Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand slam Man Utd's tactics in first-half Atalanta flop as pressure builds on boss Solskjaer

PAUL SCHOLES and Rio Ferdinand ripped into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's tactics after an horrific first-half against Atalanta – only for Manchester United to fight back to win.

The Red Devils went into the break 2-0 down thanks to goals from Mario Pasalic and Merih Demiral and were booed off the pitch by the Old Trafford faithful.

And, speaking at the break, Scholes and Ferdinand tore into Solskjaer for his ambitious '4-2-4' formation with the pressure mounting on the Norwegian.

Asked how bad United were in the first half, Scholes told BT Sport: "I think it's the formation that's been bad.

"Ole said 4-2-4. I don't care who those two players are in the midfield, when you're playing against a good European team you're going to get destroyed.

"Neither wide player is running back, Bruno Fernandes is making the odd effort to get in and help but they will get destroyed.

"If Man Utd were playing a really good team here, they could be looking at four or five.

"But you know what, in the second-half, United could still win this game. 

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"The formation makes it a 50/50 game. It's a gamble.

"United could either come back and win three or 4-2 or they could get beaten four or five."

Ferdinand agreed, adding: "I'm like every other fan around the world watching this game… frustrated. 

"Disappointed in that first-half. The players no doubt will be the same but they have got to come out and do something.

"Ole said before the game that he basically set them up 4-2-4 and said to the front four 'you've got to win it for us' and the others sit back and defend.

"That hasn't been good enough. Something has got to change. 

"He spoke about changing things and the balance of the team.

"He hasn't got it right in that first-half. He needs to get that change in the second half to get something out of this game."

Marcus Rashford – who hit the bar late in the first-half – netted shortly after the break to give his side a sniff.

Harry Maguire then crashed home an equaliser with 15 minutes to play, before Cristiano Ronaldo's towering header completed a sensational comeback win for United.

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