Manchester United Legend Scholes Accuses $55M Star Of 'Almost Cheating' In 5-0 Loss To Liverpool

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has accused Mason Greenwood of “almost cheating” in the Red Devils’ 5-0 thrashing against Liverpool FC Sunday.

Mo Salah recorded a hattrick at Old Trafford, handing Manchester United their heaviest defeat to Liverpool at home. It was also the Red Devils’ first 5-0 loss at home since February 1955 (0-5 vs. Man City).

Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita opened the scoring of the match with his fifth-minute strike. The goal turned out to be the earliest Premier League goal Liverpool have ever scored at Old Trafford.

Scholes, who only played for Manchester United throughout his playing career, slammed Greenwood for his petty pass that led to Keita’s goal, before adding that the young forward’s insufficient efforts in the game "ruined the whole team."

"Tactically it was bad today, really bad. But on the other side of that, players have got to have some kind of common sense as well. You think about Mason [Greenwood] in that first instance going to close him down, that was almost cheating. He knew he wasn’t going to get the ball and he knew it looks like he was going to close him down but he knew he was just going to pass it and he can’t do anything. It’s almost a cheating way of sprinting to him. They pass it and then he has a little walk back because he thought, 'I’ve done my bit', "Scholes was quoted by Teamtalk, as saying, on Premier League productions.

Contracted with Manchester United until 2025, 20-year-old Greenwood has a market value of around $55 million, according to Transfermarkt. He featured in the starting XI in all the nine Premier League matches for Manchester United this season, scoring four goals. A poor show in the first half against Liverpool meant Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Greenwood with Paul Pogba after the break.

Unfortunately for the Norwegian boss, the move backfired as Pogba lasted on the field only for 15-odd minutes as he was slapped with a red card for a nasty foul on Keita.

"But he hasn’t done his bit, he’s ruined the whole team, all the team gets pulled out of position, [Aaron] Wan-Bissaka has to come out, [Victor] Lindelof ends up at right-back, then there’s all of the space in the middle. All of a sudden, from Mason not doing his job properly, the team attacking, Salah played Keita in, he could’ve played Alexander-Arnold in, he could’ve played Robertson in. It was ridiculous the way it happened, sometimes players have got to use their common sense," added Scholes in the same interview.

It has also been reported that all is not good between Greenwood and Cristiano Ronaldo and Solskjaer is being blamed for the issues between the two. Greenwood and Ronaldo rarely pass the ball to each other in attacking positions and the former Real Madrid star is seen clearly annoyed by his younger teammate's decision to shoot instead of passing in goal-scoring positions.

Meanwhile, Pogba has also been on the receiving end of major criticism following his red card incident against Liverpool. While Scholes insisted Manchester United "won’t miss anything" if Pogba doesn’t play again, former Premier League defender Michael Gray said the Frenchman brings "bad blood" to the side.