Monday 14 December 2015 16:37, UK
Louis van Gaal must pick his more experienced players while Manchester United are struggling, according to Ray Wilkins.
United fielded their sixth youngest Premier League side of all time on Saturday in their 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth.
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Guillermo Varela started in defence despite having played just 59 minutes of Premier League football previously.
Ashley Young was listed as a substitute and Paddy McNair began ahead of Phil Jones in central defence, while Andreas Pereira and Nick Powell were preferred as replacements over Morgan Schneiderlin.
Wilkins, a United player between 1979 and 1984, is happy van Gaal is willing to give young players a chance, but said now is not the time to experiment given the former champions are now five games without a win.
Wilkins, speaking on Sky Sports Now, said: "I've often said this about academies. Why have these young men at the club if you're not prepared to play them?
"He stuck them in but when you're struggling, you need the most experienced player you can possibly find.
"I couldn't quite understand why Phil Jones was on the bench, Ashley Young was on the bench and yet you had young McNair being thrown in.
"He's given Jesse Lingard the opportunity to play but when you look you can play Young at right full-back and Varela at left full-back instead of young Borthwick-Jackson.
"Get as much experience in the side as you can. Borthwick-Jackson did okay but so you should when you're a Manchester United player.
"If you're put in the side, you should be capable of holding down a position because that's why you're at the club."
Central to United's problems at present is their lack of scoring opportunities and they have failed to find the net more than twice in their last 12 matches, and Wilkins questioned the decision to let certain attacking players leave Old Trafford during the summer.
Wilkins added: "Look at Chicharito [Javier Hernandez], scoring for fun now with Leverkusen. Danny Welbeck - who I know is injured at the moment - is at Arsenal. Also [Robin] van Persie.
"He's let three top-quality footballers leave and they've all got goals in them. You've got young [James] Wilson too, who is playing (on loan) at Brighton. Why wasn't he given the opportunity to play?"
