Liverpool vs Manchester United: Jose Mourinho 'not ruthless enough' in the transfer market, says Paul Scholes

The 20-time champions of England have made an indifferent start to life under Mourinho

Scholes played for Manchester United for his whole career (Getty Images)

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes says Jose Mourinho was “not ruthless enough” when he succeeded Louis van Gaal this summer and says it could cost them against Liverpool tonight.

The former Porto, Internazionale, Real Madrid and two-time Chelsea manager signed Eric Bailly, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba for a total of £150m but overlooked several areas United supporters thought needed addressing.

The 20-time champions of England have made an indifferent start to life under Mourinho, sitting in seventh in the Premier League with 13 points from seven points, and Scholes believes Liverpool are the favourites for the derby at Anfield.

The 41-year-old told BBC Sport: “If you were betting, you would be betting on Liverpool. He was not ruthless enough in the off-season. There is so much confusion about who should play.

“What I saw of Mourinho at Chelsea, he had 13 or 14 players who played every week. He never rested players even in the League Cup or whatever competition he was in.”

Scholes admitted it is still too early to judge Mourinho’s tenure at United but added that his former employers are still lacking an identity, something they had in abundance under Sir Alex Ferguson during the former midfielder’s time at Old Trafford.

He added: “With United it is still a settling-in period - it is going to take a bit of time for them to knit together and see what they are about.

“Is there an identity to the team yet? I don't think there is.”