Updated at 10.09
LOUIS VAN GAAL has suggested Paul Scholes should be more positive on his view of Manchester United, but says he will not ask Ryan Giggs to speak to him about his comments.
United went on an eight game winless streak earlier in the season and were heavily criticised by fans and media, with Scholes blasting Van Gaal and his squad for playing “boring” football.
The Old Trafford side’s form has picked up in recent weeks, but the coach continues to attract negative attention with speculation over his future continuing to grow.
Van Gaal says he would not put his assistant, Giggs, in an awkward position by asking him to speak to his former team-mate, insisting he is used to criticism, but feels Scholes’ comments create a “negative atmosphere” at the club.
“I don’t think that I have to give Ryan stress in his friendship with Scholes,” he told The Independent. “I have managed all of my career, so it would not be good or honest of me to ask Ryan to say something.
What Scholes is thinking, he has to think it. Every human being can give his opinion. I don’t bother about that, I think it is good.
“But my problem is when you create an atmosphere, a very negative atmosphere for somebody, so maybe he should be more positive.”
United, who take on Sunderland on Saturday, are currently fifth in the table — six points behind fourth-placed Manchester City and a further six behind league leaders Leicester City.
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Rte news headline: “Van Gaal wants Scholes to be ‘more positive’ “. I go into article and make an informed judgement of what Van Gaal said. Your headline immediately suggests an attack whereas I thought he was calm and civilised. Why do you need to be sensationalist and influence people before even reading article?
Thanks for changing ‘hits out’ to ‘unhappy’ even though ‘asks Scholes to be more positive’ would probably be best in fairness. But I’ll take unhappy as I’m sure he has been for a long time about Scholes’ comments
Where does he hit out at scholes? Another click bait headline
Asking Scholes to be more positive is like asking somebody to tell a white lie. Scholes is being honest in his opinion and Van Gaal doesn’t like it because it reflects badly on him.
Does he think all the bad press is coming from Scholes’s opinion and that none of us can see the deficiencies he has brought about?
You can only be positive for so long as many United fans will tell you