‘Flex your muscles’ – Roy Keane slams Manchester United players over poor form with firm message

Man United are unbeaten so far in 2024 but after two matches in the FA Cup and Premier League, Roy Keane is not convinced by what he has seen so far

Manchester United legend Roy Keane believes his old club are fearful of attacking the opposition because they are concerned of being picked off by the opposition.

United are currently unbeaten in 2024 but both performances have left room for improvement. In the FA Cup, Erik ten Hag picked a surprisingly strong side to face League One’s Wigan Athletic but they only came away with a 2-0 victory thanks to a Diogo Dalot strike and Bruno Fernandes penalty.

The Reds followed this up with a 2-2 draw against a depleted Tottenham Hotspur. In the first half, United showed some positive signs and scored two good goals through Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford.

However, defensive frailties came to the fore once more as two sloppy goals were conceded to ensure the spoils were shared. On the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, Keane took United to task over their recent performances.

“They [Manchester United] don’t really play as a team I don’t know if they are [the players] just taking on the manager’s ideas,” Keane explained. “When you look at Manchester United, we say it every week, you don’t know what you are going to get.

“I watched their game last week against Wigan Athletic and you’re thinking, they’ll certainly dominate Wigan and score four, five goals and even then, they had to get a penalty to get over the line. They weren’t great in possession.

“The other night, against Spurs, you look at the second goal, just one or two passes and it was a goal. It’s as if they are not athletic enough – and I think there’s obviously an element of fear from the team, they go, we are better sitting in.

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“And there is nothing wrong with sitting in if you are doing brilliant going forward, but they are not scoring the goals to back that up. They are stuck between a rock and a hard place because again, you are Manchester United, the onus is even when you’re at home, flex your muscles, and more importantly put fear in their opponents’ mindsets, but teams are playing Manchester United now and there is no fear anymore. I think teams are going to Old Trafford now and enjoying it!”