Keane voices ‘big concern’ over Man Utd keeper Henderson

Dean Henderson TEAMtalk

Roy Keane has voiced his one grave concern over Dean Henderson as the long-term No.1 at Manchester United.

Henderson, 24, started the season at Old Trafford on the bench after penning a new long-term contract. The ambitious goalkeeper had made his feelings clear in pre-season and let everyone know he wanted to be United’s No.1. He played three times at the halfway point in the Premier League, whilst featuring in United’s cup games. He then got his chance in the Premier League team when David de Gea returned to Spain for the birth of his first child.

Since then he had been Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s preferred keeper. However, he found himself back on the bench for the Europa League quarter-finals and semi-finals and was benched n the defeat to Leicester.

He returned to the United line-up on Thursday against Liverpool, but conceded four times against their bitter rivals. And the England keeper had a shaky evening at Old Trafford after he shovelled Trent Alexander-Arnold’s shot straight to Roberto Firmino to score.

His positioning was then at fault as he remained flat-footed in the six-yard box as Mohamed Salah raced through to make the points safe late in the game.

And Sky Sports pundit Keane believes his size, 6ft 1in, is a problem.

 

“He looks so small in the goals, that’s my worry [over] Henderson,” said the Irishman.

“He has a good mentality, good temperament and is good with his feet, but I’ve seen a few goals go in recently where he looks so small in the goals. He looked tiny there for the fourth goal.

“He has been given a run of games. Tonight he may look at it and go ‘it’s not my best night’, but he needs a run of games.

“They can’t go back to De Gea, I don’t think that’s the final answer either. He [Henderson] is going to make mistakes of course, but my worry is his presence.

“He looks so small, which is a big concern going forward.”


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Keane takes swipe at ‘crying’ Fernandes

Meanwhile, Keane was also critical of talisman Bruno Fernandes in the defeat to Liverpool.

He netted the winner against Jurgen Klopp’s in the FA Cup earlier this season. However, he struggled to make an impact at Anfield in the Premier League.

And while he netted a deflected goal on Thursday, Keane blasted the Portuguese for “crying” throughout the match.

The pundit told Sky Sports after confusion over a potential foul leading up to Roberto Firmino’s first: “Maybe the referee was confused. Being critical of Fernandes, he spent half the night crying on the side of the pitch.

“Every time he got tackled he was rolling around.

“I think United‘s players are kind of looking for Liverpool to kick the ball out of play, but as we know you’re supposed to carry on unless it’s a head injury.”

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