Man Utd legend Paul Scholes disagrees with Ruben Amorim that Joshua Zirkzee made the right decision to pass to Harry Maguire in the closing stages of their 2-2 draw against Liverpool.
Cody Gakpo quickly cancelled out Lisandro Martinez’s opener with a lovely run and finish on 59 minutes before Mohamed Salah put Liverpool 2-1 ahead with 20 minutes to go.
But Man Utd showed excellent character to equalise through Amad Diallo and could have won it with seconds remaining if Maguire had finished a chance inside the area.
Zirkzee had the opportunity to finish past the goalkeeper but chose to square the ball to centre-back Maguire, who fired the bobbling ball well over the cross bar.
When asked whether Zirkzee should have taken a shot rather than passing to his Man Utd team-mate, Amorim replied: “For me, I think it was the perfect decision because he can shoot but he put the ball more in the centre.
“The ball was really slow for Harry to score but sometimes you cannot do it. But Josh made a good decision in my opinion.”
But Man Utd legend Scholes disagreed, he told Premier League Productions: “It could have been [a huge moment] for him.
“We were talking before about Diego Forlan, he was in a very similar position. Forlan couldn’t score a goal for United and he scores there and he’s a big hero forever.
“It was that end, that side of the pitch and it’s the only thing he’s thought about, scoring the winning goal at Anfield.
“Zirkzee had a great chance to do it. He’ll probably look back and think, ‘Well, I probably made the wrong decision’, but he’s a player lacking in confidence.
“He has been dragged off after half an hour [against Newcastle], his chin is on the floor and he comes on at Anfield in a really difficult place.
“He gets in a really good position, great run, great ball into him and you think, ‘Come on, this is it for you!’, and he didn’t quite take it.
“But I’m hoping that there’s opportunities in the future where he will probably change his mind.”
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On their display at Anfield, Scholes added on Man Utd’s performance: “That was a proper performance today. To go to Anfield and go toe to toe with the best team…
“They beat Manchester City who have been the best team for four or five years but that performance was nothing like this. This was better.
“I know they didn’t win the game like they did at City but I take more out of that performance than actually winning against the champions.
“I think, now, that’s the blueprint, that’s the way they go forward, that’s the standard.
“By now, the manager should know his players. He has chopped and changed so much and this has to be [close to his strongest team].
“Who else can come into it? Luke Shaw, possibly if he’s fit. Leny Yoro at centre-half, Alejandro Garnacho, possibly, but I don’t think he quite gets into it.
“If that starting XI is fit then they have to play until players perform badly and they don’t get into the team.
“That’s the standard that they’ve set and they have to reach in games to come. I can’t see any reason why they can’t do it.”
