Has Manchester United legend Roy Keane given up on the team?

Old Trafford’s faithful have most definitely seen better days. Indeed, it seems that with each week that passes, the chatter increases in volume as analysts, coaches, fans, and of course past players offer their ideas as to why Manchester United continues to struggle.

Manchester United are poor and Roy Keane isn’t happy about it

There is no way to sugar-coat Manchester United’s start to the 2024-25 season. Regardless of where you stand, the club’s campaign so far has been ‘record-breakingly’ bad and that’s something that club legend Roy Keane has now stated is the reason why he’s finally thrown in the towel as far as support goes. Speaking with former teammates Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville along with Arsenal legend Ian Wright and Jill Scott during a recent episode of ‘Stick to Football’, the Red Devils’ former captain revealed that the team’s 1-1 draw with FC Twente made him lose hope in the current crop.

“When players are coming out after the [FC Twente match] and going, ‘I think they might’ve wanted it more than us,’ I kind of gave up at that stage,” Keane said. “If that’s the noise coming out of the dressing room, then no wonder the manager’s in trouble. No wonder they’re not going to win football matches. But that’s where United are - it’s hit and miss,” he continued. “They win a few games, but they’re going to lose plenty. They’re too open. They’re not athletic. They don’t score enough goals. I’m not sure there’s a team there.” Still, Keane pressed on: “I don’t recognize this team. I don’t recognize the club,” he said. “I would be disgusted if I came in after a game and I felt another team wanted it more than us.”

For his part, Keane was a pillar of the team during United’s glory days. During his 12-year stint with Man United, the Irishman won the Premier League seven times, the FA Cup on four occasions, and the 1999 Champions League in dramatic fashion against Bayern Munich. Now almost three decades after Keane put on the famous red jersey for the first time, the team he loves - or used to - sits 14th in the league table with just eight points from its first seven matches.

As for Erik Ten Hag, the manager with whom Keane has taken issue, the Dutchman has broken his own record for United’s worst start to a Premier League season, earning one point less than he had last season after seven EPL games. This is to say that should Man United fail to get back to winning ways after the international break, one can expect that calls for Ten Hag’s dismissal will be louder than ever. Indeed, one has to imagine that Roy Keane will be first among them.