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Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes said Manchester United's defending was "like under-10s football" after their embarrassing defeat to Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League last night.
Manchester United committed many bodies forward for an early corner and kept nobody back to guard against a counter-attack. United lost the ball, which allowed Edin Visca to pump a long ball forward from his own penalty area to a completely unmarked Demba Ba who was able to run unchecked from inside his own half before beating Dean Henderson.
"That's completely down to organization", Scholes said. "At a corner, you surely always have someone back on the halfway line."
Whilst speaking on BT Sport, Scholes pointed to assistant manager Mike Phelan telling Nemanja Matic that he should have been covering the possible break.
"It's like under-10's football. You can understand it if it's the last minute and you're going for a goal," said Scholes.
"It's embarrassing. What the back four were doing, I've no idea. Defensively they've got to take responsibility. You've got to defend one-v-ones at times at Manchester United and they seem incapable of doing it."
Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves were left baffled with Manchester United's defensive performance
Paul Scholes' former Manchester United teammate Owen Hargreaves was left equally exasperated by his former club's performance and the blunders they made.
"I'm not sure I've ever seen a goal like it," Hargreaves said. "The problem is the players are waiting for a cross that doesn't really materialise and they never really get back. One ball up the pitch and Demba Ba's is on his own."
Basaksehir went on to win the match 2-1, and claimed their first ever victory in the UEFA Champions League. Manchester United endured their first loss of the 2020-21 Champions League campaign, that had started off positively with wins against PSG and RB Leipzig.
United's Champions League form had masked their poor start to the Premier League, where they are currently languishing in 15th place. Their most recent loss, however, has gone a long way to show the crisis the club are currently facing.
Manchester United's loss against Istanbul Basaksehir has now put manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's position in doubt. The Norwegian has been widely tipped to be sacked in the near future and be replaced by Argentine tactician Mauricio Pochettino, who is currently without a job.
