Scholes questions Lammens after City defeat as United's goalkeeper problem persists

Paul Scholes has publicly questioned whether Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens is of the standard required to win the Premier League, warning that Michael Carrick has not yet resolved the shot-stopping problem that undermined his predecessor Erik ten Hag.

The Belgian keeper, signed from Royal Antwerp for £18.1 million in September 2025, earned widespread praise at the end of last season — keeping nine clean sheets in 32 top-flight appearances and being voted the Premier League Transfer of the Season. But a difficult start to the current campaign, in which Lammens has conceded seven goals in four games without a clean sheet, has renewed scrutiny on the position.

“What team have you seen win the Premier League without a top-class goalkeeper?” Scholes said on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast. “Lammens might be that, I don’t know, I think the jury’s probably still out on that.”

The comments come after United’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester City, a result that leaves Carrick’s side with four points from four Premier League games — their only win a 5-2 demolition of Ipswich Town.

Scholes’ scepticism over United’s goalkeeping is not new. Two years ago, he voiced near-identical concerns about then-No. 1 André Onana, telling the Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast: “The goalkeeper is a big concern for me. Even in pre-season, with some of the goals he conceded. I worry to death about him.” Onana lasted one further season at Old Trafford before being loaned to Trabzonspor, where he remains.

The parallel Scholes draws is pointed: two different managers, two different goalkeepers, and the same lingering unease from one of the club’s most decorated former players. Whether that concern is fully warranted with Lammens is less clear. His first-season numbers were strong, and United’s defensive frailties this term owe something to limited investment in front of him rather than errors directly attributable to the keeper.

Nonetheless, with City’s defeat adding pressure on Carrick and the goalkeeper debate reignited, United’s position between the sticks looks set to remain a talking point for some time.