- Man United manager rejects claims from club legend Paul Scholes
- Scholes suggested United 'lacked enthusiasm' in comeback
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Ruben Amorim has rejected Paul Scholes' claim that his Manchester United stars showed a lack of “enthusiasm” in their 3-1 comeback win over Southampton on Thursday night.
United moved up to 12th in the Premier League table as they claimed their first home win since early December but narrowly avoided a disastrous upset against the Saints.
The bottom-of-the-table visitors took a surprising lead thanks to a Manuel Ugarte own goal in the first half and held on until the 82nd minute, when Amad Diallo scored his first in a 12-minute hat-trick.
Amad's heroics rescued what would have been a hugely embarrassing result and the performance was subsequently criticized by United legend Scholes, who addressed Amorim in a post-match interview.
Scholes has been a harsh but largely fair critic during his retirement and criticized the United head coach for his previous claims that he wanted his team to show the right mentality against Southampton.
Amorim had praised his team's psychological approach in recent impressive performances against Liverpool and Arsenal, but warned his stars that he would learn more about them playing against Southampton than in any other match.
Rubén Amorim rejected Paul Scholes' claim that his Manchester United stars showed a lack of “enthusiasm” against Southampton
Untied put in a tired, runaway performance for most of their win over Southampton before turning the game around in the final 15 minutes.
United legend Scholes suggested to Amorim that United stars showed a lack of “enthusiasm” in the game
Scholes was telling the United manager that he did not see the levels of “enthusiasm” that Amorim had asked for when analyzing his former club's latest victory and Amorim received him with respect.
“I think you would have been looking for a little bit more of that mentality, that strength, almost enthusiasm for the game tonight, that wasn't there again for 70/75 minutes,” Scholes said on TNT Sports.
Amorim quickly responded by defending his stars, explaining: “It's not just being tired, but playing in this stadium we lost the last three games here and the pressure is different.
'We try to put pressure on the rival in the preparation and you can feel the difficulties. They create a lot of problems for us between the lines. We have difficulties pressing high at the moment, this team is not used to doing so.
“It seems like a lack of enthusiasm, Ugarte arrives late, Kobbie Mainoo arrives late, Bruno Fernandes goes outside and the ball is in, then a transition and Leny Yoro can't catch the guy,” he added.
“These little things make the team fall behind and then we get nervous without the ball. Then, when you have a click, a goal, an opportunity, you feel that the team can control the game better.
“I want to be fair to my players, today it was not a lack of enthusiasm, it was a lack of speed and sometimes control of the game,” Amorim said.
A steel-faced Amorim respectfully ended the exchange with Scholes as he looks to continue United's rise up the Premier League table when they host Brighton on Sunday.
The Red Devils needed a hat-trick from Amad Diallo to save themselves against the worst team in the league
Despite a difficult start, United found the spirit necessary to come back and secure the victory.
Meanwhile, Scholes continued to criticize the club's underperforming stars and believes beating Southampton was a lucky escape, something that continued in Amorim's absence: “Over 80 minutes, that's as bad a performance as you'll see, especially against a team that was last in the league,” Scholes told TNT Sports.
“For 80 minutes they (Southampton) were much better than Manchester United, passing the ball, technically and tactically. Amad Diallo was the only bright spark.
“I still think the coach will be disappointed with this performance, against a team that struggles to score goals and concede. Amad is the only one who can take credit for this game tonight.
“I thought they were much better tactically and technically than Manchester United. Man United were really poor.
