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Paul Scholes says Manchester United have not been
good enough under Louis van Gaal so far, insisting
a club of their stature cannot just play well and
lose.
Writing in the Independent, the legendary former
United midfielder admitted he was surprised by how
'subdued' Van Gaal has been in the Old Trafford
dugout compared with the way he was at the World
Cup while managing Holland.
And Scholes also made reference to United's inferior
record at this stage of the season compared with the
last under David Moyes - United have 13 points from
10 games after their defeat at the hands of
Manchester City last weekend.
'The scoreline against City might have been more
respectable than last season but the performance in
the first hour of the game was very poor indeed,' said
Scholes.
'This is Manchester United. It is simply not good
enough to play well for 20 minutes and lose.
'Louis van Gaal talks about progress. I expected
United to have a better record by this stage of the
season. Under David Moyes last season United had
17 points from their first 10 games. This time, having
spent £150million in the summer, they have 13 points
from 10 games.'
Scholes also says he has become worried about the
apparent downbeat mood of the squad after their
underwhelming start to the campaign, especially in
the case of record signing Angel di Maria.
'My concern is that the mood among the United
players feels a bit low-key,' he continued. 'Preparing
for the broadcast of the game in Madrid this week, I
watched re-runs of last season and Angel di Maria
smiling broadly as he celebrated goal after goal with
Cristiano Ronaldo.
'He doesn’t seem to be in the same happy mood at
United. It feels downbeat among the team.'
Scholes added that the Dutch boss has appeared a
completely different character to the man who led
Holland to third place at the World Cup, and that it
can be tricky at times to decipher his thought process
during matches.
'It is difficult to figure out what Van Gaal is
thinking during games,' explained Scholes. 'His
demeanour doesn’t change throughout. He looks a
bit subdued. Certainly, he appears very different to
the man you saw on the touchline at the World
Cup.'
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