Scholes rips into flop striker Higuain by saying Chelsea ‘played with ten men’ against Man Utd
PAUL SCHOLES has ripped into flop striker Gonzalo Higuain after yet another poor performance for Chelsea. The Manchester United great, 44, claimed the Blues effectively “played with ten men” against his former side yesterday because the on-loan Juventus forward was simply anonymous. Argentine Higuain played the full game at Old Trafford – which finished 1-1 […]
PAUL SCHOLES has ripped into flop striker Gonzalo Higuain after yet another poor performance for Chelsea.
The Manchester United great, 44, claimed the Blues effectively “played with ten men” against his former side yesterday because the on-loan Juventus forward was simply anonymous.
Argentine Higuain played the full game at Old Trafford – which finished 1-1 and leaves United’s top four hopes in tatters – but barely had a sniff.
He managed just three shots, one of which was on target, created one chance and had just four touches in United’s penalty area.
Furthermore, the 31-year-old striker did not even attempt a single dribble, won one of his six duels and was flagged offside five times on a nightmare afternoon.
And Scholes – who was working with TSN following his exit as Oldham manager – blasted: “I think the centre-forward [position] is a problem.
“Higuain was poor today, they almost played with ten men today.
“I thought Giroud, at least in the last 20 minutes, would have been given a chance.
“What they’ll do if Hazard goes I’m not too sure, that’s obviously going to be a big problem whatever team he’s out of is going to suffer.
“I enjoy watching them, I think they’ve got some good footballers, but have they got enough to challenge for the league? I think they are two or three players short on that.”
Fortunately for striker Higuain, left-back Marcos Alonso was quickest to react when David De Gea spilled Antonio Rudiger’s strike from distance to equalise at Old Trafford.
But Scholes is right to highlight the problem Chelsea have up front – with the three recognised strikers used this season set to be unavailable.
Latest Chelsea news
Higuain’s loan deal runs out at the end of the season, Olivier Giroud is out of contract and Alvaro Morata is on an 18-month loan at Atletico Madrid.
That leaves Maurizio Sarri scraping the barrel, especially if the two-window transfer ban does not get pushed back.
Tammy Abraham will return from his season at Aston Villa but his only real Premier League experience came at Swansea last season, while Michy Batshuayi has managed just two league goals during his spell with Crystal Palace.
