Paul Scholes thinks Manchester United 'lacked the belief' to win this season's Premier League title and that's why they've been left behind by Manchester City.
Going into last month's clash with Liverpool at Anfield, United were sitting at the summit of the division, three points clear of the champions. City were in sixth place at the time but have won relentlessly and were 10 points clear after their win at Arsenal on Sunday.
On the day United were held to a 3-3 draw by Everton earlier this month, former United captain Roy Keane said: “I’m surprised really, we weren’t thinking this over the last 12 months that United could challenge Manchester City but I think they’ll be the best of the rest.
"Listening to Ole and the last few performances and the goalkeeper last night… they probably don’t have the belief they can challenge Man City. And if you don’t have the belief you can do it, then there’s a good chance you won’t do it.
"Obviously when Ole came out with it last night that he didn’t feel they are ready to win the league, I just think if you’re playing for Man United and you’re up near the top you’ve got to believe you can win the league title."
Keane's former teammate Scholes feels the same way about United's lack of belief and told BT Sport prior to the game against Newcastle: "When United have been where they’ve been for the last few years, it’s difficult to get too excited.
"Five games ago, top of the league, going to Anfield, and from then on, it’s been really disappointing. He (Solskjaer) did play it down a little bit as you’d probably expect and now he’s saying they’re going for it, they’re going to try and catch them.
"It’s difficult to say when you see what you see in front of your face, don’t you, on a Saturday afternoon or Wednesday night, whatever it may be, and once they got to that position, they really lacked the authority to go on, lacked the belief, to go on and think they could win it.”
