By now, we’re all aware of the passion Roy Keane has, and if you’re not then have you been living under a very large rock?
The ex-Republic of Ireland international, who ranked at No.6 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best Premier League midfielders of all time, was a highly competitive, straight talking midfielder in his time and it is now reflective in his punditry.
As captain of Manchester United he demanded certain standards from his players, and he is not shy of addressing those standards even now.
Keane lays down some hard truths for much of the current Manchester United sqaud
Manchester United find themselves 15th in the Premier League after a disastrous few months and it appears that Keane is far from happy with what he is seeing on the pitch.
Much of his criticism was labelled at Bruno Fernandes, recognised by FourFourTwo in our list of the best attacking midfielders in the world, who Keane clearly believes doesn’t do enough to warrant the current captaincy at the club.
On the most recent episode of Stick to Football, Keane appears to have reached the end of his tether.
He said: “We go back to the team, the players, the recruitment and showing a bit of fight and a bit of quality, a bit of speed in your play. They draw at Everton, it’s like they’ve won the cup!
“It’s f*cking bizzare! And even the fans, I see fans and they’re singing for Bruno [Fernandes], and I see these boys and I think you’re f*cking imposters.
Ian Wright, one of the co-hosts on Stick to Football then tried to stick up for Fernandes, but Keane wasn’t having any of it.
“Do you know what Wright, I have had enough of that rubbish man!” Keane followed up.
“You watch Arsenal every week, we focus more on United. Sit and watch a game!”
Keane then heavily criticised Fernandes’ performances against Leicester and Everton, which Wright was not happy about.
Keane doubled down on his criticism of Fernandes saying: “You have to have a starting point. Talent is not enough! Bruno is a talented player but talent is not enough.
“You were in a dressing room with Tony Adams. Tony Adams was this, Tony Adams was that! He was a fighter!
“You’ve got young players, you have to look at somebody and go ‘I like what he does.’ They all can’t put the ball in the top of the net from 25 yards, but you want someone who is going ‘lads, are you with me?’
“Where do you start? If we start on a young lad, oh you can’t pick on him, he’s young! You can’t start on a foreign player, he’s new to the league… Forget the board for a second, who do you start pointing fingers at?
At some stage you have to go, players have to look at themselves, at the person in the mirror.”
The clip made sensational viewing, and Keane’s passion for Manchester United is as strong as ever, and FourFourTwo thinks he might actually have a point.
Players have been underperforming at Manchester United for several seasons, and even when new signings are brought in they often fail to hit the potential they promised before joining.
It may be the managers job to get the best out of the players but too regularly can you criticise the work rate and effort of much of this squad.
