Roy Keane believes the days of everyone wanting to join Manchester United have ended after the club suffered an 18th defeat of the season at Chelsea, which he felt proved they “aren’t really good at anything”.
United lost 1-0 thanks to Marc Cucurella’s second-half winner to leave them on 39 points with one game – at home to Champions League-chasing Aston Villa – remaining.
The 18th league loss of the season is their most in half a century, while they have picked up just two points since the start of April – the lowest out of any side in the Premier League.
Ruben Amorim’s side can get Champions League football by winning the Europa League, but they go into that final without a league win in eight matches.
FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Chelsea’s match against Manchester United in the Premier League
“What are the positives with this team?” said former United captain Keane.
“You sit up and watch certain teams, and you hang your hat on something. You say they’re really technically very good, they’re fit, they’re brilliant, they’re good at set-pieces. You look at United and go, they’re not really good at anything.
“If they don’t win [the Europa League final] next week, I think the days of everyone wanting to go to Manchester United are gone. I don’t think there’ll be players looking to sign for Manchester United. That’s gone, that bit of excitement with the club.
“The fans, even here tonight, I don’t think the United fans are angry anymore. It’s just an acceptance. Even the manager’s interview there, he’s accepting where they are.
Roy Keane says Man Utd are losing their pulling power
“Now, obviously, you have to be realistic, but you still want to show emotion and a bit of anger. I think United fans will be going back up the motorway to Manchester tonight going: ‘Oh, that’s what we thought would probably happen.’ And that’s a sad thing to do.
“And I don’t think the manager [Amorim] did. And more importantly, I don’t think the players believed they could come and win tonight.
“And even the Chelsea manager [Enzo Maresca], he’s patronising them by saying: ‘Oh, they played well, they pressed us, they were 1v1. They’re dangerous. We watched them a few times.’
“They beat them 1-0. And United had one shot on target. One shot on target. He’s just like, what they’re doing to United, they’re patting them on the head going saying, ‘off you go, back up to Manchester’.
“That’s what United used to do to teams years ago. Now they’re getting it. And they’ve got to respond to that. Don’t accept that nonsense.”
Keane: I wouldn’t hang my hat on Mainoo, Garnacho and Hojlund
Keane was asked how many Manchester United players the club could keep this summer – naming Bruno Fernandes as the only player after the game on Friday night, but accepted Amorim will likely have to keep some players around.
The former United captain then discussed the futures of Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo – second-half substitutes at Stamford Bridge and both have been linked with a move away from Old Trafford.
Keane thinks Manchester United’s history in big-game finals will give them the edge over Spurs in the Europa League final on Wednesday
Asked if those players plus Rasmus Hojlund are worth keeping, Keane replied: “No, I wouldn’t be hanging my hat on them three to get Manchester United [back to where they need to be].
“Mainoo comes on tonight. I watched him closely. He’s strolling around the place. Some of his passes were sloppy. Garnacho, he’s immature.
Kobbie Mainoo was a second half substitute at Stamford Bridge
“You want players for the big clubs, you turn up week in, week out. And he doesn’t do that. He’s got a bit of talent. He makes some good runs, and he threatens him behind. And on his good day, you think, listen, I like what I see. But he’s got too many bad days.
“And Hojlund, in his defence, I think he should have probably been a backup striker. A third or fourth choice and learn his trade off two or three brilliant strikers.
“The fact when he came to the club that he was going to be the main man, he’s not good enough.
“He’s certainly obviously lacking in confidence and belief. And he’s not surrounded by brilliance either. So, the problems that we’ve spoke about United all season are still there. If people think they can fix that in one summer, then it’s not going to happen.
Keane even said Hojlund resembled “the young kid from Chelsea” with the Blues handing 19-year-old Tyrique George a first Premier League start in the victory.
Rasmus Hojlund had another day to forget
“He looked like he’d just come out of the academy,” said Keane. “His runs weren’t right, his timing, his hold-up play [ as well].
“We keep making excuses, we’ve talked about confidence, but you still think when you’re a striker up there, you’ve got to make something happen sometimes.
“And what the big clubs have, and United [‘s best teams in the past] have always had, are strikers who can produce something by themselves, even if they’re not getting great service.
“They produce something because they’ve got quality, they’ve got a bit of desire, determination, a bit of experience and football intelligence. We don’t see that with Hojlund. So United are up against it all the time. Obviously, he needs a little bit of support, but my goodness, sometimes you’ve got to just do a bit better.
“He got a ball in the first half on the edge of the box, and he didn’t even know what to do! He wasn’t even in the right body position to take a shot, and he knocks it back. He should be getting it in on goal.”
Fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp added: “I can’t disagree with Roy. I just think pretty much every single player, there is a price on all of them. I think that just tells you where they are.
“Right now, you’d look at that, and you’d probably be nervous for that squad going into Champions League football because it’s not as if all of a sudden they’re going to become better overnight.
“It’s not going to get better because they’ve got a bit more experience. So, I think with pretty much every single player, Jason Wilcox and [Omar Berrada] the new CEO, they will look at it and go: if the offer’s right, and then we can bring in somebody younger, better, we’ll have to do it.”
Amorim: This game helped me pick my final starting XI
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim said his side’s defeat to Chelsea was a good game to prepare for the Europa League final
United boss Amorim defended playing virtually his full-strength team at Chelsea, despite being so close to the must-win Europa League final – claiming it has helped him pick his team for the Bilbao game against Tottenham Hostpur on May 21.
“I won’t talk about the summer,” he said when asked about the Manchester United rebuild.
“The good news is in the Europa League, we are scoring many goals. We will prepare for the Europa League game.
“We have to deal with a lot of things in the summer, but today it was a really good game to prepare for the final. If we put some players out in the feeling of the last game, almost 10 days without playing, it would be a mistake.
“It was a good thing for them to play, that they feel they can do it, that we can have possession and push the opponent. In this club, you need to win and we are not winning games.
“It helped me a lot to choose the starting XI for the final. We’ll see.”
Before the game, Amorim claimed United can have a much better season where they can qualify for Europe and beyond – because of some Premier League teams historically going from the bottom of the table to the top in one season.
Speaking before the game, Amorim said his side could go back to the top of the table next season
“We need to finish this season,” said Amorim.
“Every season has its history and the Premier League has a number of times with Blackburn Rovers – almost relegated, then champions. Leicester City, almost relegation then champions. Nottingham Forest, almost in the Champions League and last season they were fighting for their lives.
“So it’s a different context. People don’t understand how things are changing in Carrington, in our club, how many things are happening at the same time. Let’s finish this season and we’ll se.
“I’m seeing good things and I know what to do. That is a good thing, the board is doing everything. Sometimes it’s not a popular thing but we know what to do. This season, it’s tough but let’s finish it.”
Sky Sports to show 215 live PL games from next season
Sky Sports to show 215 live Premier League games from next season
From next season, Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.
And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games next season are on Sky Sports.
This news was originally published on this post .
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