Man Utd 3-2 Atalanta: Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes didn’t see eye-to-eye after comeback win

GiveMeSport

·21 October 2021

Man Utd 3-2 Atalanta: Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes didn’t see eye-to-eye after comeback win

Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes had very different views of Manchester United’s 3-2 victory over Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Scholes was hugely concerned by United’s overall performance, especially during the first half.

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side went into the half-time break 2-0 down but completed an unlikely second-half comeback thanks to goals from Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Man Utd teammate.

And the two pundits didn’t see eye-to-eye while analysing the game on BT Sport.

Ferdinand, who was sat at home with a bad back, said: “No-one’s sitting here and could tell the public the problems are cured, everything’s fine and rosey now - it’s not. But you have to grab on to a result like that. You have to carry that emotion forward to lift the spirit in the changing room.

“I’m not for one minute getting carried away thinking the problems are over but you’ve got to enjoy that Scholsey man, you’ve come from 2-0 down at Old Trafford to win 3-2 - please enjoy it, please!”

Scholes then said: “Rio, Rio, Rio… I’ve told you. I can imagine it being enjoyable for the fan, for you obviously, and coming back to win 3-2 was brilliant.

“But remember who you’re playing against. You’re playing against Atalanta. They beat them in the end.”

Scholes then looked down while Peter Crouch said United had to take the positives from the game.

“You can only beat what’s in front of you,” Ferdinand said, before he was interrupted by his fellow Premier League legend.

Scholes added: “There’s a way of beating teams, though, Rio. There has to be a way of beating teams.”

Ferdinand replied: “I know that, but you have to remember that the confidence they had coming into this game has been so shot. This team have almost been on their knees - questioned, everyone pointing the finger - you know what it’s like, it’s difficult under those circumstances.

“So to comeback from 2-0 down, the character and personality shown there… you have to grab on to the positives to take you through to the weekend because it’s a huge game.”

(Image credits: BT Sport)

Asked if winning in such dramatic fashion makes any difference ahead of Sunday’s match against rivals Liverpool, Scholes replied: “No, it doesn’t make any difference. That first half made a difference, but it will be interesting to see now what [Solskjaer] does on Sunday.

“Will he get carried away with the emotion of that big performance against a lower ranked team and say: ‘right, we’ll go for it and do exactly the same’. It will be interesting to see what happens.”