The former England and Manchester United footballer has been one of the most vocal critics of Louis van Gaal during the Dutchman’s tenure at Old Trafford. However, he recently dismissed claims that he had any ulterior motives for his criticism.
Paul Scholes has not held back in his criticism of former club Manchester United, even going to the extent of saying that he would go into depression if he were playing for the current team. He was at it again recently, slamming the Red Devils after their loss to arch rivals Liverpool in their Europa League round of 16 first-leg encounter.
Louis van Gaal has taken note of Scholes’s words and has been far from pleased, accusing him of creating a negative atmosphere with his harsh criticism of the side.
However, the BT Sport pundit was angered by allegations of a personal bias against Van Gaal. He recently stated that he has only criticised Manchester United’s performances, and does not have any agenda against the club manager.
“What a load of b******s,” said Scholes (via the Mirror), when asked about allegations that he held a personal bias against Van Gaal.
“What I’ve always done is nothing more than say what I think I’ve seen on a football pitch, whether that’s been good or bad… The thing with Van Gaal is that everything he has read and everything I say that gets printed, is only the negative stuff. There are times when I have tried to be positive.
“But when only my negative comments are picked on, it looks worse than it actually is.
“It’s not the regime I’ve had a go at, I’ve criticised the style of play.”
The Ferguson conspiracy theory
Some Manchester United fans have been reading a lot into the statements made by Scholes against Louis van Gaal. There have even been allegations that the pundit is just playing his part in some master plan orchestrated by Sir Alex Ferguson to undermine Van Gaal and to ensure that their mutual friend Ryan Giggs succeeds the Dutchman as manager at Old Trafford.
Sir Alex Ferguson is the most successful manager that Manchester United have ever had, and it is needless to say that he has significant clout behind the scenes at the club. As such, it appears highly unlikely that he would need to resort to such underhanded tactics to exert his influence. The theory that he would have one of his former players badmouth the club so as to install another of his former players as the new manager seems very far-fetched, to say the least.
