Paul Scholes criticised Manchester United midfield pair Fred and Scott McTominay for showing a lack of quality and fight during their defeat by Arsenal.
United failed to build on an excellent 5-0 Champions League win over RB Leipzig as they went down 1-0 to Mikel Arteta's side at Old Trafford, the fourth time this season they have failed to win at home.
Fred was hooked after an hour and McTominay was the target of many fans' flak as the pair failed to cope with Arsenal's press, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's decision to play a diamond midfield backfired.
Scholes was critical of the entire team's performance but believes the two central midfielder set the tone for a woeful afternoon.
"It’s as poor as I’ve seen Manchester United at Old Trafford to be honest with you," Scholes told Premier League Productions. "You have to give Arsenal credit, they were very good but on other hand you have to expect more from United and the two midfield players especially.
"I said at half-time if you’re going to get your best, most creative players who can score goals on the ball then the two in midfield have to have some kind of possession and some kind of control but the quality was missing from them two.
"They were playing as centre halves, not central midfield players."
Scholes also questioned United's determination to get back into the contest once they had fallen behind to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's second-half penalty.
He added: "There was a lack of fight, a lack of spirit, a lack of determination to get balls into the box, to create chances like you’d expect with 10 minutes to go.
"They ran out of ideas and only had two shots on target, one of which was [Nemanja] Matic on his right-foot. It’s a disappointing afternoon but one they’ll have to bounce back from."
