Scholes labels critics 'b***ends' after Villarreal verdict comes back to bite

Paul Scholes has explosively hit back at the critics choosing to remind him of his choice words about Villarreal prior to the Europa League final.

Scholes took main stage as one of BT Sport's pundits for the showdown in Gdansk, where his former club Manchester United, led by his old team-mate and friend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, were defeated by the Spaniards after a penalty shootout.

The match went the distance after two halves of extra-time could not separate the sides from a 1-1 scoreline, and it was only after David De Gea missed the decisive spot kick that football fans chose to quickly refresh Scholes' memory on what he said prior to kick-off.

Discussing the chance of the underdogs against United, Scholes had said: 'You're playing Villarreal here.

'You're playing a team that finished 7th in a really poor La Liga. Think of Real Madrid and Barcelona, how bad have they been?

'Manchester United should win this game comfortably.'

United would ultimately leave Poland empty handed and, one day later, Scholes appeared to still be getting stick online.

The 46-year-old chose to re-share one of the examples on his personal Instagram page, which showed an image of Scholes and his pre-match quote along with a dubbed over caption: 'Welcome to La Liga Scholesy.'

The United legend added his own take over the top of the image, going on to aim a thinly veiled dig at the tactics of Unai Emery and suggest the former Arsenal boss had set up in a negative manner.

Scholes wrote in response: 'Had some s*** on here today... sitting on the edge of your box for 120 mins is now apparently a tactical masterclass, do me a favour b***ends.'

The final word was comprised of a bell emoji, as Scholes sought a creative way at getting back at his critics and letting them know what he thinks of their ridicule.

After the full-time whistle in Gdansk Scholes certainly pulled no punches when it came to a verdict on his former team, who were heavy favourites to secure the trophy and lift a maiden piece of silverware under Solskjaer.

Scholes struggled to hide his frustration at seeing United fail to finish off the job, and accused his former side of becoming 'a nice club' without a ruthless edge.

He said: 'It's difficult to come out of that game and give them credit, they weren't good tonight.

'Overall there has been progress. But does losing hurt them enough? It's almost become an accepted thing. From Ole's point of view, where is the demands?

'He has made progress, but this club expects to win trophies. If it gets into the next couple of years and there's still nothing he might have a problem. There aren't the demands there where he has to win.

'A few players, it doesn't hurt them. Bruno Fernandes, Edinson Cavani, they won't like it.

'They look like they're proper hurt, the others it can look acceptable, even from the manager. They've become a nice club,' he added.