Paul Scholes singled out Rasmus Hojlund for criticism after Manchester United’s win over Southampton on Thursday, after which he advised the Red Devils players to “take a long hard look at yourselves”.

All except for Amad Diallo, who scored an incredible late hat-trick to give Ruben Amorim’s side an underserved victory over the Premier League’s bottom side.

Manuel Ugarte put the ball into his own net to give the Saints the lead at half-time, and he was taken off soon after the break along with Hojlund, after Kobbie Mainoo was substituted in the interval.

Joshua Zirkzee, who replaced Hojlund, made a big difference and has been praised for his ‘massive turnaround’ having been jeered off the pitch against Newcastle and made a scapegoat for their issues in recent weeks.

Hojlund managed just 18 touches (most of them terrible) before coming off and Scholes picked out the striker – who’s scored just 23 goals in 68 games since his £64m move from Atalanta – as being “so poor” for United.

“You can understand that (the home record weighing heavily on players), of course you can, but you always have to remember you are playing against the bottom of the table,” Scholes told TNT Sports’ live broadcast.

“This should be a chance for the players rubbing hands thinking right, Rasmus Hojlund: ‘This is where I am going to get my goals’. This is where we are going to come out and win three, four or five nil after two really good results.

“I wouldn’t say the performance at Arsenal was special, they survived with ten men. I thought they were better the week before at Liverpool.

“You expect them to come out and give it a real go and in ten minutes go and blast them, blast them away. But, give Southampton credit, they were brilliant at times and played some really good football.

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“I thought they were a lot better than Manchester United, I thought tactically they were better. I thought technically they were better which was the most surprising thing, just the way they pass the ball into people and the way they receive it.

“[Ruben] Amorim said that about his own team, United were really poor. The side of the defender to pass the ball, the weight of pass, the control when it came into Rasmus Hojlund was so poor at times, he kept giving it back to them.

“It’s solely because of Amad United have won this game, the rest of the players… [take a] long hard look at yourselves.”

Paul Scholes believes Manchester United can “do better” than Alejandro Garnacho amid reports the Argentina international could leave in January, but it would be “absolutely ridiculous” to let another star leave this month.

Garnacho played the full 90 minutes against Southampton but his display was entirely overshadowed by Amad Diallo, who scored an incredible late hat-trick to save the Red Devils’ blushes against the Premier League’s bottom side.

Manuel Ugarte had put the ball into his own net to give the Saints a deserved lead and after Diallo struck in the 82nd, 90th and 94th minute to win all three points for his side, Scholes said the young Ivory Coast international was the only player to come out of the game with any credit.

READ MORE: Amad Diallo rescues Man United from themselves again with absurd hat-trick rescue act against Southampton

Scholes said: “For 80 minutes that is as bad a performance as you’ll ever see especially against a team bottom of the league.

“I have to give Southampton credit, they are bottom of the league but they were so much better than Man United. The way they passed the ball, technically and tactically. That is probably why they are bottom of the league, because they can’t put teams away.

“Manchester United, Diallo was the one bright spark. I think the manager will still be disappointed with that performance.

“Against, as I said, a team who have really struggled to score and they concede goals all the time.

“I know Diallo has come and produced the win… he is the only one player who can take any credit out of this game tonight.”

READ MORE: Amorim hits out at ‘late’ Mainoo as Man Utd quartet shamed for ‘lacking enthusiasm’ in Saints win

United’s poor form this season – with that win only lifting them into 12th place – has highlighted the need for reinforcements, but PSR regulations mean the club has to sell before they buy to bring in new faces.

That’s why previously ‘untouchable’ players now have a price, with Napoli pushing to sign Garnacho and Chelsea keeping tabs on contract negotiations with Kobbie Mainoo.

Scholes insists he would be “offended” if United sold Mainoo, but gave the green light for Garnacho’s exit as he’s not convinced the “scruffy” forward is good enough for the club.

Asked about the prospect of selling Mainoo, Scholes told TNT Sports: “It would be absolutely ridiculous if the club had to sell him or Garnacho.

“All the hard work the club have had to do, he’s probably been since seven or eight years of age, and then to sell him for some PSR rules, it’s ridiculous.

“He’s United’s brightest spark, he’s the leading man who could be here for the next five to ten years.”

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Asked if United may need to sell in order to finance a rebuild under Amorim, Scholes replied: “I can see that with Garnacho, yeah.

“I think United could get better than Garnacho, although he’s a young player and there’s still probably better to come, I still think he’s a little bit scruffy in his technique at times, I think his decision-making sometimes is really poor.

“I wouldn’t be afraid or I wouldn’t be worried if they sold Garnacho. But Mainoo, I would be offended by that.

“The lad [Garnacho] is absolutely capable, there’s no doubt about that, but finding him a position in this team has been a struggle.”

