Paul Scholes admits U-turn on Manchester United star following harsh “don’t see” comments

Paul Scholes admitted a U-turn surrounding one of Manchester United’s stars ahead of the club’s Europa League tie against Fenerbahce.

Manchester United were held to their third Europa League draw of the season after a 1-1 stalemate against Fenerbahce.

Christian Eriksen opened the scoring in the first half with a stunning strike from the edge of the box, marking his fourth goal of the campaign and giving Erik ten Hag‘s side a slender lead heading into the break.

Read More: Manchester United star praised for “special” moment vs Fenerbahce that blew ex-pro away

But Fenerbahce responded swiftly after the restart, as Youssef En-Nesyri outmuscled Victor Lindelöf to head home from close range, following a brilliant cross by Allan Saint-Maximin.

Despite both managers making several substitutions, neither team could find a decisive goal, and the match ended with the points shared in a tense encounter in Istanbul.

Scholes’ praise for Højlund

Ahead of the tie, former United midfielder Paul Scholes analysed the team selection alongside ex-teammate Owen Hargreaves and was asked about Ten Hag’s decision to drop Rasmus Højlund, who has scored in two of his last three appearances, for Joshua Zirkzee.

Despite Ten Hag confirming he had rested Højlund due to his recent injury and is wary of over-playing his striker, Scholes was not a fan of the decision.

“Zirkzee comes in for Højlund, and I am with Owen [Hargreaves]; I was really impressed with Hojlund, especially the last couple of weeks,” Scholes said.

“I think he is becoming a real threat, a real centre-forward showing real quality in that game on Saturday, a brilliant goal, so to be leaving him out of this game is disappointing, and it is hard to see where the goals are going to come from.”

A complete U-turn

This is a complete U-turn from his comments earlier this month, where he blasted Højlund and broadcast that he doesn’t feel the Danish international will score 20 goals this season.

“In forward areas especially, I just don’t think the quality is there,” he explained to SuperSport. “We go back to the most successful teams. They’re capable of scoring goals. What have we scored?

“Five goals in seven games. Now we had three or four forwards who could get you 20 goals, so you’re looking at 80 goals a season there, and I just don’t see that in the forward line at Manchester United.

“Look, Højlund does alright but is he gonna score you 20 goals? I don’t think so.”

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