Roy Keane has been a notable critic of Manchester United this season, who've gone from bad to worse despite hiring Ruben Amorim in November to replace Erik ten Hag
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Roy Keane
Roy Keane has blasted his former side this season
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Roy Keane was on the money in his prediction of Manchester United's struggles under Ruben Amorim.
The Red Devils icon has watched his former club play out another dismal season at Old Trafford, with Amorim's side sitting 14th in the Premier League and already knocked out of both domestic cup competitions. While hope remains in the Europa League, that's something Keane lost when watching their 1-1 draw with FC Twente back in September.
He was left stunned by Christian Eriksen's post-match interview where the ex-Spurs midfielder claimed that the players from the Eredivisie side "wanted it more than us", which was an unforgivable admission according to the former United captain, who dreaded what the rest of the season would look like.
"When players are coming out after the [FC Twente match] and going, 'I think they might've wanted it more than us', I kind of gave up at that stage," Keane said on an episode of Stick to Football. "If that's the noise coming out of the dressing room, then no wonder the manager's in trouble. No wonder they're not going to win football matches."
While Erik ten Hag went on to lose his job a month after the draw, Amorim hasn't fared better, with United having performed worse under the Portuguese boss. He's lost eight of his 16 league games in charge, with five coming at home. They've gone scoreless in six of those losses as Keane's prediction on what United's season would look like rings true.
"But that's where United are - it's hit and miss," the Irishman continued. "They win a few games, but they're going to lose plenty. They're too open. They're not athletic. They don't score enough goals. I'm not sure there's a team there. I don't recognise this team. I don't recognise the club. I would be disgusted if I came in after a game and I felt another team wanted it more than us."
Ruben Amorim
Amorim has been under constant pressure since arriving in Manchester
While Keane hasn't been involved in coaching since his five-year stint as Republic of Ireland assistant coach to Martin O'Neill, he's been tipped to join United to assist Amorim by former team-mate Mikael Silvestre. "I think it would be great for Roy Keane to play a role at Manchester United," the Frenchman told Yaysweepstakes.com.
"Because, the thing is with Roy, he always treated everybody exactly the same way. It didn’t matter if you were a new signing, an old guy, the manager, everybody. That's how he got respect. That's how Sir Alex got respect. If you treat everybody the same, no problem.
“I think it’s a bit of a problem with this generation of players. They find criticism harder to take. If Roy Keane was involved at Manchester United, if he was on the inside with the group, he would have to protect and work for the group, you wouldn’t see him criticising players in public, so there wouldn't be any issue.”
Keane visited the United squad at Carrington back in 2019 after being invited by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer during his reign at the club and was said to have reminded the players of the honour of representing a historic club like United and advised them on what they must do to return success. But his previous verdict suggests he might feel the current crop are beyond his help.
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