Jose Mourinho shows the fire is still burning inside him with responses to Paul Scholes and Noel Gallagher as Manchester United silence the critics
- Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has hit back at pundit Paul Scholes
- Mourinho has also taken aim at Noel Gallagher after his comments about him
- His response shows that there is still a fire burning inside the United boss
With an air of premeditation, Jose Mourinho felt emboldened enough to take aim at Paul Scholes and the 'kings of rock 'n roll' after Manchester United finally started singing again.
Scholes was vocal in his criticism of Paul Pogba before the victory at Everton, suggesting he 'just strolled through games' and the United captain hit back superbly.
Then his manager finished the job. 'The only thing Paul Scholes does is criticise,' Mourinho said. 'He doesn't comment, he criticises.
Jose Mourinho took aim at Paul Scholes and the 'kings of rock 'n roll' after his side won 2-0
Critics are clearly on the mind as Jesse Lingard motioned a zipping of his lips after scoring
'It's not Paul's fault that he makes much more money than Paul Scholes. It's just the way football is. I think Scholes will be in the history books as a phenomenal player, but not as a pundit.'
Critics are clearly on the minds around Carrington. Jesse Lingard motioned a zipping of his lips towards a television camera after scoring the stunning second goal before later tweeting: 'Don't even talk too much.'
It wouldn't be a great surprise if both were under instruction at the manager's behest. Mourinho has been hurt by those throwing stones in his direction - including Scholes' Class of '92 colleagues.
Another aiming digs has been Noel Gallagher, who took great delight in Wonderwall blaring out of the Old Trafford dressing room after last month's derby win. The Oasis star publicly labelled Mourinho 'the most hated man in football' days later.
Noel Gallagher took great delight in Wonderwall blaring out of the Old Trafford dressing room
'The performance was really good so maybe I'm lucky this time and the kings of the rock 'n roll that said I wasn't performing last month will say I'm performing,' Mourinho added.
United, who want to do business in attacking areas this month, could welcome back Romelu Lukaku against Derby County in the FA Cup on Friday night.
Lukaku wanted to play on Monday after leaving Old Trafford on a stretcher with a head injury at the weekend, with Mourinho revealing 'protocol' on potential concussions had to be followed.
The etiquette of not picking fights with club greats seemingly did not, however, and while Scholes will not be silenced after this outburst, it offers more than a little indication that fire still burns inside United's manager.
'The only thing Paul Scholes does is criticise,' Mourinho said of the former United player
Mourinho was not done with Scholes. 'If one day Paul decides to be a manager, I wish he can be 25 per cent as successful as myself,' he said.
'Twenty-five is around six (trophies). If he is 25 per cent he will be quite happy but in my mind Paul Scholes is one of the best players I have ever seen playing in midfield.
'He gave so much to my club that I only can thank him for that because the prestige of this club is based on people like him. Not every one of us has to be phenomenal like he was as a player.
Scholes was vocal in his criticism of Paul Pogba before the victory at Everton on Monday
'Paul (Pogba) tries to do his best all the time and sometimes he plays very well, sometimes he plays well, sometimes he doesn't play so well.
'I think they (ex-players turned pundits) would love to be here, in the club, and that's a problem that I cannot resolve.'
Sam Allardyce is trying to solve a lack of goals and claimed Everton should know if they've landed Cenk Tosun from Besiktas on Tuesday.
'We've done all we can. We'll know in the next 24 hours or so,' Allardyce said. 'That may help us to achieve results. Our attacking powers are limited, we know that.'
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