Bruno Fernandes told to ‘keep your mouth shut’ by Man United legend Paul Scholes after criticising team despite poor display

Manchester United's opening-day defeat to Hull City has already sparked a furious reaction from club legend Paul Scholes, who has questioned Bruno Fernandes' decision to publicly criticise his own team's performance.United began the Premier League season with a 2-0 defeat at the MKM Stadium on Saturday, conceding twice from set pieces in a result that immediately raised questions about Michael Carrick's side. Fernandes was among the players to speak afterwards, but his assessment of the performance has now come under fire from Scholes.Scholes takes aim at Fernandes' post-match commentsFernandes did not hide his frustration after the defeat, pointing specifically to problems that he felt had carried over from last season's away performances.The United captain said his side had made the “same mistakes as we did last season”, particularly in the way they allowed Hull to have possession early in the match.“Every away game we give too much of the ball to them,” Fernandes said. “In the first 20 minutes, the goalkeeper was the one with the most touches.”He argued that United needed to press with greater intensity and be more aggressive, while also addressing their inability to defend set pieces.“We needed to press more, be more aggressive, and then again we need to work on set plays and not concede these types of goals,” Fernandes added. “Against these types of teams, they are waiting for that moment.”But Scholes was unimpressed by the captain's assessment, particularly given his own performance in the match.Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, Scholes questioned exactly what Fernandes meant by the mistakes he was referring to before delivering his blunt verdict.“Especially when you perform the way he did as well, I think it's probably best to keep your mouth shut,” Scholes said. “He didn't have his best performance either.”Fernandes' criticism was made more conspicuous by his own performance statistics. He gave the ball away 22 times during the 90 minutes against Hull, with Luke Shaw the only United player losing possession more often, at 23.Scholes says the comments could undermine CarrickScholes' criticism did not stop with Fernandes.The former United midfielder and fellow former player Dion Dublin also discussed comments made by Luke Shaw, who similarly suggested that United had not prepared properly for Hull's set-piece threat.Shaw said: “It’s not us and we knew it was coming. I think as a whole, as a group, collectively, we could prepare better. Especially knowing how good they are at set plays and what their dangers are.”For Scholes, that was not simply an admission of poor performance, it potentially reflected badly on the coaching staff and Carrick.“Luke Shaw always says something. And that's a slight on your staff. That's a slight on your manager,” Scholes said. “If one of your players is saying that you'd be like f*ing hell, you'd have them in on Monday morning.”Dublin agreed that players needed to be careful about what they said publicly after a performance like that.“You want silence. If your skipper has to speak then he has to speak, but then you make sure he says the things that don't open a can of worms,” Dublin said. “You just don't give anyone any ammunition because the ammunition is there from your performance.”Scholes then drew on his own experience under Sir Alex Ferguson, arguing that similar comments during his playing days would have had consequences.“Those comments are not so much about respect but you speak about fear of managers and the things they've said, they're a slight on the manager and staff,” he said. “As a player if we did that about Sir Alex, ‘we weren't prepared’, f*ing hell, you'd be right in and he'd probably single you out in front of the full team.”Fernandes' criticism came after a miserable United displayThe backdrop to the argument is a result that could hardly have been more damaging to United's opening-day optimism.Newly promoted Hull restricted United's attacking threat before punishing them at the other end, with Semi Ajayi opening the scoring from a corner before Nobel Mendy doubled the advantage from a free-kick before half-time.The 2-0 victory gave Hull three points in their first top-flight match since the 2016/17 season, while United were left to reflect on a performance in which they struggled both to create chances and deal with a threat Fernandes himself had identified beforehand.That disconnect appears to be what particularly irritated Scholes: the captain's comments highlighted problems that were plainly visible, but came after Fernandes himself had failed to deliver a strong individual performance.United now have to respondThe defeat leaves Carrick with plenty to address before United's next Premier League fixture.United return to action on Sunday when they host another promoted side, Ipswich Town, with the pressure already beginning to build around a team that entered the campaign with considerably greater expectations than the opening weekend suggested.For Fernandes, the immediate challenge is to turn his own frustration into a response on the pitch. For Carrick, it is to ensure that the criticism from his captain and Shaw does not become evidence of deeper problems inside the dressing room.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.