Premier League

Man Utd legend Scholes says he is 'sick' of praising Liverpool

The former United midfielder laughed that he was beginning to get tired of giving plaudits to his rival team of so many years

 
4:56pm on Monday 7th December 2020
By
Martin Macdonald

Paul Scholes has jokingly said that he is getting "sick" of praising Liverpool due to how often he is forced into praising the champions due to their performances.

The Englishman was involved in plenty of duels against Liverpool over the years while he was a Man Utd player, with the teams involved in one of the most vicious rivalries in British football.

Now, as a pundit, he is forced to comment on the matches he attends, and with that is coming constant positive reviews for Liverpool performances.

“I’m sick of being so nice about Liverpool (laughs)," Scholes told Amazon Prime when acting as a pundit for Liverpool's comfortable win versus Wolves on Sunday.

"They couldn’t cope with the press of Liverpool. They’re not the first team to not be able to cope with it, the last 60-odd teams haven't been able to cope with it.

"Liverpool weren’t at their absolute brilliant best, but the goals, the three forward players, [Gini] Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson, there’s some really special players.”

Gini Wijnaldum was one of the star performers on the night, earning 7.7 FC Rating for his outing, which was topped of by a fantastic strike curled into the top corner.

He was linked, and continues to be linked with a move to Barcelona, with the transfer failing to materialise in the summer.

It could happen for free if he doesn't sign a new deal, but Scholes has questioned why he would want to leave Liverpool.

“Why would he want to leave this place?" Scholes said of Anfield.

“With the way this team are playing, he’s playing every week.

30 yrs - M, DM (C) - Liverpool
82 
Defending
Creative
Passing
Attacking
Shooting
Decisive
Aerials
Physical
JavaScript chart by amChartsLDefendingCreativePassingAttackingShootingDecisiveAerialsPhysical10-10-5051015100%
900
Played matches
11
1
0
Touches P90
60.70
Duels won P90
4.00
Successful passing %
91%
Final third passes P90
11.10

“I know there was a bit of talk about Barcelona, but it never came off. Why would you want to leave a football club like this? I think they’ll win the league again and it’s just an exciting team to play in.

“It’s definitely a better option here. I think he could be a Barcelona player, don’t get me wrong - I think he could fit into their ways, but they’re struggling, so why leave a place like this?

Barcelona’s a massive club and the Dutch connection is always gonna be big there, and with [Ronald] Koeman as manager - for how much longer, who knows? You can see that being a temptation for him, but why would you leave such an exciting team?”

Barca head coach Ronald Koeman had previously made Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay of Lyon his two priority transfer targets in the summer, but the club's financial situation meant neither move happened.

Wijnaldum has been ever-present for Liverpool so far in 2020/21, starting 10 of their opening 11 matches and featuring once off the bench.

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