Paul Scholes says Jonny Evans’ performance highlights the decline at Manchester United (Premier League Productions)
Paul Scholes admits it ‘feels wrong’ to call Jonny Evans the best centre-back Manchester United have after their goalless draw with Aston Villa.
Erik ten Hag’s side played out a dull stalemate against Villa on Sunday which has left them 14th in the Premier League with eight points from seven games.
Evans, who was handed his first Premier League start of the season for the game against Villa, was named Player of the Match after a solid display at the heart of United’s defence.
But Scholes believes Evans’ performance only highlights the low level of his United teammates.
When asked if he feels it is important to have players at United who know the club’s history, Scholes told Premier League Productions: ‘Yeah, I think it is.
‘Jonny knows the way of Manchester United, I think you’ve got to give him every credit, he was good today.
Jonny Evans was named Player of the Match in Manchester United’s stalemate with Aston Villa (Reuters)
‘There’s just something that feels a little bit wrong about it to me, to have a player who has come back after so long, he just came to train with the team, to keep fit, another year later he’s Manchester United’s best centre-half.
‘That tells you that something isn’t quite right. Man United are 14th in the Premier League, that tells you something is not quite right.
‘But I do agree, I think they were a lot better organised today, they look more difficult to play against, more difficult to break through, which usually happens, it’s quite wide open.
‘But Mainoo and I thought Eriksen next to him as well gave him a really solid platform.
‘But I also think they were helped by Villa’s game [against Bayern Munich] on Wednesday. I think it was a little bit of a flat game from Aston Villa. I think United just tried to survive in the game, he [Evans] also said they were organised and compact and just hoping we could get a goal on the counter attack.
‘You’re Manchester United, you’d think you’d have a little bit more than that but that’s where we’re at with Man United at the minute, that’s why they’re 14th in the Premier League, because they’re not good enough to put the full package together, they can do one thing and be gung-ho and create chances, not always take the chances, or sit back like they have today and just try and survive in the game and hope something will happen on the counter attack or a free kick with Bruno hitting the bar.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Manchester United news, exclusives and analysis
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.