Roy Keane ‘hates’ the two-word tag Manchester United have got under Erik ten Hag

Ex-Manchester United player Roy Keane has slammed Erik ten Hag’s side for allowing themselves to be labelled as a ‘cup team.’

Part of the Sky Sports panel covering Manchester United’s 3-0 loss to Liverpool on Sunday, Keane, a former Manchester United captain was damming in his assessment of the Red Devils’ under Erik ten Hag.

Across Ten Hag’s tenure, United have finished 3rd and 8th in the Premier League, but in both seasons have won silverware via the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup.

Despite winning those trophies, United’s 8th-place finish in the Premier League last season was the club’s worst in the history of the competition, with the pressure of rectifying that season something Keane believes still hangs over Ten Hag.

“You’d be worried for the manager,” Keane admitted to his fellow pundits. “I would never stand here and say ‘I expect the manager to lose his job,’ but the pressure no doubt from last year [is building.]

“You obviously remember the FA Cup [final against Manchester City], and they obviously got out of jail in a few cup games. But, the pressure must be building.

“When you are playing for the big teams and obviously Man United are one of the biggest, I’d hate this tag if I was playing that you’re a ‘cup team’, and this is what this team is. That means in terms of the league, you can’t turn up week-in week-out.

“I am not talking about challenging Man City or even Arsenal, I’m talking about competing with teams like Liverpool, Chelsea, Aston Villa, [and] Spurs are in that mix. At this moment in time, you look at Manchester United, and they are slightly behind them. That’s the worry for me, not what Man City and Arsenal are doing.”

One worrying element that will stand out for fans of United when listening to Keane was the lack of his trademark fury, instead delivering his analysis with total acceptance of the club’s position.

This continued when the Irishman, who faced Liverpool twenty times during his United playing career, was asked what he wanted to see from his former club going forward.

“You always felt that [when Klopp and Arteta first came into the Premier League], there was this element of he had people behind him, that the feel-good factor was coming back.

“But, when you keep getting beaten like they [United] did last year at home, you finish eighth, and you get beaten well today off the back of a defeat against Brighton, you soon lose that.

“When the stadium’s getting empty after sixty minutes because the game’s over, that will build massive pressure for the manager, of course, it will, it’s only natural.

“Of course, I want them to turn things around, but the longer it takes and the more you come to matches here, and you’re getting beaten comfortably by one of your biggest rivals, of course, the pressure is going to build.”