Paul Scholes has told Bruno Fernandes his display in Manchester United's defeat to Hull City gave him no right to speak out. The post-mortem into the Reds' opening Premier League loss to the Tigers continues to rumble on.
Following the defeat at the MKM Stadium, Fernandes addressed the media and claimed his team-mates were repeating the same errors as last season. United have been active in the transfer window, particularly in bolstering their midfield, but Hull comfortably got the better of new recruits Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans, both of whom were hauled off in the second half.
Scholes criticises Fernandes
Despite the £85m pair's underwhelming displays, Scholes directed his ire towards Fernandes, taking particular issue with his post-match comments.
When pressed on the United captain's criticism, Scholes, speaking on the The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, sponsored by Midnite, said: "When you perform the way he did as well, I think it's probably best to keep your mouth shut, because he didn't have his best performance either."
Fernandes' post-match comments
Following the defeat to the relegation favourites, Fernandes told TNT Sports: "Same mistakes as we did last season, every away game we give too much of the ball to them. In the first 20 minutes, the goalkeeper was the one with the most touches.
"We needed to press more, be more aggressive, and then again we need to work on set-plays and not concede these type of goals. Against these types of teams, they are waiting for that moment.
"We knew before the game set-pieces would be a big part of their game. They played all pre-season with a back four but had a five against us for some height, for these moments. The most frustrating thing is that we lost the game."
Recruitment concerns
Fernandes joined Tielemans and Santos in United's midfield, which endured a torrid afternoon against the Tigers. Reflecting on the outcome, United does not believe any of the new arrivals have represented an improvement, stating: "You speak about recruitment wise and I saw the central midfield the other day and I thought 'that is no better than last'.
"I mean, when you're recruiting players and looking for a different team, you think, 'I've got to get better.' To me, on Saturday, that wasn't better than Kobbie Mainoo and Casemiro together."
United will shortly be hoping to present Carlos Baleba as a new signing. The Brighton and Hove Albion star appears set to become the third central midfielder to arrive at the club this campaign.
Baleba is anticipated to finalise a £70m move from United, which would bring the Reds' total expenditure on central midfielders to £135m. United welcome Ipswich Town to Old Trafford in their next Premier League encounter on Sunday August 30.
