United endured a nightmare afternoon at Old Trafford on Sunday as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat against arch-rivals Liverpool in the Premier League.
Arne Slot’s side punished multiple mistakes from the Red Devils to secure a comfortable win, with Mohamed Salah firing in the third after Luis Diaz’s first-half brace.
The result immediately piles pressure back on Ten Hag who endured a difficult season last year prior to their shock FA Cup win against Manchester City.
Speaking at full-time, though, Scholes said that one thing should concern the Dutchman more than anything else, especially at this stage of the season.
‘The biggest thing I noticed from being pitchside and looking at the players is Liverpool looked fitter and more athletic,’ the former United midfielder told Premier League Productions.
‘[Kobbie] Mainoo took time to get going; Bruno Fernandes looked sluggish; [Joshua] Zirkzee needs game time as he hasn’t played.
‘That was the big thing that struck me. We’re only early in the season but they are things that worry me – are the team working hard enough behind the scenes to be as fit as they should be? They just didn’t look fit enough.’
Scholes also highlighted Ten Hag’s trend of centre-back substitutions so far this season as a point of concern, with neither Matthijs de Ligt nor Harry Maguire yet to complete a full 90 minutes this season.
‘If you have a centre-half who can’t get through a game, that’s a concern. That tells me you’re not fit enough straight from the off,’ he added.
‘Back fours should always stay on early. You may bring a full-back off here and there but two centre-halves should be there for the full game and it’s been the first three games that they’ve changed it [during the game]. How can a centre-back not be fit enough?
‘You have the excuse of the Euros and you can say it takes a bit of time to get going but Liverpool had players there as well. Other teams had players there – you don’t see them struggling.’
United will look to get back to winning ways after the international break when they travel to the south coast to take on Southampton.
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