing. It’s like Scholes saying we don’t need a right back because we’ve got other players who are just as good at full back (even though that player plays at left back).

 

[Deery]

I personally disagree completely because Martial has scored and created enough last season and I don't make definitive statements about players after less than the equivalent of 3 games because that's frankly stupid. Regarding Sancho we need a playmaker in the forward line and that's exactly what Sancho would bring, he creates chances for fun and would complement Greenwood, Martial or Rashford who are all goalscorers more than anything else. And he made a big mistake when it comes to VDS role.

We might play pretty football with Sancho but we won’t win League’s, but with Haaland I believe we could win a couple of League’s regardless of having a top class right winger.
You can see that with England it’s Kane who will win you games not Sancho.

 

[Bloedrood]

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This isn't true. I don't get why so many people keep getting this wrong. Even Van der Sar himself when he was linked to United for this role last year has responded on Dutch TV that he doesn't fulfill that role at Ajax.

Van der Sar has never been director of football at Ajax, neither was he ever meant to be or did he study for it. Van der Sar was meant to become CEO of Ajax from the start, that was Cruijff's vision for him. That's what he studied for at Cruijff's University. To then temporarily become Marketing Director at Ajax while learning from a more experienced CEO, so Van der Sar could take over as CEO eventually. Overmars has always been the director of football or technical director, or however you want to call it. Overmars is the one in charge of transfers and the football aspect of the club.

Now would Van der Sar be an improvement with football matter decisions on Woodward? Of course he would. Anyone with some football intelligence would at this point. Although I'd rather see Woodward get replaced alltogether by Van der Sar.

I can't see Van der Sar leave Ajax right now though. Him and Overmars have basically committed their next years to Ajax. Edwin already explained that too when he was linked to United for this role a year ago. That's why he extended to 2023 then. He wants to really set Ajax up for the future. And I can't see him leave the club in the current uncertain times.

 

[The Kag]

You can't sit there with a straight face and publicly chastise Martial, but in the same breath fail to mention that Rashford has been running hot and cold (to put it kindly) since returning from injury. By his logic, I suppose Rashford conned us into believing he's a good left-winger as well! It's difficult to digest most English pundits/ex-players talking points because so much of what they say is steeped in pro-English bias (especially from the Co92). It's tiring and oh-so obvious. A little parity in regards to criticism would be welcome especially when pretty much the entire team has been dysfunctional.

 

[Devil may care]

Has Scholes watched our games this season? Him, Rooney and Neville all have this Harry Kane fantasy but our problems lie in the central defense and the complete lack of protection our double pivot provides, we get outfought and outworked way too often in midfield.

Ole is aiming for a versatile front 3, not unlike Liverpool who play without a traditional #9 and many feel Mason will be our striker long term anyway.

 

[JPRouve]

We might play pretty football with Sancho but we won’t win League’s, but with Haaland I believe we could win a couple of League’s regardless of having a top class right winger.
You can see that with England it’s Kane who will win you games not Sancho.

England has won nothing and doesn't play pretty Football. We also already have goalscorers but lack creators, it seems that people forgot that Rashford and Martial missed two months of football last season but still finished with +20 goals. Also isn't Sancho the main creator for Haaland?

 

[Deery]

You can't sit there with a straight face and publicly chastise Martial, but in the same breath fail to mention that Rashford has been running hot and cold (to put it kindly) since coming back from his injuries. By his logic, I suppose Rashford conned us into believing he's a good left-winger as well! It's difficult to digest most English pundits/ex-players talking points because so much of what they say is steeped in pro-English bias (especially from the Co92). It's tiring and oh-so obvious. A little parity in regards to criticism would be welcome.

How’s it oh-so obvious he’s saying he wants Haaland instead of Sancho for crying out loud.

 

[Andersonson]

I agree with him on Martial. He doesnt score enough goals to be a striker.

 

[Deery]

England has won nothing and doesn't play pretty Football. We also already have goalscorers but lack creators, it seems that people forgot that Rashford and Martial missed two months of football last season but still finished with +20 goals. Also isn't Sancho the main creator for Haaland?

If you can’t see that Kane’s the match winner for England then I can’t help you.

Sancho wasn’t the creator for Haaland at
Salzburg or Norway and it doesn’t stop him scoring.

We have Bruno and DeBeek now who can both create and have gotten a young Traore in to create as well.

Not saying Sancho wouldn’t be nice to have but if we want to win championships then Haaland is the man to aim for.

 

[K Stand Knut]

Name one player who is good in our current predicament?

Scott McTominay

 

[Lentwood]

I think the issue with Martial at CF is that he blows hot and cold, both during games and on a game-to-game basis.

If you look at the very best CFs (or most effective CFs) they are always influencing the game, even if they are playing comparatively poorly. For example, Kane, Lukaku, Vardy, Firminho etc...are always giving CBs something to think about...whether that's dropping into pockets of space between the lines, running in behind or giving them a physical battering.

Martial can disappear at times. This means the opposition grow in confidence, can hold a higher-line, have more time on the ball at the back, can maintain and steady and organised defensive shape etc. etc...

 

[Majima]

When someone can go from describing Martial as a ''proper no. 9'' one minute, then after ~200 mins of football, describe the same player as ''conned him, not a centre-forward'' the next, then how can you take anything they ever say seriously? He then says VdS has been doing the Dof job at Ajax, when he's the CEO, and Overmars is the actual Dof, so that just says it all.

 

[Rozay]

Scholes has shown himself time and time again to be clueless about almost everything except for passing a football 40 yards.

VDS is not a DoF at Ajax, which just further highlights that he, like many, have no clue about the role and who does what.

Secondly, the same mob were there when Lukaku was here saying Marcus Rashford should be playing centre forward instead, as he is more of a ‘United centre forward’.

