Former Manchester United striker Louis Saha believes that Manchester United need a character like Paul Scholes back in their side.
While Scholes cut a quiet figure on and off the pitch for most of his career, he remained influential well into late thirties before he retired for the final and second time.
Speaking to Betfred, Saha suggested that there were players who would let their head drop in the current United line-up, and players like Scholes were essential to keeping standards high in his time at the club.
He said: “You need a very strong balance of players in your squad. There may be calls for leaders in the team, but the main issue for me is the personalities of the players. Back in the day, you could be quiet and shy like Paul Scholes was, but Paul still had a lot of personality during games and his confidence level never dropped.
“He always played at a certain level and when you have ten to 15 players like this in your squad, you never drop to a level of performance where oppositions can dominate you. There were players in that squad where their technical ability and confidence came second to how courageous they were.
“The current Manchester United players don’t show us those expressions that make you believe that they’re going to come out and put in a performance. All those players have quality, there’s no doubt about that but on Saturday, Newcastle United’s players showed more personality.
“Don’t tell me that all of Newcastle’s players are leaders. A few of them are, but all of them have personality.”