Roy Keane goes nuclear over huge Man Utd failures with £108.5m duo slaughtered as ‘not good enough’

Roy Keane has embarked on a lengthy rant over the ingrained failures at Manchester United after the dismal 0-0 draw at home to Manchester City, naming the four sides who they should be ashamed at falling behind and having also delivered a worrying assessment of Ruben Amorim’s tactics.

Manchester United turned to Ruben Amorim as the successor to Erik ten Hag in January, but if they were hoping for a sudden uplift from his arrival, they were very much mistaken. Currently 13th—the same position in which he inherited the side—United have stuttered and stumbled their way through a dire Premier League campaign.

While salvation could arrive in the Europa League, it’s a worrying outlook for a United side who are on track for their lowest-ever finish since 1990 and are among the lowest scorers in the Premier League with just 37 goals in their 31 matches played so far.

With a major rebuilding job on his hands, Keane has torn into the state the club finds themselves in, having also warned Amorim that neither Joshua Zirkzee nor Rasmus Hojlund (who have just 14 goals between them from a combined 85 appearances) are good enough to be at Old Trafford.

Signed for a combined £108.5m, Keane began on Sky Sports: “Manchester United need more of a goal threat. The couple of strikers United have at the club are not good enough for United, but there are other players on the team.

“There are wide players, defenders can score goals, there are set pieces. The goal they have away at Forest the other day, you have an opposition player running 70 or 80 yards.

“Yes, you can say it’s a great run and great goal – but someone’s got to tackle him. Have a desire to dig deep and get a result!

“It has to come from the manager and the staff, the certain leaders they have in the dressing room.

“I’m not saying they all have to be like that – but they have experienced players there. [Harry] Maguire, Casemiro, [Bruno] Fernandes – do they get a grip of these players?

“Ole Gunnar Solskjaer once ran 70 to 80 yards to chase someone down and got sent off. They made sacrifices for the team.

“The sacrifices for the attacking players could be making a run, making a good ball out of a bad ball.

“I see the United team today. They’re all applauding and they’re being interviewed and they said: ‘draw is not too bad’… Let me tell you, a draw gets you nowhere fast!

“I know United beat Leicester and Real Sociedad – but you look at the last few games and you go: this is not enough, this is not good enough.

“Forget the United teams I played for, forget the top three or four teams… they’re competing with Brentford, Crystal Palace, Fulham and Wolves!

“Are you telling me Manchester United should be behind them? The majority of these players should be doing better than the teams I just mentioned.”

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Keane scolds Amorim over Man Utd formation

Keane also does not get a good feeling that things will improve under Amorim next season and has questioned his stubbornness in refusing to shift from his preferred 3-4-2-1 formation.

“The manager is going to stick with it. That’s the risk he’s taking,” Keane continued.

“If he’s not getting football results, we’re talking about next year, when he will no doubt get an opportunity to get players in the summer, we will be able to judge him better.

“That’s his belief, his philosophy, and that’s fine. But I like the philosophy of winning football matches. I like that philosophy.

“I don’t ever remember sitting with the players I played with – and some decent players and other clubs such as Forest and brilliant managers – where we discussed our philosophy.

“We would find different ways to play. United tried to play out the back and got caught a couple of times. I don’t like that. There are times for it.

“If they were going down that road and they were picking up results and scoring plenty of goals, but I don’t see it. My eyes don’t lie to me.

“I’d like to be proven wrong and United are in the top five or six next season and would take it all back, but I don’t see it.

“I’ve seen a few live games lately. I saw Forest the other night, I was kicking my cups of tea over. They were neat and tidy – but were never going to score. No goals again today.

“When you’re playing for a big club and getting big contracts, you have a responsibility to win football matches. Is that what we’re here for?

“We’ve been praising Liverpool for the last few months. Why? Because they’re being clinical and winning football matches. So when we sit here and go: ‘I’m getting fed up of this, but there are signs’… Signs of what?”

The derby stalemate leaves United a whopping 35 points behind champions-elect Liverpool and Amorim knows big improvements are required.

“We had chances to win the game using our pace in transition,” he said after the game.

“We had moments with the ball and pushed City into their half. If you look at the game, we can accept the draw. We were closer to scoring a goal, they had more possession but that is normal.

“[Man City goalkeeper] Ederson did well. We used the pass on the overlap well, things we didn’t do against Nottingham Forest but then Ederson was there.

“We have so much to improve in every aspect of our game. Build-up, transition, decision making in the final third – we have to improve.

“Every player can improve. They are here because they showed something at other clubs. They have the quality.

“We are a team more dangerous in transition but we need to spend more time in the final third to create opportunities.

“I can see it. The connections. The players are more comfortable in their positions. We can find players between the lines and are calm with the ball. We are better, but we have a lot to improve.

“I’m not naïve or crazy. I understand, looking at the opponents, there is a big gap, but as a leader, I can’t say we’re going to take a lot of time.

“You have to feel urgency, to hurry to do something better. At a club like ours, you don’t have a lot of time. We are in a rush, that is clear.”

Latest Man Utd transfer news: Champ free agent eyed; huge offer for Antony

Meanwhile, United plan to bolster their goalkeeping position this summer by swooping to sign ‘one of the best free agent stoppers around this summer’ with a raid on a neighbouring side from the second tier.

Elsewhere, United could get a significant boost to their summer transfer kitty amid claims that a huge offer has landed on their desk from Atletico Madrid for Antony, with the LaLiga giants’ huge offer blowing Real Betis away.

With the summer market fast approaching, Amorim has made it clear what criteria ALL signings must meet ahead of what he has branded a ‘crucial’ window.

One position United are desperate to strengthen is in attack, and now a trusted journalist has confirmed claims that they plan to sign Victor Osimhen this summer, while also naming the three clubs they will have to battle for his signature.

VOTE: Is Ruben Amorim any better than Erik ten Hag?