 

[OleTheGreat]

If this is true then Scholes is delusional. Of course we need a striker and I for one agree that Martial isn't the man for the job of leading the line but I also think these are skills he can develop. He's actually been playing in the position for a little over a year now and we have seen many goals from him. He lacks in many departments such as holding up the ball with his back to goal, playing those intricate final passes after coming deep and carrying the attack, he cannot really head the ball which should be kind of a given if you are a striker leading the line. I would love to see Kane join United but Levy will never let that happen and also I don't see it happening unless we bring in Poch maybe. Ole has been great and the way the board hasn't backed him is a disgrace and I do not believe the Glazers or Woodward will help in terms of buying new players anytime soon. We also need a DoF immediately which will also not happen. I see a hard road ahead for us

 

[Deery]

I think the issue with Martial at CF is that he blows hot and cold, both during games and on a game-to-game basis.

If you look at the very best CFs (or most effective CFs) they are always influencing the game, even if they are playing comparatively poorly. For example, Kane, Lukaku, Vardy, Firminho etc...are always giving CBs something to think about...whether that's dropping into pockets of space between the lines, running in behind or giving them a physical battering.

Martial can disappear at times. This means the opposition grow in confidence, can hold a higher-line, have more time on the ball at the back, can maintain and steady and organised defensive shape etc. etc...

Couldn’t have said it better myself, if you watch Kane he is always making runs, picking up space, playing through balls, always showing for it, always on the move.

Sometimes you have to look twice to see if Martial is on the pitch..

 

[Bebestation]

Martial isnt a striker, he is a false 9 that should be playing deeper than the wide forwards, aiming to link the main goalscorers to be Rashford and Greenwood.

Why we have Rashford and Greenwood deeper playing balls in to Martial is just the wrong tactic when it should be Martial playing balls in to the Local lads.

Get a proper striker sure but I dont see any reason to complain about Martial as a useful player. I literally see his dribbling abilities on the ball all the time yet how often do we see him in deep positions able to take the central defenders one on one when he is dribbling with momentum? Not much because he is positioned in areas where he has to make runs in behind the defenders & he is not that type of player.

I've personally seen Scholes make wrong or questionable comments all the time when he is on sky sports talking about tactics.

 

[Ronaldo's ego]

Disagree about Sancho, a talent like that in a position we’re lacking would most definitely improve us. Agree about Martial though, not consistent enough to lead a team to league and CL titles.

 

[Deery]

If this is true then Scholes is delusional. Of course we need a striker and I for one agree that Martial isn't the man for the job of leading the line but I also think these are skills he can develop. He's actually been playing in the position for a little over a year now and we have seen many goals from him. He lacks in many departments such as holding up the ball with his back to goal, playing those intricate final passes after coming deep and carrying the attack, he cannot really head the ball which should be kind of a given if you are a striker leading the line. I would love to see Kane join United but Levy will never let that happen and also I don't see it happening unless we bring in Poch maybe. Ole has been great and the way the board hasn't backed him is a disgrace and I do not believe the Glazers or Woodward will help in terms of buying new players anytime soon. We also need a DoF immediately which will also not happen. I see a hard road ahead for us

How can you call him delusional and then in the same breath agree with two of the points he made?

 

[Falcow]

VDS isn't a DOF at Ajax.

He didnt say that he was to be fair.

 

[Falcow]

How can you call him delusional and then in the same breath agree with two of the points he made?

 

[JPRouve]

If you can’t see that Kane’s the match winner for England then I can’t help you.

Sancho wasn’t the creator for Haaland at
Salzburg or Norway and it doesn’t stop him scoring.

We have Bruno and DeBeek now who can both create and have gotten a young Traore in to create as well.

Not saying Sancho wouldn’t be nice to have but if we want to win championships then Haaland is the man to aim for.

Again England has won nothing, so I don't really know which point you are trying to make when you are the one who claimed that we wouldn't win with Sancho but that Kane was an example with England. And Martial was scoring for United last season so what exactly is the point that you are trying to make outside of strikers score goals?

You are confusing your passion for Haaland and Kane with the fact that they make you win trophies, Kane hasn't won a single trophy in his career with Spurs and has won nothing with England. Haaland is 20 so I won't judge his trophy cabinets and I do believe that he is a quality player but he wouldn't add what you seem to think is enough to win titles.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Who are these Sancho-like right wingers we already have?

 

[el3mel]

Scholes has shown himself time and time again to be clueless about almost everything except for passing a football 40 yards.

VDS is not a DoF at Ajax, which just further highlights that he, like many, have no clue about the role and who does what.

Secondly, the same mob were there when Lukaku was here saying Marcus Rashford should be playing centre forward instead, as he is more of a ‘United centre forward’.

Yeah was one of my favorite payers at United but whenever I actually listen to him talk about football these last few years I just scratch my head and think how he says such nonsense. He's really a terrible pundit, even if he gets it right one time or two.

 

[Deery]

Again England has won nothing, so I don't really know which point you are trying to make when you are the one who claimed that we wouldn't win with Sancho but that Kane was an example with England. And Martial was scoring for United last season so what exactly is the point that you are trying to make outside of strikers score goals?

You are confusing your passion for Haaland and Kane with the fact that they make you win trophies, Kane hasn't won a single trophy in his career with Spurs and has won nothing with England. Haaland is 20 so I won't judge his trophy cabinets and I do believe that he is a quality player but he wouldn't add what you seem to think is enough to win titles.

Won the golden boot at the World Cup for England.

And, you think Sancho would a player that’s not even missed if he’s not in the team for England or has flattered to deceive for Dortmund in the Champions League?

Kane does much more than just scoring goals..

 

[He'sRaldo]

This just shows that Martial should take more penalties.