If there's one must-watch TV event every week, it's Roy Keane's post-match analysis of a Manchester United game.
Keaneo has never been one to hold back, but he seemed strangely dejected rather than angry after a dire 2-0 home loss for United against their local rivals Manchester City.
Roy Keane calls out Ole United players after derby loss
The 2-0 home loss to City does not look as bad on paper as the 5-0 loss to Liverpool in late October but, in truth, it was never a contest at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.
Man United only managed one shot on target throughout the entire game and, aside from that one chance at the end of the first-half, Cristiano Ronaldo and the team's big stars were completely anonymous throughout.
📊 Man City didn’t use a substitute & all 10 outfield players had more touches than the most by a Man Utd player (Maguire & Lindelof, 67) pic.twitter.com/Sap4LWK5u5
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) November 6, 2021
Roy Keane, appearing on Sky's coverage of the game, went in on United's players - namedropping Scott McTominay, Fred, Luke Shaw, Eric Bailly and David de Gea as players who needed to give more.
Above all, though, Keane drove home that United's motivation and performance simply weren't acceptable, and said that the derby loss felt worse than the drubbing at the hands of Liverpool.
It felt worse. At half-time the game was all over, City are a very different team to Liverpool, they were just happy to keep the ball and they just tore at United.
So poor. The difference in class, quality, decision making...everything. It was men v boys. United are so off it it's unbelievable.
It's hope more than any belief for United.
I'd like to go in hard on the United players, but today I'm actually just feeling sorry for them. I think some of the United players just aren't up to playing for Man United, particularly at home.
If you're on the ropes, you have to keep swinging. This team doesn't. This team almost says, 'we're up against it, we haven't got the quality'. I wouldn't say they're throwing the towel in, because it's tough to throw that at any team, but they just don't have that desire and fight to stay in it.
They're not showing their quality. This team doesn't have what I would say 'personality'.
I'm sure they're a decent group and they go for lunch and all this type of thing - but it's what happens when the referee blows the whistle.
This is a derby game today for Manchester United and after watching that now I totally understand why fans would leave after an hour, and I'm always critical...when you're watching that for an hour you go, "come on, we need more."
Keane and his fellow Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville have been criticised in recent months for their refusal to blame manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for Manchester United's poor form. Both Keane and Neville played with Solskjaer for a decade at Old Trafford, and there has been a general reluctance from former United players to criticise the Norwegian.
🗣 "I give up"
Roy Keane is fuming at half-time as Man Utd trail Man City 2-0 at Old Trafford...
📺 Watch live on Sky Sports PL
📲 #MUNMCI blog 👉 https://t.co/umdg3uwhRT pic.twitter.com/8eEWiTXcLT— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 6, 2021
After the defeat to Man City on Saturday, Keane acknowledged that Solskjaer and his management team have to be expected to get more from the expensive squad they have assembled.
I think obviously over the last few months Ole seems to have been under pressure since he came into the club. And that's not going to go away because from the moment he walked in to the job people didn't think he was up to it because of his CV, his track record at Cardiff which we know was a tough enough job.
So, every time there's a performance like that, we know the pressure is just going to build on Ole.
Ole has to take responsibility, listen, I've defended Ole for the last two years but he's the manager, his staff, they've got to look at it and get more out of these players.
It's hard to argue with any of the comments from Roy Keane, though many will argue that he and his fellow ex-United players will need to go harder on the manager at Old Trafford.
It's clear that Manchester United are going nowhere in this form, and serious change is needed. It's surely only a matter of time before Solskjaer's ex-teammates start to question whether he's up to the job - and the embarrassment at the hands of Man City may be the final straw.
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