Former Man Utd midfielder Owen Hargreaves thinks the Red Devils could be making a big mistake by allowing Marcus Rashford to leave in January.

The Red Devils are reportedly close to the edge of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules and will need to sell to spend in the January transfer window.

Reports have claimed that Alejandro Garnacho has been the subject of a bid from Napoli, while another academy product Kobbie Mainoo has been interesting Premier League rivals Chelsea.

One player who is extremely likely to leave before the winter window shuts is Rashford with the Man Utd forward revealing in an interview with Henry Winter that he is ready for a “new challenge” away from Old Trafford.

But Hargreaves has urged Man Utd – who beat Southampton 3-1 on Thursday night – to keep Rashford – who has been linked with a number of loan moves this month – and has described their decision to allow him to leave as “madness”.

Hargreaves told Premier League Productions: “I don’t know if anybody wants to play counter-attacking style, especially not Manchester United, you’re meant to play on the front foot, you’re meant to dominate the ball.

“That’s why Erik ten Hag got the job because he played this Ajax way, they dominated the ball, that’s why they got rid of David de Gea to get [Andre] Onana, to get a ball-playing goalkeeper.

“But that didn’t materialise, United were best on the counter attack. Ten Hag’s best performance were on the counter-attack, like under Ole Gunnar [Solskjaer].

“If you look at United under Amorim against Liverpool, Arsenal, City, where are they good – counter-attack. I think when you play with two central midfield players, they ended up with [Toby] Collyer and Bruno Fernandes, you’re not going to dominate the ball, and that’s against a team who are 20th in the Premier League.

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“I do think it is a work in progress on many levels, goalkeeper is set, defensively they’re not bad but they need work in the middle of the pitch and they need to sort the striker position out.

“But obviously losing Marcus Rashford could be a huge blow, talk about Garnacho potentially leaving, that’s a worry.”

When asked what he would do if he was the Man Utd manager, Hargreaves added: “Nobody’s leaving… Rashford’s not leaving, Mainoo’s not leaving, Garnacho… nobody is leaving.

“They’re your best players, we’re going to help integrate these and build around them, you’re not going to get better than them.

“To let these guys go on loan and pay half their wages is madness. Impossible, I wouldn’t let it happen.

“I know maybe Marcus wants to go play somewhere, knuckle down and sort it out. Look at where Harry Maguire was a couple of years ago and now he’s got a new contract.

“Football changes real quick and you want to keep your most talented players here. I think Garnacho, Mainoo and Marcus certainly are a part of that group and I think they could have a bright future if they just sort it out.”

Kobbie Mainoo was among four Manchester United stars picked out by Ruben Amorim for a “lack of enthusiasm” after their comeback win over Southampton on Thursday.

Amad Diallo scored an incredible late hat-trick to save United’s blushes after the Red Devils had been outplayed by the side rooted to the bottom of the Premier League on their own path for the vast majority of the game.

Manuel Ugarte scored an own goal to give the Saints a first-half lead which could an perhaps should have been by more before Diallo scored three in a little over ten minutes at the end of the game to paper over significant cracks at Old Trafford.

READ MORE: Amad Diallo rescues Man United from themselves again with absurd hat-trick rescue act against Southampton

Speaking on TNT Sports after the final whistle, Amorim named four players he felt “lacked enthusiasm”, including Mainoo, who was hooked at half-time.

“It’s not just tiredness but playing in this stadium, we lost the last three games here,” said the United boss. “The pressure is different because we try to press the opponent in the build-up and you can feel the difficulties.

“Matheus [Fernandes] between the lines and [Tyler] Dibling between the lines caused us a lot of problems. We have difficulties to press high at the moment. This team is not used to doing that.

“It seems a lack of enthusiasm. Ugarte is late. [Kobbie] Mainoo is late. Bruno [Fernandes] going outside when the ball is inside. In one transition, Leny [Yoro] cannot press the guy.

“These small things push the team behind and we get nervous without the ball. When you have one opportunity you feel the team can control the game better. I want to be fair to my players. It was a lack of speed and a lack of control in the game.”

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Amorim did though give credit to Southampton, who were the better side for most of the game.

“A very difficult game, a game of two halves,” he said. “They did a very good job, Southampton, creating space between the lines. [Kamaldeen Sulemana] with a lot of space, we had a lot of difficulty to stop that player.

“When they lose their physicality, we find the space to use. The feeling is we have so much to do. The team is really tired. It was a win, it was good. Let’s continue.”

When asked for his thoughts on Amad’s display, the 39-year-old added: “Even in the first half, every time Amad gets the ball he can push the ball. He pushes the other team into the final third.

“That is really important. We didn’t have a good game, but at this moment, winning is the most important thing.”

The result pushed United above Tottenham and West Ham into 12th place in the Premier League having won just seven of their 21 matches, but they’re still closer to the relegation zone than the top four.