ROY KEANE claims that the “pressure of playing for Manchester United” has proven to be “too much” for a number of their expensively-assembled squad.
The Red Devils host Tottenham at Old Trafford this afternoon in the Premier League looking to ease some of the pressure on boss Erik ten Hag.
United are ninth in the table – 14 points adrift of leaders Liverpool – and have already been dumped out of both the Champions League and Carabao Cup this term.
Ahead of today’s clash with Spurs, their manager used his programme notes to try and strike some optimism amongst the frustrated fan base.
But the club’s legendary former captain Keane, who won countless honours and played nearly 500 times for them, is adamant that it will be a long road back to the top of United.
He says that Ten Hag’s players must do their talking on the pitch.
Then he took aim at the likes of struggling Antony, Raphael Varane, who won the World Cup in 2018, and Lisandro Martinez, who lifted the trophy 13 months ago with Argentina, by claiming the responsibility of playing for one of the planet’s most famous teams looks to be too much for some.
Keane told Sky Sports: “We don’t know the characters or what the feel of this dressing room is. We look around, we’ve got players here who have won big trophies. They’ve won World Cups.
“I don’t know what the dynamics are like in the dressing room, but you just hope that when they have come to United that they’ve enjoyed the pressure of playing for Man Utd.
“We’ve been critical of United the last few years, recruitment, the facilities. But we’ve come here early this morning. It’s still a great place to come and play football. It really is.
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“I just hope there are enough characters and leadership to get United back to winning ways. It’s a long way back.
“Sometimes there are players that come to Man Utd, as we’ve seen, and it looks like the pressure of playing for Man Utd has been a bit too much for them.”
The Irishman then added: “You always have to have that bit of hope.
“The proof’s out on the pitch, when the referee blows the whistle against a Spurs team who will be at it and will come after them. United have to be ready.
“The players haven’t been consistent enough. They’ve lost far too many matches.
“They’re not scoring enough goals. It looks like the pressure is getting to all of them.”
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