Manchester United 0 PSV 0: Paul Scholes blasts Anthony Martial after striker 'not bothered' by goal drought

Scholes has continued his constant criticism of United under Louis van Gaal following the Champions League draw with PSV Eindhoven

Anthony Martial has not scored in his last six matches for Manchester United (Getty Images)

Paul Scholes has criticised Manchester United for their poor performance in the 0-0 draw with PSV Eindhoven, and gave a scathing assessment of forward Anthony Martial by saying he does not produce enough goal.

Scholes watched on as United were held to a goalless draw at Old Trafford, which leaves them at risk of dropping out of the Champions League should they fail to win in Wolfsburg in two weeks’ time.

Van Gaal has openly admitted that he is “worried” of what lies in store for his side given that they have left themselves a tricky away tie against a side who beat CSKA Moscow 2-0 in Russia yesterday evening, and with just two points splitting PSV, United and the Bundesliga outfit, the Red Devils can ill-afford to slip up.

Scholes highlighted United’s toothless attack in the final third, and believes that no matter how hard or well they defend at the back – having conceded just one goal in their last seven matches – they need a spark up front to lift them.

Paul Scholes criticised Anthony Martial for his performance against PSV Eindhoven (BT Sport)

“There’s a real lack of quality in the final third,” said Scholes on BT Sport’s coverage of the Champions League. “You can defend as well as you want but if you don’t have the forward players who can create a bit of magic now and again then I think you’re going to struggle and you have to win your home games in Europe.

“You look at these teams across Europe, your Barcas and your Bayerns. It's your forwards that make the difference.”

But it was when presenter Gary Lineker pushed further on the subject of Martial that Scholes gave his most damning verdict. The former United midfielder believes that Martial is “not bothered” by scoring and not scoring goals, and if he does not pick up his attitude soon Scholes suggested that United should dip into the transfer market once again in January.

United shelled out £36m on Martial in a deal with Monaco that could eventually rise to £58m due to performance-based incentives, but the teenage Frenchman has returned five goals in his short time at Old Trafford and has not found the back of the net in any of his last six outings for the Premier League club.

“Martial, for me, has still got a lot to prove goalscoring wise,” Scholes added. “He isn’t a centre forward like you two [Lineker and Michael Owen] where he lives for goals. He’s a player who likes to come out the box, he likes to drift to the left wing.

“He doesn’t really look bothered if he misses a chance, not bothered if he scores a goal, whereas as a centre forward all you live for is scoring goals. All you want to do is score goals and he doesn’t look like that type of player to me. Maybe they need to go into the transfer market in January for one of them.”

United were linked with moves for both Thomas Muller and Gareth Bale in the summer, while their interest in Barcelona’s Neymar remains following mutterings of a move in the future from the player’s father. However, any big money move is likely to wait until the summer, and the options for United to bring in when the January transfer window opens appear somewhat limited.

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