Dunny’s Hairdryer

PAUL SCHOLES took some flak for his casual dismissal of Villarreal ahead of the Europa League Final.

No wonder.

“You’re playing a team that finished seventh in a really poor La Liga,” Scholes told Manchester United.

Now, this might be doing Scholes (above) an injustice but how many full games of La Liga did he watch in the 20/21 season? Not that many, you would guess. So he is judging it purely by Spanish teams’ performances in Europe but that is not always the perfect measure.

Over the past 13 years, the Champions League has been won seven times by a Spanish club and three times by an English club.

Does that mean La Liga has been brilliant in those seven seasons? Not necessarily.

Of their 14 Europa League ties ahead of the final, Villarreal won 12 and drew two of 14 games.

They are an extremely disciplined, effective team.

United had not done their homework... and neither had Scholes.

YES, losing a final must be a bitter feeling and if you have not walked in those boots, then it is hard to know how you would behave.

But since when has it become the done thing to contemptuously rip off your runners-up medal while still on the podium?

But if you feel compelled to take it off, surely it is only manners to do so when out of sight of the guy who has just put it around your neck?

Presumably, the Manchester United players who did it, did so because it sends a message to all the fans watching on TV that they will never settle for second place.

Had they shown the intent on the field as they did when ridding themselves of their medals, the medals would have stayed on.