Paul Scholes praises ‘very good’ Man United player after West Ham defeat

Paul Scholes has praised one Manchester United player despite their Premier League defeat against West Ham on Saturday afternoon.

The Reds were uninspiring yet again as they lost 2-0 against David Moyes’ side in a game where they were toothless in attack.

Alejandro Garnacho should’ve opened the scoring in the first half but produced a terrible finish one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Chances came few and far between for striker Rasmus Hojlund, who is still yet to score in the league and was replaced by Marcus Rashford early in the second half. Hojlund received just one pass from his wingers, Garnacho and Antony, whilst on the pitch.

West Ham made United pay for their poor offensive performance shortly after the 70-minute mark as Jarrod Bowen scored the opener.

It was only six minutes later when the hosts capitalised on a rare mistake from 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo to double their lead and secure the win.

Speaking after the game on TNT Sports, former United midfielder Paul Scholes praised the young midfielder despite his mistake.

“Kobbie Mainoo, I know he made a mistake, but I thought throughout the game, he was very good,” said Scholes.

“He was very controlled, played above his years really. I thought the young centre-half did okay, didn’t really have too much to do.”

Mainoo started his fourth Premier League game of the season, and his fourth away fixture. He was composed in the midfield amongst a United team that don’t know the definition of the word.

Unfortunately, he was a little too calm when he let the ball slip under his foot for the second goal. However, Mohammed Kudus still had much to do in order to put the ball into the back of the net. An expertly-placed finish from the edge of the box was enough to do just that.

Mainoo would’ve been hoping that his United teammates could finish similarly at the other end, but that’s not how things are going at Old Trafford right now.