Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has called on the current crop of players to take it upon themselves to liven things up on the field.
The Red Devils needed a 93rd-minute penalty from Wayne Rooney to edge past Sheffield United into the fourth round of the FA Cup this evening, with Scholes saying after the match that even the players and manager Louis van Gaal looked "bored" by the performance.
Van Gaal has borne the brunt of the criticism for United's style so far this season, but Scholes believes that the players need to do more themselves to inspire the supporters.
"As players sometimes you have to lift the crowd, whether it's a tackle, whether it's a shot on goal. You need to make something happen as a footballer at this club," he told BT Sport.
"To just to go through the motions like they did, people need digging out sometimes, it just seems to be accepted. I'd be depressed [after that game]. It would take me two or three days to get over that performance. You've just seen 90 minutes of boring, defensive....I've tried to defend this team now for the last two or three weeks, it's getting more and more difficult to do it because every time you come to Old Trafford this is what you see; negative football.
"I see square pegs in round holes with players in the team. There's so many question marks over the team. The only thing I can say is I'm glad I don't have to go to Sheffield a week on Tuesday."
United have not scored a first-half goal at Old Trafford since September - a run of 10 matches.
Barney Corkhill
