Roy Keane names two players who are ‘not good enough’ for Man Utd after Man City draw | Football

Roy Keane named two players who are ‘not good enough’ for Manchester United after the underwhelming derby stalemate with Manchester City.

The Manchester giants played out an uneventful goalless draw at Old Trafford on Sunday in a game that highlighted both team’s problems.

Keane expressed concern over United’s lack of progress after the match and said Ruben Amorim’s current options up top – Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee – were ‘not good enough’ for the Red Devils.

Both Hojlund and Zirzkee have endured dismal seasons at Old Trafford – scoring a combined six goals in the Premier League – and Amorim is expected to sign a new striker in the summer.

‘Manchester United can still be more of a goal threat,’ he said on Sky Sports. ‘The couple of strikers United have at the club are not good enough for United, but there are other players on the team.

‘There are wide players, defenders can score goals, there are set pieces. The goal they have away at Forest the other day, you have an opposition player running 70 or 80 yards.

‘Yes you can say it’s a great run and great goal – but someone’s got to tackle him. Have a desire to dig deep and get a result!

‘It has to come from the manager and the staff, the certain leaders they have in the dressing room.

‘I’m not saying they all have to be like that – but they have experienced players there. Maguire, Casemiro, Fernandes – do they get a grip of these players?

‘Ole Gunnar Solskjaer once ran 70 to 80 yards to chase someone down and got sent off. They made sacrifices for the team.

‘The sacrifices for the attacking players could be making a run, making a good ball out of a bad ball.

‘I see the United team today. They’re all applauding and they’re being interviewed and they said: “draw is not too bad.” A draw gets you nowhere fast!

‘I know United beat Leicester and Real Sociedad – but you look at the last few games and you go: this is not enough, this is not good enough.

‘Forget the United teams I played for, forget the top three or four teams, competing with Brentford, Crystal Palace, Fulham and Wolves?

‘Are you telling me Manchester United should be behind them? The majority of these players should be doing better than the teams I just mentioned.’

Given United’s continued struggles under Amorim, Keane cannot see his former club surging up the Premier League table next season.

The ex-Old Trafford captain added: ‘The manager is going to stick with it. That’s the gamble he’s taking.

‘If he’s not getting football results, we’re talking about next year when he will no doubt get an opportunity to get players in the summer, we will be able to judge him better.

‘That’s his belief, his philosophy and that’s fine. But I like the philosophy of winning football matches. I like that philosophy.

‘I don’t ever remember sitting with the players I played with – and some decent players and other clubs such as Forest and brilliant managers – where we discussed our philosophy.

‘We would find different ways to play. United tried to play out the back and got caught a couple of times. I don’t like that. There are times for it.

‘If they were going down that road and they were picking up results and scoring plenty of goals, but I don’t see it. My eyes don’t lie to me.

‘I’d like to be proven wrong and United are in the top five or six next season and would take it all back, but I don’t see it.

‘I’ve seen a few live games lately. I saw Forest the other night, I was kicking my cups of tea over. They were neat and tidy – but were never going to score. No goals again today.

‘When you’re playing for a big club and getting big contracts, you have a responsibility to win football matches. Is that what we’re here for?

‘We’ve been praising Liverpool for the last few months. Why? Because they’re being clinical and winning football matches. So when we sit here and go: “I’m getting fed up of this, but there are signs.” Signs of what?’

Amorim: We need to improve everything

The Manchester derby stalemate leaves United 13th in the Premier League, a whopping 35 points behind champions-elect Liverpool.

Assessing United’s performance against City, Amorim said: ‘We had chances to win the game using our pace in transition.

‘We had moments with the ball and pushed City into their half. If you look at the game, we can accept the draw. We were closer to scoring a goal, they had more possession but that is normal.

‘Ederson did well. We used the pass on the overlap well, things we didn’t do against Nottingham Forest but then Ederson was there.

‘We have so much to improve in every aspect of our game. Build-up, transition, decision making in the final third – we have to improve.

‘Every player can improve. They are here because they showed something at other clubs. They have the quality.

‘We are a team more dangerous in transition but we need to spend more time in the final third to create opportunities.

‘I can see it. The connections. The players are more comfortable in the positions. We can find players between the lines and are calm with the ball. We are better but we have a lot to improve.

‘I’m not naïve or crazy. I understand looking at the opponents there is a big gap but as a leader I can’t say we’re going to take a lot of time.

‘You have to feel urgency, to hurry to do something better. At a club like ours you don’t have a lot of time. We are in a rush, that is clear.’

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