Roy Keane has completely disagreed with his former teammate Paul Scholes as Manchester United fell to a 4-1 loss against Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon.
Manchester United endured their 14th Premier League defeat of the season on Sunday, as Rúben Amorim’s men were soundly beaten 4-1 by Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
The visitors started well, showing early attacking intent, but it was Newcastle who drew first blood. After 25 minutes, Alexander Isak floated a perfectly weighted ball over the top for Sandro Tonali, who finished confidently to give the hosts the lead.
Despite Newcastle’s control, United found a way back into the match before half-time. A rapid counter-attack saw Alejandro Garnacho race through and slot home the equaliser in the 37th minute, sending the teams into the break level at 1-1.
But things quickly unravelled for United after the restart. Just minutes into the second half, Jacob Murphy set up Harvey Barnes to restore Newcastle’s advantage. Barnes then grabbed his second, capitalising on a costly slip from Noussair Mazraoui to make it 3-1.
Bruno Guimarães put the game out of reach late on, punishing a poor pass from Altay Bayındır to score Newcastle’s fourth. United had no answer, as Amorim’s side collapsed to another damaging defeat.
Keane completely disagrees with Scholes
Before United’s loss against Newcastle, they saw out a 2-2 draw with Lyon, to which former United midfielder Paul Scholes stated he feels the side have improved in recent months.
However, following the Sunday afternoon loss, ex-United captain Roy Keane has completely disagreed with this notion, stating on Sky Sports that he does not understand where this improvement is.
“That’s 14 league games they’ve lost now, and we keep making excuses for this team,” Keane said after the full-time whistle. “There’s not enough players who can run in the team.
“I don’t think there’s players who want to run. Not enough of a goal threat. You’ve got to dig deep, even when you’re up against it. They didn’t do that in the second half.
“We spoke at half-time, that the big test was to come in the second half. Look at Newcastle. Newcastle are outstanding. They’re used to winning big games now. They’ve got a really good habit; United are the opposite.
“I think United are not physically and mentally a weak team. Newcastle weren’t going too fast, weren’t too powerful, and weren’t more determined. United couldn’t deal with their attacking players, and they got what they deserved. Well done, Newcastle. They’re outstanding.
“But United, this talk before the game, there’s good signs for this Man United team, there’s signs they’re getting better. Well, I can’t see it, and I just saw another poor performance, particularly in the second half. Not good enough. And I worry for this group of players. To me, they don’t look like a strong group mentally.”
Amorim is being hampered by injuries
Although Keane’s words may, in some part, ring true, it cannot be ignored that Amorim is missing many key players through injury.
The United head coach was missing Amad, Lisandro Martínez, and Matthijs de Ligt from his squad, all three of whom would be starting if they were fit, with Harry Maguire, Mason Mount, Luke Shaw, and Kobbie Mainoo still not at full fitness.
Once these players are able to return to full fitness and can rejoin the starting XI, it is an almost certainty that Amorim’s side will improve.
With a huge fixture against Lyon coming up next, the head coach will hope to see his players put in more of an effort and resilience on Thursday evening.
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