Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand Slam Manchester United After Liverpool Loss

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes branded his old side "a shambles" following Thursday's 2-0 UEFA Europa League defeat to Liverpool, while Rio Ferdinand said Liverpool are playing more like his team used to.

The Old Trafford icons appeared as pundits on BT Sport's coverage of the round-of-16 first-leg fixture and painted a less-than-pretty picture of manager Louis van Gaal's squad after a second successive defeat in all competitions (via Eurosport):

Manchester United have a mountain to climb to overturn their two-goal deficit in Thursday's return fixture at Old Trafford, with Scholes and Ferdinand seemingly lacking in faith their old club can advance.

The Daily Mail's Dominic King provided Scholes' quotes in full, with the ex-United midfielder outlining that apologising to fans via social media in the wake of such a humiliation means nothing in the grand scheme of things:

"

They were a shambles. The lack of quality and fight...when you are United, there are certain standards you have to be at, and they haven’t made them. When we were playing we were reaching them. These players are falling well short.

The worst thing is these players now apologising on Twitter and Facebook. Just get out there and play! These players that have come in for £300 million are no better than the players that have been allowed to leave the club.

For 20 years Manchester United had an identity. You were going to play fast football, going to pass the ball forward, tackle, run. The last three years they have gone away from something that worked.

"

Scholes then criticised Van Gaal's tactical decisions, particularly the choice to send Michael Carrick on at half-time as a centre-back to play in a back three.

Former defender Ferdinand then gave the impression he envied the fact Liverpool boast the managerial qualities of Jurgen Klopp before touching on a series of transfer mistakes he felt United had made in recent years:

"

Liverpool deserve the credit because they should have had three or four. They played like United played back in the day. They were on the front foot from the word go and overran United across the park. I see what’s happening at Anfield. Klopp says 'jump' and Liverpool say 'how high?.' I don’t sense that’s happening at United. 

I was thinking 'do these players even know they are playing at Anfield? Is it filtering through to those United players?' I’ve written down a list of players. Di Maria, Nani, Evra, Welbeck, Chicharito, Evans, Fletcher, Rafael, Kagawa...I could go on. Are they worse than the players out there? They are better than that team there—that’s the problem.

"

The level of European competition on display at the Theatre of Dreams has changed immensely since the days when Scholes and Ferdinand helped the Red Devils clinch the Champions League in 2008.

BT Sport presenter Jake Humphrey posted an image of the two former players as they watched Thursday's tie at Anfield, each casting a dejected, uninterested look as Van Gaal's side rode to defeat:

Manchester United failed to register a single shot on target in the first half and could have lost by more than two goals were it not for the goalkeeping heroics of David De Gea.

Van Gaal felt Memphis Depay's foul on Nathaniel Clyne occurred outside the box and that a penalty wasn't the correct punishment, but Daniel Sturridge nonetheless converted his spot-kick opportunity, shared by Liverpool FC Chat UK:

"

Memphis' yellow card allows Sturridge to give #LFC an early lead from the penalty spot.#LIVMUN #MUFC #UEL https://t.co/KgMrDjYwyE

— Liverpool FC Chat UK (@LFCChatUk) March 10, 2016"

De Gea's display helped keep his side within reach on Merseyside, but Liverpool's pressure eventually told. Firmino doubled the hosts' advantage on the 73rd minute, shared by MoLFC:

United were chasing a fifth consecutive win over Liverpool after claiming a Premier League double against Klopp's men this season, but their streak came to a dim end at Anfield.

After suffering a 1-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, it means United have scored just once in their last three games.

Van Gaal remained adamant his team is capable of progressing to the Europa League quarter-finals and said after the loss that, per King, "You see what Liverpool have done and everything is possible."

Many at Old Trafford may not appreciate the United boss identifying their most bitter rivals as a benchmark to aim for, though, with fan favourites Scholes and Ferdinand not for the first time voicing their disappointment in the team.