‘Manchester United players are bored’, says Scholes

MANCHESTER: Manchester United scraped into the FA Cup fourth round after a late penalty knocked out Sheffield United on Saturday, but the Old Trafford gloom remained and former midfielder Paul Scholes says even the players are bored.

Fans yawned through another laboured performance in the pouring rain as the 11-time winners failed to turn overwhelming dominance into goalmouth thrills against a third-tier side 48 rungs lower on English football’s ladder.

It belatedly raised a cheer from the home crowd, but more questions will now be raised about the future of manager Louis van Gaal who watched on impassively.

While Van Gaal said the most important thing was to be through to the next round, former England international Scholes was not buying it. “I’ve tried so hard to defend this team, but each week it gets harder,” he told BT Sport.

“Every time I come to Old Trafford, it’s negative football and I would be depressed if I was part of that performance. The players are bored, fans are bored, everyone’s bored. You look across at the bench and Van Gaal looks bored as well,” he added.