Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has responded to backlash after he relayed claims from Jesse Lingard that the Red Devils’ dressing room is a "disaster"
The 47-year-old made the comments after United had fallen to a 3-1 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium - a reverse that appears to have put paid to their hopes of finishing in the Champions League places. Speaking after the defeat in north London, Scholes said on DAZN: “It’s an absolute mess. It’s a disaster of a dressing room. I had a quick chat with Jesse [Lingard] the other day. I’m sure he won’t mind me saying. He said, ‘the dressing room is just a disaster’.”
Scholes has since received considerable criticism for the comments, some claiming that he should not have shared such information from a confidential conversation. He has since revealed he has spoken with Lingard - the source of the apparent information - but declined to offer details of their latest chat.
"I’ve had a little bit of stick for that. I don’t know why I did it! Honestly, sometimes words just come out your mouth. I have spoken to him since and probably best I don’t tell you what he said," Scholes told talkSPORT.
Lingard could potentially be one of the players on the way out of Old Trafford this summer with his contract set to expire. United interim boss Rangnick refuted the England forward’s stark claims following the defeat to Arsenal.
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"I don't know, you have to ask Jesse Lingard if you have this information," the German said. "Obviously after games like today, or after Liverpool or Everton, there is massive disappointment in the locker room, for sure, this is normal. It would rather be a problem if this was different. This is for me normal.
"But I think the whole group get on reasonable with each other, I'm not daring to say they get on well with each other. But I don't see there is an issue in regard to the locker room."
United need a reaction sooner rather than later if they harbour any aspirations of returning to Europe’s top table next term. The Red Devils currently sit sixth in the table and six points behind front-runners for the Champions League Arsenal.
They face another key clash in midweek as they take on Chelsea at Old Trafford on Wednesday having won just two out of their last ten games in all competitions. United will be aiming to avoid three consecutive Premier League defeats for the first time since December 2015.
United’s hopes of claiming a top four place could be all-but by early next week. Should they fall to defeat to Chelsea and follow that up with another loss to Brentford on Monday, with Arsenal set to take on West Ham, the gap would be too big for them to bridge between now and the end of the campaign.
