‘I’d grab him’ – Keane sends Solskjaer pointed message over persistence with Man Utd man

Roy Keane has blasted Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for his persistence with playing Fred in midfield for Manchester United.

Questions are being asked of United again following their dismal defeat to Manchester City in the derby. They suffered a 2-0 loss at Old Trafford to their rivals. And one thing is sure – whenever something goes wrong for United, their former player Keane will have something to say about it.

The Sky Sports pundit did not disappoint in his post-match analysis of the derby. Keane – who has also criticised two players in the aftermath – aired strong views on a lack of character across the United team, and particularly picked out Fred as a weak link.

He said: “You’re going into a match with players and you’re looking over your shoulder on the bus, and you see [Luke] Shaw, [Harry] Maguire, Fred. And you’re going, ‘my job depends on these guys’. Then you’re in trouble.

“You still want your players to do their job. You’ve got international players: Shaw there, you’ve got Maguire, you’ve got [Eric] Bailly.

“Midfield… Fred. Fred’s playing for Manchester United. Fred!

“Anyone who tells me Fred is good enough for Manchester United is living in cuckoo land. And that is an important part of the football pitch.

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“If Ole walked in here now, I’d grab him and I’d go, ‘why are you playing Fred?’

“For all managers have to make their own decisions, they work with the players day in day out, I would look at him and go, ‘why are you playing Fred in the middle of the park’, huge position for Manchester United.”

Keane: ‘Ole can’t seem to win’

Despite his questioning of his continued use of Fred, Keane did share some degree of sympathy for Solskjaer, who seems to be in a can’t-win situation.

“Man Utd are in a bad place, but there’s a way out of it. Is Ole the man to do it? Huge question marks.

“I hope it is, but it’s more hope than belief. Because every time there’s a bad performance like that, Ole gets the blame. Every time United produce a result, like during the week, Ole’s the luckiest man on the planet. He’s got [Cristiano] Ronaldo.

“Ole can’t seem to win. But he has to look at himself in the mirror and go, ‘I need to do better here’.

“I think he came into Man Utd at a difficult time. He’s managing one of the biggest clubs in the world. But if you’ve got bluffers on the bus with you, and you’re depending on Shaw and [Aaron] Wan-Bissaka, imagine you’re depending on these guys… Ole, you might be better off out of it.”

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