Man Utd ‘playing like a small club’ as ‘grumpy’ Keane jokes Ten Hag did interview after ‘a couple of glasses of wine’
Former Man Utd captain Roy Keane thinks the Red Devils are âplaying like a small clubâ following their 2-2 draw against Liverpool on Sunday.
The Red Devils were thankful for wonderful strikes from Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo as Man Utd allowed Liverpool 28 shots on their goal.
Roy Keane:Â I donât get Erik ten Hagâs positivity about Man Utd
Man Utd are now 11 points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham with seven matches to play but Ten Hag claimed his side played âvery goodâ against their arch-rivals.
Ten Hag said after the match: âIts clear when you play Chelsea, when you play Liverpool, it will be a transition game.
âBecause they are top at it, both teams, and both teams also want to play and they leave space for counters and I thought there were absolutely moments where we could have done better reactions in the transitions, the defence transitions.
âBut in general we did very good. We conceded only goals from two set plays.
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âIn our transition we could have done even better. For instance, Garnacho with Bruno, I donât know if the pass had to come earlier or the timing from the run was too quick.
âAnd then already after a couple of minutes we should have taken the lead.â
After listening to Ten Hagâs interview on Sky Sports, Keane was baffled: âListen, I donât know whether heâs obviously had a couple of glasses of wine after the game, I donât know how strong that is.
âBut he seemed really upbeat and I admire him for it, because heâs obviously seeing something that Iâm not seeing at this moment in time.
âIâm not saying thereâs not potential at the football club, or with these young players, but in terms of competing with Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City they are way off it.
âTheyâre competing at this moment in time with Aston Villa and Spurs for that fourth or fifth position, and at this stage theyâre well behind them. So I donât get his positivity, but maybe thatâs just me being a bit old and grumpy. Heâs upbeat, but I certainly didnât see that upbeat performance.
âI thought two very good goals from Man United, and a team that hung in and stuck at it and Iâll give them credit for that. But if youâre looking at the bigger picture Iâm not sitting here going, âListen, Man United are on their way backâ. Far from it.â
Roy Keane: Man Utd are playing like a mid-table team
And Keane added that Man Utd are currently playing âlike a mid-table team, a small clubâ and are still lacking leaders and characters to take them to the next level.
The Man Utd legend added: âThereâs so many bits of their game they have to tidy up, they play in moments, Iâm not sure itâs a real team out there.
âI canât sit here and say that Man United will be challenging for league titles, I just canât see it.
âThereâs big expectations with recruitment in the summer and new people [behind the scenes] coming in, but thereâs a long way back for Man United.
âYou need characters, you need leaders, I keep repeating myself every week on here. Thatâs what you need from a group of players.
âThe way Man United are playing is like a mid-table team, a small club. You donât know what youâre going to get, thereâs a bit of excitement.
âBut if you want to win the big prizes â or even compete to win the big prizes â youâve got to turn up week in and week out and these players donât. The stats tell you that. Theyâve lost 12 games, the goal difference â is it minus one? â nowhere near good enough.â